Q&A: Sabbath
Sabbath
Question
Hello,
A person who smokes one cigarette on the Sabbath, or drives once on the Sabbath (he is in the process of drawing closer to the Holy One, blessed be He) — during the time when he is not doing prohibited labor, is that considered that he is observing the Sabbath? Or does one act of prohibited labor mean that he has desecrated the entire Sabbath? In other words, is the Sabbath a 25-hour package such that one act of labor in it ruins everything, or during the time when he did not do labor did he observe that Sabbath and fulfill God’s commandment?
Answer
Simply speaking, each moment is an obligation in its own right.
In the article I discussed a dispute among the medieval authorities (Rishonim) on this matter.
Conceptually, there is room to compare the obligation to refrain from labor to the obligation of a fast, which is defined by a duration and not by each individual moment.
Discussion on Answer
See also Column 414 regarding fasting and refraining from labor.
The article is here on the site. Search: Is it possible to become naturalized…