Q&A: Using a Dimmer on the Sabbath
Using a Dimmer on the Sabbath
Question
Have a good week, Rabbi,
According to your view that electricity on the Sabbath is forbidden משום בונה, what would the ruling be regarding a dimmable light bulb (dimmer) on the Sabbath, where the bulb is already “built,” a small current is already flowing through it, and it is producing a little light, and now a person wants to increase its light on the Sabbath—would that be forbidden? And for what reason? And is there any difference between a dimmer based on LED and one based on a regular incandescent filament.
Best regards,
Answer
There would not be a Torah prohibition involved here. But there are still the other prohibitions cited by other halakhic decisors (such as creating an electric current).
Discussion on Answer
Here, in fact, nothing new is created. Apparently it should be permitted. The muktzeh status of the switch is overridden because it is being used for its intrinsic function.
Regarding the prohibition of creating an electric current, why is it forbidden to create a flow of electrons in a metal wire, but permitted to create a flow of water in a water pipe? Or perhaps the prohibition of creating something new relates to the result produced by the electrical device and not to the electric current itself? For example, is what is created here the light?
I explained this in detail in my columns about electricity on the Sabbath. Flowing water is not essentially different from standing water. Electric current is something different from a mere wire. The distinction is valid with regard to the prohibition of creating something new as well.
What about dimming a dimmer bulb on the Sabbath? Is there a prohibition of creating something new involved in that? What exactly is being created here?