Sunday 18 September 2016

halacha - Unintentional closing and opening of electrical circuits on shabbat


As a non Jew, after reading Why are Shabbat loopholes a good thing? I have been pondering the above question:




The Torah forbids closing/opening electrical circuits on Shabbat. - Danny Schoemann



So what then about things like CCTV's which records a Jew walking by will cause per pixel circuits to be changing (essentially closing/opening). Just like a public or hotel elevator it is not owned by a Jew, so that does not seem to matter. So, does it matter whether one intentionally is opening/closing electrical circuits? Or does it being unintentional make it a passive activity (despite walking intentionally somewhere, thus actively being part of the creation of new videos/pictures)? Or did I never notice and do Jews actually go out of their way to not walk in areas covered by CCTV's, satellites and motion detectors? And additionally if I understand it correctly R. Auerbach had a differing opinion regarding the use of electricity on Shabbath, but I understand that one even less.


Reading this article concerning walking through motion sensors triggering lights there is the statement made:



If a permitted action might or might not cause a prohibited result, the action is nonetheless permitted.



Which would answer my question regarding satellites and motion detectors (not the CCTV's though (Especially so as you directly benefit from the presence of the CCTV's making your neighbourhood/city safer)), if it would also explain why that's the case.






Note: I am asking this out of a genuine interest as, I will be honest here, I have an extremely extremely hard time comprehending the notions outlined in the aforementioned question. The literal form of interpretation used in Judaism is one that I am quite not used to to say the least, especially when it starts mixing with technical questions.





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