Q&A: Water Cooler on the Sabbath
Water Cooler on the Sabbath
Question
A water cooler on the Sabbath: because of its small capacity, if you fill a quantity equal to a large bottle, the refrigeration unit will presumably turn on. Is it permitted to cause it to turn on on the Sabbath?
The basis of the discussion is that turning on the cooler is an inevitable result, and the prohibition is rabbinic. So the question is whether this can be defined as a case where one does not want the result, since that is not the purpose of the action, even though in the end I do want it for the next time I draw water.
Answer
If this really is an inevitable result, there is a dispute among the halakhic decisors regarding an inevitable result in cases of rabbinic prohibitions, even when one does want the result. The Magen Avraham cites the Terumat HaDeshen as permitting it. However, the accepted ruling is that it is prohibited.
I do not see this here as a case of not wanting the result. It has no connection to the purpose of the action at all. (Even in the case of pouring wine onto the coals, the purpose is not extinguishing. That is the situation in all cases of an inevitable result.) The question is whether the result is convenient or desirable for you—and here it certainly is.