Q&A: Electric Gate on the Sabbath
Electric Gate on the Sabbath
Question
Hello,
I’m about to move into a rental unit located in the yard of a house.
The yard gate opens with a keypad.
What is commonly done about this on the Sabbath?
The landlord is not religious, and I didn’t want to start asking him questions about it,
because there’s a lot of demand and he could find someone else within a day, and I was afraid that if I brought it up
he’d think I was making life difficult for him and somehow come up with an excuse that I’m not suitable and take someone else.
I’m supposed to finalize things with him tomorrow or the day after, and I’m planning to bring up the issue when I bring the checks.
So the question is what is usually done in cases like this. I don’t have any experience with it. What solution can I suggest to him?
Is there usually a key that can open it, and I’ll ask that every Sabbath either he or I
disable the electricity and we’ll open it only with the key? Is that a big deal?
Are there other solutions?
Thank you very much
Answer
Obviously a solution has to be found, and the keypad should not be used on the Sabbath. I’m not familiar with keypads, so I can’t help with the technical questions.
Discussion on Answer
Hello,
Thank you for the answer.
After moving the tab, does the door open for anyone who tries to open it, or is a key still needed?
And if a key is needed, is that okay that way? Maybe even when you move the tab something electrical is also activated?
Thanks
In our case it opens freely, but every door can be different. I assume there are doors with a key. If you disabled the code, then everything is fine. A key is a key.
On most doors there’s both a keypad and a key. You need that not only for the Sabbath, but also in case the keypad malfunctions or there’s a power outage.
So I can simply not say anything to the landlord; on weekdays I’ll open it with the keypad, and on the Sabbath I’ll open it with a key, and everything is fine from a halakhic standpoint, without my having changed anything in the electrical system?
If the key has no electrical effect, then it’s fine. I’m not familiar with the specific setup there.
In our building there’s a small tab in the lock itself on the door that you move, and then the door opens without a code.