[Avodah] Zilzul Shabbos

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

Among the arguments that came up in the discussion of the Kosher Switch
was that it's zilzul Shabbos.

The thought hit me, though... Refraining from operating electrical
devices has only been a potential issue for 125 years or so. And except
for Yekkes, most of our ancestors come from places where it has been
less than a century since electricity became part of our lives.

So it's very hard to say that "not using electricity" is a defining
feature of the Shabbos experience.

Contrast this to hotza'ah, including haavarah, which take up what seems
like 1/3 of chazal's discussion of issur melakhah (rough estimate from
Berakhos and Eruvin in mishna, Tosefta, Y-mi and Bavli).

When community eruvin got started, wasn't there a much easier argument
of zilzul? Why wasn't it made? Indeed we use the general kelal of being
meiqil WRT eiruvin to quite an extent to build one. And what does the
fact that a community eruv is NOT zilzul Shabbos say about the nature
of zilzul Shabbos and its applicability to nidon didan?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 39th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        5 weeks and 4 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Netzach sheb'Yesod: What is imposing about a
Fax: (270) 514-1507                          reliable person?