[Avodah] goy vs chiloni

[Arie Folger]

On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 5:00 PM, Chana Luntz<chana at kolsassoon.org.uk> wrote:
> I think I am still not comfortable in the case of a door that operates
> electronically.  If you cannot open a door except by use of a circuit going
> live, I can't see why it is not considered a new act of building each time,
> if connecting a circuit is building, because the door and the circuit are
> instrinsically one and the same.  And I think a door is made up of a door
> and a door lintel, nobody provides a door without one, and the person goes
> over that lintel, so I am not convinced by the going on the ground argument
> either.  So I confess I still really can't see the distinction between this
> case and the closed up house or the changed object.

No, the circuit does not visibly modify the door. The act of boneh (as
per CI) is not on the door, but on the invisible circuit. The door
changes place, but remains as it always was.

> If you are just talking about a buzzer release, which then allows the door
> to be opened manually, then I think I agree it is like the letter case, you
> have got rid of something external to the door and building, and the door
> itself is not changed, and assuming it would be OK to read a letter opened
> by a Jew b'mazid on shabbas, then I would have thought this case was the
> same - based on not being nehene mguf hadavar, ie as per the Chai Adam.
> Still not convinced we totally need the lion in here though.

No, that should be better than reading a letter that was opened on
Shabbat, because the door could have been opened otherwise; the letter
could only be opened by ripping the envelope.

-- 
Arie Folger
http://ariefolger.wordpress.com/
http://www.ariefolger.googlepages.com