Disclaimer: Electricity on Shabbat cannot be covered to its full extent here. This article is intended as an overview of the ideas and opinions involved, not as a halachic guide. To decide on your own practice, I recommend consulting a rabbi or reading through the linked responsa, or answers to Jewish legal questions, at the end of this article.
Is electricity forbidden on Shabbat?
As with many Jewish legal questions, it comes down to who you ask.
Most Orthodox rabbis would say that directly using electricity and electrical appliances is generally prohibited, but there might also be scenarios where some would allow leniencies.
And even those who hold that directly operating electrical devices, like lights or a fan, on Shabbat is prohibited still might make use of those devices either by turning them on before Shabbat or setting a special Shabbat timer to turn them on and off automatically.
Among Conservative rabbis, there’s an even greater range of opinions.
The question of whether an activity is prohibited on Shabbat comes down to a list in the MishnahA collection of rabbinic teachings edited in Israel around 225 CE. Organized in six sedaraim by subject matter and dealing with both ritual and civil law. Both the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmud are expansive discussions of the Mishnah. Read more, the essential collection of Jewish Oral Law. This list contains 39 melachot, major categories of prohibited activities on Shabbat. When we say that it’s prohibited “to work” on Shabbat, we’re really saying that these 39 activities, or a derivative activity of them, are forbidden.
Since the advent of electricity, rabbis have tried to categorize it into one of the 39 prohibited activities. Below is a summary of the most frequently mentioned melachot for electricity, taken from Rabbi Daniel Nevins responsum “The Use of Electrical and Electronic Devices on Shabbat.” These are the main arguments against the use electricity itself, and Rabbi Nevins, citing other rabbinic authorities, both Orthodox and Conservative, offers counter-arguments for why each prohibition is not actually applicable in the case of an electric current.
Molid, “Making new”
- Argument: When an electrical circuit is closed, the current flows into an appliance which is then transformed by the change.
- Counterargument: Electrical appliances are constantly being turned on and off, so introducing the current doesn’t render a durable transformation.
- Note: Using new appliances for the first time might fall under this prohibited activity.
Boneh, “Building” and Soter, “Breaking”
- Argument: Closing and opening an electrical circuit could be considered to be building and breaking the circuit
- Counterargument: Electrical circuits, like doors and windows, are designed to be opened and closed. Closing a door doesn’t build a wall and opening a door doesn’t break the building.
Makeh B’Patish, “Completing labor”
- Argument: Similar to above, closing a circuit could be considered completing the construction of the appliance.
- Counterargument: Similar to above, electrical circuits are designed to be opened and closed, so turning on an appliance isn’t the same as the manufacturing of it.
Mitakein Mana, “Preparing a Utensil”
- Argument: Similar to above, adding electricity to the appliance so that it can function can be seen as a type of construction.
- Counterargument: Adding electricity allows the appliances to function, but doesn’t cause a durable change, so activating an appliance isn’t considered a form of construction.
- Note: Assembling an appliance, plugging it into an outlet, or inserting batteries would fall under this prohibited activity
Bishul, “Cooking”
- Argument: The heating of wires might be beneficial to the conductionof electricity and would then count as “cooking.”
- Counterargument: The heating of electrical wires is usually an unwanted inefficiency and even if it was beneficial most people aren’t aware it is happening so it would be an unintended act. Also an item can’t be “cooked” twice so this prohibition may not even apply after the first use.
- Note: Using electrical heating elements, like an electrical stovetop, to cook food or heat water would fall under this prohibited activity.
Wouldn’t the generation of electricity be forbidden?
The largest source of electricity in the US is the burning of fossil fuels, which falls clearly under the melacha of Ma’avir, “Burning.” Therefore, someone using electricity on Shabbat could potentially be considered as indirectly causing this burning to occur.
Yet, as Rabbi Nevins argues, the power grid is designed to generate a steady supply of electricity so that the turning on or of individual devices doesn’t directly affect the power plant’s production. On top of that, in most places the majority of the users of the generated electricity aren’t Jewish, and therefore not obligated in Shabbat. Since the prohibited activity isn’t being done specifically on behalf of a Jew, it is less problematic.
Electricity from renewable energy may avoid this problem entirely. And battery powered devices do not have the issue of electricity generation.
What about the use of specific electrical appliances?
If one were to agree with all of the counterarguments and consider electrical current and its generation permitted, there is still the question of whether the use of electrical appliances themselves are permitted on Shabbat. It is beyond the scope of this article to list every device, but we will look at a few of the most commonly used.
First, it must be stated that any device that does any of the melachot, prohibited activities, is forbidden to use on Shabbat, whether it’s manual or electric. For example, a lawn mower, a shaver, a coffee grinder, and a sewing machine perform the melachot of pruning, shearing, grinding, and sewing, respectively.
The use of microwaves on Shabbat to warm food is a fascinating discussion that’s outside the scope of this article. Please see the linked responsa for more.
Here we will look briefly at lightbulbs, smartphones and e-readers, and elevators. The arguments and counterarguments generally follow Rabbi Nevins’ responsum which covers these topics in much greater depth and include many other devices.
Lights
Of all electronic devices, lights are the most common and the most discussed when it comes to their use on Shabbat.
The arguments against lights tend to focus on the heating of the metal filament in an incandescent lightbulb. Rabbis have considered this to be equivalent to either the melachot of “cooking” or “burning”.
The counter-argument is that no permanent change is occurring to the metal and not actual combustion is happening. And both fluorescent and LED light bulbs don’t heat metal to generate light and would not fall under these prohibitions.
Rabbi Avram Reisner argues that one purpose of Ma’avir, “burning”, is the creation of light. Therefore, electric lights would still fall under the prohibition of “burning” even though no kindling or combusting occurs. All types of light bulbs would then be prohibited under this reasoning.
Smartphones and E-readers
The main argument against devices like smartphones and e-readers is that they perform the melacha of Kotev, “Writing”. Texting and typing clearly seem like a form of permanent writing that would be forbidden. The storage of digital information to memory could also be considered a form of permanent writing. Therefore, making phone calls could arguably be prohibited because it stores a lot of digital information.
E-readers similarly have the potential to record data and e-ink could be considered a durable form of writing that’s prohibited. The potential to purchase and download content can also be problematic. Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz takes a more lenient approach to these devices. His responsum is linked here.
Elevators
It seems that the main issue with elevators is the use of electricity through the pressing of the button. Shabbat elevators already exist that are preprogrammed to stop on each floor without the need to press the button. So, if one were to hold that electricity itself wasn’t an issue, there should be no problem with using an elevator on Shabbat.
Ok, but what about making it feel like Shabbat?
On top of the directly prohibited activities there is also the essential spirit of Shabbat as a day of rest. There is the concept of shvut, or the positive commandment to rest on Shabbat.
This category gets built out by the rabbis to include activities that aren’t melacha themselves but could lead to doing melacha or that go against the restful nature of Shabbat. So, if one determines that reading the news on an iPad isn’t a prohibited activity, there might still be an argument that it should be avoided because it could lead to downloading new content or that it goes against the restful spirit of the day.
If someone considers electricity or a specific device prohibited, are there leniencies?
Yes. For example, the case of a sick person or other competing values might change the permissibility of an activity. The leniencies depend on the situation, the specific appliance, and which prohibition is considered to be at play, particularly whether it is considered a biblical or rabbinic prohibition. Please consult a rabbi and/or the attached responsa for a more in-depth treatment of these issues.
Wow, that was a lot. What if I want to dive deeper?
As is probably now clear, the use of electricity on shabbat is not a simple question. There are many arguments for and against its permissiblity. At its core, Shabbat is about rest and stepping back from generative work. How we each choose to honor that has a lot of room for discussion.
The following responsa contain a more in-depth exploration of these issues and also contain references to further sources.
- The Use of Electrical and Electronic Devices on Shabbat (Rabbi Daniel S. Nevins)
- Concurring Opinion with Rabbi Daniel Nevins’ Responsum On Electricity on Shabbat (Rabbi Elliot N. Dorf)
- A Dissent Justified to Rabbi Daniel S. Nevins’ The Use of Electrical and Electronic Devices on Shabbat (Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner)
- On the Limited Use of Electronics on Shabbat: Microwave heating of cooked foods and the reading and conversing on electronic devices (Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz)
- Streaming Services on Shabbat and Yom Tov (Rabbi Joshua Heller)
- Mai Beinayhu? Driving Electric Cars on Shabbat (Rabbis David J Fine, Barry J Leff, Marcus Mordecai Schwartz and Chaim Weiner)
- A New Responsum on the Sabbath (Rabbis Marcus Mordecai Schwartz and Chaim Weiner)
- Electric Cars on Shabbat: A Renewed Responsum on the Sabbath (Rabbis David J. Fine and Barry J. Leff)
- Streaming Services on Shabbat and Yom Tov – a Dissent and a Challenge (Rabbi Amy Levin)
