As on Orthodox Jew, while I don't have anything against this and it sounds like a fun hobby project, I don't like that it misleads regarding what Jewish law actually requires.<p>As several others have mentioned, there is absolutely no problem with keeping a server running on the sabbath - computers aren't Jews (Jewish law only expects Jews to keep the sabbath). If it's Jews working to generate the electricity (most "modern" or "yeshivish" Orthodox Jews don't believe this is a problem; I don't know what fraction of "ultra-" Orthodox Jews disagree with that), any public cloud outside of Israel should suffice. If you're concerned with electricity, why not worry that Jews may be working to maintain the server's internet connection (again, this is trivially solved by not hosting it in Israel - all it takes is a non-Jewish majority to provide a reasonable presumption that the workers probably aren't Jewish)?<p>If you're worried about Jewish users accessing it on the sabbath (in my opinion the least far-fetched concern, but not one addressed by the site), the complete solution would be to shut it down for ~49 hours every week starting from ~sunset on Friday in east Asia - this doesn't require using batteries or really anything special about the site's hardware or even software.<p>Finally, why call it a 'kosher' search engine when almost anyone interested in such a thing would understand that as being about filtering the search results?<p>Edit: <i>If</i> you assume that using electricity and/or internet that are maintained by Jews on the sabbath is a problem, I guess you might be able to make a case for avoiding indexing sites in Israel or at all during the sabbath, since then you'd be benefitting indirectly from the work of the Jews that maintained the infrastructure - however, I think it's safe to assume that the vast majority of the internet is not served using infrastructure actively supported by Jews during the sabbath so even assuming you're concerned about this, the final answer would probably still be that indexing during the sabbath is fine.
B&H Video is shut for a day every week but also disallows online checkout. I've always found that interesting, like the website is an extension of their beliefs.<p><a href="https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/StoreInfo.jsp" rel="nofollow">https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/StoreInfo.jsp</a><p>> Online Checkout Hours<p>> Open 24/6<p>> Online checkout will be closed while we observe Shabbat from 8:15pm ET Fri until 9:45pm ET Sat. Although online ordering is unavailable, you may still add items to your cart or wish list.
I don't know why, but I find it absolutely hilarious, in a good way. It's such a weird thing to build, but it gives you that fuzzy old-school internet vibe.<p>It's awesome.
There are some "kosher search engines", to go with "kosher phones" in Israel. This is an ultra-Orthodox thing. Basic kosher phones are "no Internet, no text", but that's so restrictive that there are now kosher smartphones. These often have a very short list of allowed sites. Stack Exchange explains: [1]<p>[1] <a href="https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/108332/what-makes-a-smart-phone-kosher" rel="nofollow">https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/108332/what-make...</a>
> New search results are calculated on Tuesday of each week. Nothing new is created during Shabbat. You are served static cached data.<p>I've been interested in the idea of having a user-facing website that generates static copies of its dynamic content on a set schedule. Do any of you have more examples of this?<p>About this particular search engine, though, the search results I received from it either were not very relevant or the service did not display information that made them seem relevant (such as a snippet of text from the page — it did this occasionally but not always).
> This computer does not physically manipulated electricity.<p>Sophistry.<p>The whole purpose of a computer is to manipulate electricity, it is what electronic computers do.<p>Perhaps it really is kosher (I have no idea, I'm not Jewish and I'm not well informed about what kosher really means) but whatever it is or is not, it is quite certainly not true that 'This computer does not physically manipulated electricity.'<p>Perhaps the author actually meant something else, if so I'm curious as to what that might be.<p>Presumably the inclusion of the superfluous word physically means something to the author. To me (B. Sc. Physics) there is no need to include the word because all manipulation of electricity is physical, there is no other kind.
That's a lot of effort to do nothing.<p>Does anyone know if there is some significance to it being calculated on Tuesday? Since Shabbat is from Friday to Saturday I would have picked Sunday or Monday.
I have never understood trying to get in to heaven on a technicality. Anyway, none of my business! All power to them (except during Shabbat of course.)
Neat. This might not be satire though. To those wondering why it needs to be passively cooled:<p>Jews and other folks that keep Torah do not kindle a flame on the Shabbat. For those who are very strict about keeping God's commandments (basically orthodox Jews), they avoid anything that would create a spark. This spark is like a very tiny, short lived flame. Any time physical electronic contacts join together (like when turning on a light switch), the argument is that there's a very small spark that occurs. The same would happen with the electric contacts in a motor, such as the motor inside CPU fans, desktop power supplies, and platter hard drives. By running on this physical hardware, they're avoiding breaking the Sabbath as much as possible.<p>source: I'm a gentile Christian that tries to keep the Torah. So I'm more familiar with Jewish laws than the average person, but don't quote me too much.
Is that a joke? Because if it isn't, I'd hate to tell you but you are wrong. That computer most definitely manipulates electricity.<p>If anyone is about to take this seriously, check out how a transistor works. It most certainly manipulates electricity. The cpu in that computer has about a billion transistors.
I don't get it: the potential user has to use some kind of computer/smartphone/non-kosher device to make use of this server. Not to mention all the network infrastructure in-between!<p>Is there a rabbi here to enlighten us?
Unless a shabbat goy is employed (who would have to be human) I don’t think you can have a compliant search engine.<p>The machine can work at any point of the week but a jew cannot operate it on shabbat. A non jew could, but not acting on a direct command.<p>The rules are quite watertight. Siri and co. are a no-go and there are no obvious ways to adapt smart assistants that would restore functionality. Anything that’s not preprogrammed is not possible.
There is nothing wrong with having a computer running on Shabbat if it is scheduled before Shabbat. (If you are worried about electricity generated on Shabbat by a Jew, use AWS ect that isn't in Israel)
And some of the sites it links don't appear to be very "kosher".
I can't find the exact quote but I think a comedian once said something along the lines of (large pinches of salt on the quote and whether it was said by a comedian):<p>You think your god is all knowing, etc.. but at the same time stupid enough to fall for these work arounds
If new electricity is created in automated fashion, how is that a problem for running a server? You aren't using it. Automated machinery is perfectly fine to work on its own.
That's not how Shabbat works...<p>(it's very mysterious that someone would go to all this trouble with an idiosyncratic outsider interpretation of Judaism)
Obviously a joke/satire site. "This server is powered by 4 car batteries that are charged every Tuesday. This website does not use new electricity created during Shabbat." Shouldn't it have ran out of electricity by now? How many requests can a home server running on four car batteries serve?
It is also not clear cut that other than the incandescent bulb use of electricity is actually prohibited. The Hazon Ish ruled that the completion of a circuit is considered ‘makke bapatish’ or ‘boneh’. But one can argue reasonably that it is not so.
As someone who isn’t religious, it’s really, REALLY hard to remind myself that not only do people still believe this stuff, but MOST people in the western world still believe in the Judeo-Christian God and all the underlying mythology.<p>I feel like the rational outcome would be that only a small minority of people would still buy into these ideologies. But I guess economists already know that people aren’t rational.<p>Obviously, I’m aware that this website represents an orthodox minority. Most religious people don’t go to these lengths.<p>Religious rules and practices are just so annoyingly easy to pick apart. For example, doesn’t the change from the Julian and Gregorian calendars throw a wrench into what day we are actually on?<p>It’s hard for me to buy that God created billions of planets and galaxies with each planet having different orbital properties and that somehow the arbitrary days of the week that weren’t even set to their present status until after Moses was dead for 3000 years are important to him.<p>This nonsense affects my daily interactions in the sense that I can’t run around questioning obviously arbitrary traditions, it’ll just insult people and it’s just generally mean.<p>So, I’ve given you more than enough of my opinion, and this isn’t exactly constructive, but to me the sooner you exit the denial stage of grief the sooner you and move on to accepting the reality of life.<p>That means specifically accepting that the only two roles of religion are:<p>1. A social construct and group (with legitimate benefits of fellowship and social interaction like a club)<p>2. A coping mechanism for death, one that prevents its adherents from reaching the painful stages of grief beyond denial.