[Avodah] Cameras on Shabbas

[Micha Berger]

On Fri, Dec 26, 2008 at 10:23:35AM -0800, Harvey Benton wrote:
: Some people wait to open a refrigerator on Shabbas, until
: they can actually hear the motor running, so as not to trip the motor circuit.
: However, the simple act of opening a fridge, whether or not the motor is on at
: the time, causes warmer air to enter, thus necessitating that the motor will
: run longer.  People however DO open
: refrigerators on Shabbas, so affecting electricity usage might not be a
: problem.

That's pesiq reishei le'achar zeman or gerama. No statistics issue --
the camera will definitely conduct eletricity differently, unlike the
thermostat which may or may not trigger. And the trigger is immediate.

With thermostats bichlal, the question is how likely does it need to
be in order to be assur. E.g. my thermostat (as is quite oddly true
of many US homes) is right near my front door. Opening the door blows
cold air on it. R' Dovid Cohen didn't let us use the water fountains
in camp, since the likelihood of triggering the refrigeration unit was
too high. (The faucet was manual.) However, when I asked him, RDC said
the same was not true of his front door.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Life is complex.
micha at aishdas.org                Decisions are complex.
http://www.aishdas.org               The Torah is complex.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                                - R' Binyamin Hecht