In Judaism, you are not allowed to use electricity on Saturday. So this company made a light switch that according to them (and granted, many others) IS allowed to be used on Saturday. So I thought HN would like the way it works to try to get around things.<p>If your interested in seeing why this is allowed on Saturday as opposed to a normal light, if you go to Halacha>>Halacha: overview, it goes through it
Poe's Law - an axiom suggesting that it's difficult to distinguish between parodies of religious fundamentalism and its genuine proponents, since they both seem equally insane - seems to apply here.
Quick explanation: In orthodox judaism, one is not supposed to operate a light-switch on the Sabbath.<p>I'm not jewish, but some of my friends are observant (but progressive) and use the Sabbath as a day of reflection. This seems to completely go against the spirit of the rule (to spend a day living simply with friends and family, without technology for maximum reflection, introspection, and rest).<p>I don't see how this gadget would catch on -- unless someone is bound is follow the rule to the letter, but doesn't really want to (but then at that point, they should just stop adhering IMHO)
Hi. I am not Jewish (I am in a country with hardly any Jews) and I do not know what relation there is to electrical switched to a religious day.<p>Sorry for being ignorant.
But can you please explain in simple words what is need for this for Jews?
This is a fantastic discussion about what God might want (or not want). I am a person of faith, I'm impressed by the respectful tone of many commenters even thought they are obviously from very different backgrounds (rare in online discussions). I think God likes that, too.
Here's another article about jewish appliances in general [1] with more detail about the restrictions. Essentially, jewish law differentiates between direct and indirect responses to actions. And I can verify you'll occasionally see this stuff on the UES, and a little more often in the Hasidic bits of Brooklyn.<p><pre><code> Sabbath law prohibits Jews from performing actions that cause a direct reaction;
that would qualify as forbidden work. But indirect reactions are, well, kosher. In
Hebrew, this concept is called the gramma. There are two types of grammas,
Ottensoser tells me. Say you hit a light switch, but it doesn't come on
immediately - that's a time delay, a time gramma. There's also a gramma of
mechanical indirectness, like a Rube Goldberg contraption in which a mouse turns a
wheel that swings a hammer that turns a key that launches a rocket. You can't
claim the mouse actually launches the rocket.
</code></pre>
That being said, as an atheist, it sure looks like these people are playing rules lawyer with their god, just like the dick at your D&D game. I have to wonder if such a god would be pleased.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.11/kosher.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.11/kosher.html</a>