[Avodah] Electricity and the next Sanhedrin

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 06:49:57PM +0000, kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
: The answer is simple. The distinction between animals which make milk
: and animals which don't, is well-known to a zoologist, and probably
: to a farmer, but not so much to city folk. So they extended the rule
: to include all animals of a category which should be well-known to any
: G-d-fearing Jew: the animals which require shechita.

I thought gezeiros were a product of mistakes actually made, which is
why someone who doesn't know the history would wonder why there is a
gezeira to protect against X, but not the apparently easier mistake of
Y.

...
: Whew! This was a long post! My apologies to all. The only point I'm
: trying to make is my guess that the next Sanhedrin will probably NOT
: allow any electrical devices beyond those which the poskim currently
: allow. It's just too difficult for the average person to understand the
: differences between the mutar and the assur.

If electricity is only an issue when plugged in, then I don't know if
this is so.

A Sanhedrin coudl prohibit all plugged in devices, and all devices that
do something assur. People already know the difference between keilim
that make light and keilim that hold nuts. All people would need to get
used to is that battery powered (or cold fusion cell) devices that don't
make light or sound (or do boreir, or plant seeds...) are in the same
category as keilim that hold nuts.

I think it's only confusing to us, because we got used to lumping all
electronic devices together. If that's not a given, I don't see the same
impracticality as you suggest.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The Maharal of Prague created a golem, and
micha at aishdas.org        this was a great wonder. But it is much more
http://www.aishdas.org   wonderful to transform a corporeal person into a
Fax: (270) 514-1507      "mensch"!     -Rav Yisrael Salanter