work  /wɜrk/ –noun 1. exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.

rest1  /rɛst/
2. refreshing ease or inactivity after exertion or labor: to allow an hour for rest.

What am I missing?

It seems to me that the law has not kept up with modern technology. We now have ways of doing less physical work, such as taking an elevator instead of stairs. Shouldn’t we take the choice which allows us more rest, and more time for contemplation? If I have to make the effort to push one button instead of the effort of climbing ten stories of stairs, it seems to me that taking the elevator is more in lines with the spirit of Shabbat! Same for using a computer, or lighting a stove!

The reason I sought out Humanistic Judaism is because it seems to me to be the one branch of Judaism that has most kept up with changing times! As such, I have no qualms about using modern conveniences on Shabbat, as they enable me to do less work than otherwise!

I was raised as a Christian, and remember certain things that were traditionally “forbidden” at times. For instance, even though I attended public school through ninth grade, fish was served on Friday in deference to Roman Catholics. Being an observant Episcopalian, tradition meant also not eating meat on Fridays. Even after Roman Catholicism changed its view to allow meat to be eaten on Fridays (except in the liturgical season of Lent) my family, like many Episcopalians, continued to eat fish or some other meatless meal.

As a young adult, I departed from this tradition once I left home for college.

There are many traditional rules of Judaism to which I cannot relate because of my own background, they are just not part of my heritage. Even some of the traditional foods found in Jewish celebrations or observances are still a bit foreign to me, though I’ve been a convert to Judaism for a decade now.

I know what I am sharing is a departure from the main topic of the “Shabbat Elevator Controversy” but again, I write this reply to show how someone who has not followed Jewish tradition for most of their life can find such a topic mystifying, given the modern world in which we live with technological advances. If the “Shabbat Elevator” issue is strictly adhered to by all the Jewish community, wouldn’t that also mean that what we are participating online via Our Jewish Community also be a violation of Shabbat?

Even God visited Abraham when he was sick (Gen 18:1)

Biblical texts restrict those who have physical handicaps from proximity to the Ark, and in some cases, the community. (One would presume that — in addition to Hertz’s commentary about outsider practices of body modification, especially applied to the genitals — this would separate out those whose infirmities might be either contagious or inheritable, removing the “bad genes” from the community in a generation.)

In that sense, restrictions that would prevent someone who is lame from being able to get to the synagogue would seem to spring from the same purpose.

In another sense, I can understand Rabbi Baum’s fascination that some would go to this level of discourse around what would seem to be a minor point of practice. On the one hand, this relates back to the idea of the overbearing, punitive, paternalistic G-d that many of us were presented in Sunday School/Talmud Torah — if we don’t do exactly what He says, we’ll be cursed, but then, if He is the Father and we are His children… don’t children always test the boundaries to see what they can get away with? On the other hand, some folk are honestly excited (in multiple dimensions) by serious debate over what would seem trivialities (BTW, *how many* angels are dancing on that #17 brass silk pin? Did you account for Maxwell’s demons trying to change that number?)

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However, when we get to Halachic law we are in a realm that has no hope of adding to the quality or feeling of the Shabbat. Not turning a switch, using an appliance, riding a car do not add to the quality of the experience of Shabbat. Rather they supply the observer of such laws the satisfaction of following customs that have been passed down over two millenia. They, indeed, make the follower feel he (she) is a better Jew. And that’s fine with me.

When, however, I am in a hotel in Jerusalem and have to walk ten floors on Shabbat because the elevator is closed to all, then other customs are being imposed on me. It’s selfish and thoughtless (and will certainly help keep conversions down.)

The solution for the Jerusalem hotel owner is to make sure the stairs are open and available to those who want to walk them and that the elevators are running for the rest of us so we can save our energy for listening and watching “Our Jewish Community”

Why would God insist on rules like this? It seems the choices are “Shabbat Elevator,” “No Elevator” or “Shabbat Elevator up only.”

How do any of these choices contribute to life? How do any of these provide a service to God?

I know the traditional answer. “we will DO and then we will understand.” This kind of answer satisfies no one.

Let’s be sensible – and do what we can to respect the ill, the infirm, even the unfit and downright lazy, and if it takes an elevator to get them to
shul, Hashem’s blessings be on the machines and
their creators.
Is pushing buttons even on the list of 39 things you can’t do?