Can you drive on sabbath

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. The Written Torah mentions little about creating a fire on the Sabbath, if I remember correctly. By starting a car, I'd think I would be starting a fire. Is a Jew allowed to do this? Why or why not? Moses tells the people who are about to get busy building the Tabernacle sort of a travelling Temple in the desert that they need to pause all their construction activities on the Sabbath, and mentions for instance not to burn things.

Our Oral Tradition recorded in the Talmud, tractate Shabbat , see especially Chapter 7 has a list of 39 categories of creative labor which were used in building the Tabernacle, all of which are therefore prohibited on the Sabbath: "growing" including planting, watering, and fertilizing , "plowing", "reaping", "cooking or baking", "dyeing", and so on and so forth.

One of these is, as stated, "burning. Hence, use of the internal combustion engine is prohibited on Sabbath. That's why Orthodox Jews have to be within walking distance of a synagogue, they can't drive; this creates a geographic sense of community that is very different than what typical American suburbia developed. People often incorrectly think that the prohibitions in force on Jews on the Sabbath have to do with not 'working'.

This is not exactly correct. One may hear people say that "in the old days" it was a lot of work to make a fire and thus light but now all we have to do is flip a switch, so now it is not work and is ok to do. This incorrect thinking is applied to many of the other Sabbath prohibitions.

The fact is that the the type of 'work' that is prohibited, as someone stated above, is based on the 39 categories of creative activities that were done in the construction of the 'Mishkan', i. Those construction activities were halted for the Sabbath.

The whole basis of 'resting' on the Sabbath is because G-d 'rested' on the 7th day after the 6 days of creation. I need to rest! In like manner he commanded the Jewish people to cease from doing creative activities on the Sabbath.

This serves as reminder every week as to WHO it is that created the world we live in and who is truly in control of it. It gives a chance to reflect about the greatness of G-d and all He has given us, and about the limited creative powers that we do have because HE gave us those abilities to use to serve HIM.

No a Jew cannot start a car on the Sabbath for the reason you outlined above. A non Jew could in theory open the car door and drive a Jew around, however there is a concept of marat ayin, where another Jew will see another Jew getting into a car and think, if they're getting into a car, so too can I drive.

Translation via Chabad. This verse clearly instructs us that it is forbidden for a Jew to light a fire on the Sabbath. According to the Rabbinic Tradition, which is binding, starting a car is prohibited as it lights a fire in the engine when it combusts. Electricity also falls in this category. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall perform no labor, neither you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, nor the stranger who is within your cities, in order that your manservant and your maidservant may rest like you.

This verse also seems to tell us that we, nor our animals or servants, should do work on the Sabbath. In my opinion, a car might actually fit into this category, since today we use a car like one would have used a workhorse or ox in previous ages.

The question is still hypothetical. But religious life has clearly already begun to go digital, and rabbis are taking this transformation, and its potential spiritual impact, seriously.

Contact Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum forward. Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. Contact him at kestenbaum forward. Home Share 3 Search. Email Facebook Twitter. Give Podcast Subscribe. Image by Nikki Casey. Sam Kestenbaum Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. J Goldberg. Send to. Is this a real power or just an illusion?

It has always bothered me why all of the first-borns in Egypt had to suffering in that final, devastating plague. There is no mention in the verses Get Our Emails. Current Issues. America's Lost Boys and Me. Henry Heimlich and Being Someone's Angel. Ten Rules for Effective Communication.

A Successful Mindset for Dating. Secrets of the Cave of the Patriarchs. Dave Chappelle and the Space Jews. Torah Portion. Remembering the Mensch of Malden Mills. I, Pencil: The Movie. While this prohibition is universally practiced in the Orthodox community, there is no agreement on its source.

The Torah bans the performance of physical creative labor on Shabbat — melachah in Hebrew — which the rabbis broke down into 39 categories of work. Over the years, rabbis have advanced various theories as to which of those categories covers electrical use. All these rationales have their logical shortcomings and none is universally accepted. Indeed, some have suggested that at this point the reason for banning electricity is merely tradition.

For many observant Jews, abstaining from electrical use is one of the core features that separate the feel of the Sabbath from the rest of the week.