Q&A: Benefiting from Sabbath Desecration
Benefiting from Sabbath Desecration
Question
Dear Rabbi Michael, hello.
I am a high-school-aged boy, from a family that does not observe Torah and commandments. Because of that, many questions come up on the Sabbath. So here is my question:
A. The refrigerator turns on a light when it is opened (usually I try to attach magnets and the like before the Sabbath, but every so often I forget / don’t have time). Is it permitted to eat food that was taken out of it by someone else?
B. If on Sabbath eve the light in my room was on, and during the Sabbath they turned it off, is it permitted to sleep in the room, or is that forbidden because the darkness makes it easier for me to sleep?
C. Is it permitted to eat using dishes that were washed in the dishwasher on the Sabbath? (And is there a difference between during the Sabbath and after the Sabbath?)
D. If cookies or something similar were baked on the Sabbath, is it permitted to eat them during the weekdays? (If they were not made for me.)
E. When people watch television or play songs and the like, how far do I need to keep away so as not to hear, if at all?
I will conclude with enormous thanks. I read your articles and books eagerly, and drink in your lectures thirstily. Your efforts bear much fruit, even if that is not always visible. More power to you, Rabbi Michael; you are a great light in this world.
Answer
Hello,
Thank you. I’m glad my words are helpful, and I very much appreciate your efforts as you described them. From your phrasing it is clear that you are also studying Torah seriously. More power to you.
As for your questions:
As a rule, regarding acts done on the Sabbath, there are many subsidiary grounds for leniency and permission, especially when it was not done for you and you live in a home that is not observant and the matter is not in your control. All these permissions are after the fact, but do not let your hands weaken in trying, from the outset, to keep these things from happening.
A. After the fact, it is permitted to eat, because the food was not improved by that Sabbath desecration.
B. Same here. In this case there is not even an actual object before us to discuss whether it was improved through a forbidden act. If they turned on a light for you, that is a different matter, because there something was created through a forbidden act and you are benefiting from it. (I assumed that darkness is the absence of light and not a reality in itself. That is a nice practical implication of this ancient philosophical inquiry, which also came up here not long ago.)
C. Here there is more room to be stringent, because the utensil itself was made ready for eating through a forbidden act. After the Sabbath it is permitted. In pressing circumstances there is room to be lenient, because it could have been washed permissibly, and therefore essentially the forbidden act did not do anything for you here. Seemingly, if you were to wash it again, it would certainly be permitted, but that would be pointless.
D. Yes.
E. You do not need to do anything in order not to hear. You should act as you normally would, and the fact that others create a problematic environment is not your problem. Deliberately watching in order to benefit is problematic.
If you would like to see a summary of the laws of acts done on the Sabbath, you can see here:
https://ph.yhb.org.il/01-26-01/
From that page onward.
Discussion on Answer
That is exactly what I wrote, but I chose to present it from the positive angle. Judge every person favorably.
To me it looked like a test meant to examine the respondent’s knowledge or how inclined he is to be lenient.
The level of phrasing and jargon doesn’t match the level of the questions and the personality being described.