[Avodah] West Hartford Doctor Challenges GE On `Sabbath Mode' Oven

[Prof. Levine]

There has been some controversy regarding the use of Sabbath mode 
ovens. See http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=19228  Does 
the article below add more to this controversy?  YL

 From http://tinyurl.com/849nzd3

A two-year-old gas oven sits, like new, in the kitchen of a residence
retired pediatrician and neonatologist
<http://www.courant.com/topic/entertainment/robert-harris-PECLB002234.topic>Robert 

Harris of
<http://www.courant.com/topic/us/connecticut/hartford-county/west-hartford-PLGEO100100202260000.topic>West 

Hartford uses only on Friday nights and Saturdays for the Jewish Sabbath.

It's not the oven he thought he was getting, nor is it one he wants.

Harris, who paid close to $600 for the oven, felt betrayed by
<http://www.courant.com/topic/economy-business-finance/general-electric-company-ORCRP006396.topic>General 

Electric for telling him the oven's Sabbath mode complied with the
needs of Jews observing the weekly Sabbath. Harris, like other
observant Jews, does not start or stop any electrical device, whether
a computer, phone or oven, on the Sabbath

<Snip>

Harris also cannot cook food on the Sabbath. He is allowed only to
reheat previously cooked food without starting or stopping an
electrical circuit. An oven with a Sabbath mode bypasses the
automatic 12-hour shut-off circuitry built into modern ovens for
safety. He also assumed the Sabbath-compliant oven he bought had a
time-bake feature that could be set before the weekend Sabbath to
turn on automatically to reheat the pre-cooked food.

"That assumption," he says, "ultimately proved wrong."

As Harris understood it, this was not a proper Sabbath mode. For the
past year-and-a-half, Harris has tried to make his point to General
Electric but says he could not find anyone knowledgeable about the
Sabbath mode.

<Snip>

"We believe we comply with what the Sabbath mode should accomplish,"
says GE spokeswoman Kim Freeman. "It may not meet his particular
needs, but as long as we comply with what Star-K recommends we have
done our job."

But GE did more than that. It consulted with its own engineer and,
finally, with Star-K. That's when Harris discovered the variations of
Sabbath mode.

A basic Sabbath-mode oven, certified by Star-K, bypasses the
automatic 12-hour shut-off system to allow Jewish owners to use the
stove continuously on holidays for two or three days. Harris' oven
did not have a time-bake feature that would turn on automatically and
reheat his food on the weekend Sabbath.

"We do not guarantee that an appliance will have a time-bake
feature," says Rivka Lea Goldman, the appliance liaison for Star-K.
"I was trying to explain that to the doctor. He felt he was misled. I
tried to explain that the words 'Sabbath mode' are perhaps
misleading. Our organization did not pick that terminology. Sabbath
mode is really for Jewish holidays. But the manufacturers are
obviously printing manuals for thousands of consumers, not just Jewish."

Because Harris assumed he was getting an all-purpose Sabbath mode
oven, he did not notice the qualifications on the Star-K website.
(For a list of appliances certified by Star-K, visit cour.at/JEq665.)

"Who is the culprit here?" says Harris. "I think there is plenty of
blame to go around. Star-K erroneously allowed GE to claim this range
as having the full Sabbath mode, which is a misnomer. Star-K does
admit this but told me I should have check with them or their
website. I do have some limited culpability in not doing so. At the
end of the day, I understand what went wrong."


See the above URL for more.  YL
 From http://tinyurl.com/849nzd3

A two-year-old gas oven sits, like new, in the kitchen of a residence 
retired pediatrician and neonatologist 
<http://www.courant.com/topic/entertainment/robert-harris-PECLB002234.topic>Robert 
Harris of 
<http://www.courant.com/topic/us/connecticut/hartford-county/west-hartford-PLGEO100100202260000.topic>West 
Hartford uses only on Friday nights and Saturdays for the Jewish Sabbath.

It's not the oven he thought he was getting, nor is it one he wants.

Harris, who paid close to $600 for the oven
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20120601/594e85ef/attachment.htm>