- This topic has 7 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 9 months ago by .
-
Posts
-
Does anyone know the source of the following.
“One who benefits from electricity on Shabbos is like one who upon weeing his mother being burnt warms himself up by the fire.”
I have heard in the name of the hailige Chazon Ish, I would like to now if he said it, and is it recorded.
Recorded, as in a 1950s era video or audio?
I think I saw this quote in Rambam who did not bring his sources as usual, but I traced it to Zohar.
I tried to find it but i can’t.
If there is a quote, it is not a quote about “benefiting from electricity on Shabbos”.
The reference to the Hazon Ish is referring to benefiting from the electricity produced by Israeli Power Plants that have Jewish non Shabbat-observant employees working on Shabbos.
The Hazon Ish writes (Orah Haim 38:4),
If the electricity was produced by a Jew who is not Shabbat-observant, it is forbidden to benefit from it. Even if it is a situation in which Halachah technically permits benefiting from the electricity produced, it is [still] forbidden since its use constitutes a chilul Hashem (desecration of God’s name)… because it is a public service, and the worker who [maintains the power plant] on Shabbat does so in a rebellious manner. One who benefits from the electricity produced in this manner indicates that his heart is not pained by the desecration of Shabbat [by other Jews]. May it be God’s will that everyone should speedily commit to a complete teshuvah (repentance)!The moshol (whoever said it) is referring to the callous lack of pain at Chilul Shabbos and Chilul hashem shown by using electricity produced with the assistance of a Jewish person on Shabbos.
Should be made clear, however, that ACCORDING TO PRACTICALLY EVERY POSEK, electricity in EY is NOT produced b’Issur and is halachically permitted.
This is because the electric company supplies the entire grid and at any given time there are certainly people who need electricity in their homes as a matter of pikuach nefesh.
And within each neighborhood or street, they need to supply the entire grid.Those who use neighborhood generators on Shabbos generally do so as a matter of chumra, not min ha Din.
This is why they might use the Shabbos generator for their lights, but use regular electricity for air conditioning, especially in shuls — and most everyone outside of Bnei Brak (yes, I’m sure someone could cite exceptions) does daven in shuls with AC powered from the regular grid.So EY should shut down its generation on shabbos and import power from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Or better, transfer control of the Israel Electric Authority to the Palestinian Authority. Or in an optimal situation, shut down the entire electric grid for Shabbos and lets all schvitz in shul like the good ole days in the Alte Heim.
Please don’t attribute these mindless ideas to the “hailege Chazon Ish” or any other chashuvah rav while they were still in possession of their senses.Oy, this information was worth subscribing to this blog! I am gonna install a filter in my Israeli apartment to filter out electrons that were mined on Shabbos. Given that no milk & meat mixture was involved, I presume they are not asur l’hanaa, so I’ll give the electrons to the non-Jews. Maybe the simplest, I’ll put the wire across the highway to sonei isroel and direct it to an exposed pole that any passerby might touch.
I found that kabbalists were using Hashmal. Good enough for them, good enough for me.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.