[Avodah] Zilzul Shabbos

[Kenneth Miller via Avodah]

R' Micha Berger wrote:

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

> ... 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?

Excellent point. And I'd like to add another point: There are those who
have argued that the availability of various types of timers (including
those with software and adjust themselves for varying sunset times)
have made the Kosher Switch unnecessary. I disagree strongly.

The Kosher Switch, and similar devices do not merely add convenience,
but can do a lot for lessening tzaar, and that is a valid and recognized
halachic consideration.

There were many times when I went to bed earlier than planned, but the
light would not go out for another hour, and it was keeping me awake. And
there were many times when my seudah lasted longer than expected, but
the lights had gone out and we benched in dim light.

There were many times when I set the air conditioning for what was
expected to be a very hot day, and when it turn out to be mild, we
all froze in the cold house. And there were many times when I left the
air conditioning off, and regretted it when the day turned hotter than
expected.

Of course, a couple of centuries ago, people did not have these
conveniences, and they learned to cope with them. But I really believe
that for us, who have gotten addicted to them, it is a real tzaar when
we must do without.

(None of the above should be construed as meaning that I endorse any
particular sort of device. I'm only talking about devices which we are
allowed to use on Shabbos.)


[Email #2. -micha]
R' Micha Berger asked:
> When community eruvin got started, wasn't there a much easier
> argument of zilzul? Why wasn't it made?

I'm not sure which period of history you're referring to with the phrase
"when community eruvin got started", but here's my attempt at an answer:

Eruvin did not allow something which had been previously assur, the
way timers do and the way the Shabbos Switch would (according to its
supporters).

Beginning in Moshe Rabenu's day, people were very careful not to carry
from a Reshus Hayachid to a Reshus Harabim, or vice versa, or 4 amos
within a Reshus Harabim. But everything else was no problem. People
would carry from one home to another within the same chatzer without
thinking twice. Or even to a home across the street, IF that street was
NOT a Reshus Harabim.

But over time, accidents started to happen, because it is not always
so easy to determine what's a Reshus Harabim and what's not. So at
a certain point (either by David Hamelech's beis din, or Shlomo's, I
don't remember) TWO halachos were enacted, at the SAME tme: One, that
hotzaah was forbidden in a wide variety of areas other than within one
Reshus Hayachid. Two, that these other areas could be transformed into
a Reshus Hayachid by following some specific rules.

The net result is that after Hilchos Eruvin were instituted, there
were NO actions which people could be done that were not being done
before. No one said, "Now the neighborhood can have a picnic on Shabbos
afternoon!", because they could have done this all along, if there was
no Reshus Harabim running through. Thus, no one lamented the zilzul
Shabbos caused by allowing picnics which had previously been forbidden,
because they had NOT previously been forbidden.

I suppose it is possible that in the beginning, these procedures were
used only by small neighborhoods (chatzeros and not much larger), and
it was only much later that they were used by entire communities. If
that's what RMB was referring to, then I'll have to stop here and let
a historian continue.

Akiva Miller