Q&A: Why Are We Looking for Ways to Prohibit?
Why Are We Looking for Ways to Prohibit?
Question
There are quite a few things where it seems clear that halakhic decisors were looking for a mechanism that would allow them to prohibit something—for example, electricity on the Sabbath and copyright infringement. Why would we look for a way to prohibit something? If it is prohibited, then it is prohibited; and if not, why would we want it to be prohibited?
One could perhaps say that we have an intuition that it is prohibited, but that only explains moral prohibitions, not religious prohibitions (like the Sabbath), regarding which seemingly we have no intuition. And certainly according to the Rabbi’s view that all of Jewish law consists of religious prohibitions.
Answer
First, that is your interpretation. It is not certain that they would agree that this is a search for a prohibition rather than a genuine interpretation. Second, sometimes there is an intuition that something is prohibited, and then one looks for a justification for it. Our intuitions are not found only in the moral realm. We also have halakhic intuitions. Is there really no logic to the intuition that electricity should be prohibited on the Sabbath as a forbidden labor? Is that any less than gathering sheaves?