[Avodah] faucets

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Joel Rich referred us to an article about faucets which have only one handle for both hot and cold, and the problems they pose on Shabbos:

> http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-GettingaHandleOnYourFaucet.htm

These was very little in that article that I had not thought of years ago. It has always amazed me that any Shomer Shabbos would voluntarily purchase such a faucet for his home, not counting those who (rightly or wrongly) believe that it is okay to use the hot water tap on Shabbos.

He asked:

> 1.Did anyone check to see if the faucets that always have hot
> is a miyut hamatzui? I'm sure some may be in that category but
> iiuc that is not the basic design.

I have no idea what you mean hear. Are you suggesting that in a two-handled faucet, the hot side provides hot water only occasionally? Please clarify what you mean.

> 2.As a plumber's grandson I can tell you these were in wide use
> by the mid 60's ...  No one asked about it since then?

I have heard that some poskim (I have no idea who) allow using the hot water in a large apartment building where most residents are not Jewish. The logic is that since there are so many people, the hot water is in use by someone almost constantly, and so there is no Psik Reisha that the Jew is doing any melacha when he opens the hot water. I have also heard other heterim based on whether the cold water enters the top of the tank or the bottom of it.

If such heterim do exist, my guess is that people simply got used to using hot water on Shabbos, and never thought to ask the question about new-fangled faucets or tanks. This is what I was referring to when I wrote "rightly or wrongly" above. But for those of us who learn Hilchos Shabbos in detail, please see Rav Eider 395, Rav Ribiat 639-640, on the Shmiras Shabbos 1:39-45, none of whom mention the single-handled faucet, but any of whom ought to make one stop and think about it.

Akiva Miller

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