Question

Dear Rabbi,

I read the answer on the Masorti website on use of the telephone on Shabbat and you (Rabbi Goldberg) unequivocally state that "Just as it is forbidden to light a fire or extinguish it on Shabbat, it is forbidden to turn electricity on and off on Shabbat." This is what I have learned also. However, in our shul (in the US) we have gradually drifted into the practice of turning lights on before services and off after services. I have been elected chair of the ritual committee, and I would like us to change back to our older practice of leaving the lights on combined with timers. However, the argument is now being made that the Conservative movement, in a majority decision, allows the use electricity i.e. turning on and off lights, quoting Rabbi Neulander's decision. I am looking for sources, especially from Conservative Rabbis, which argue against Rabbi Neulander. You clearly don't agree with him and I am hoping you can help me frame my arguments with other sources and reasoning. Thanks in advance for any information that you can provide.

Answer

When the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly dealt with a program for revitalization of the Sabbath in the 1950s, two of the major issues were electricity and travel on Shabbat. Most of the rabbis, even those who didn't use electricity or travel themselves, felt that the responsa to permit their use under certain circumstances was halakhicallyviable
In the third volume of Proceedings of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement 1927 - 1970, edited by David Golinkin (published in Jerusalem in 1997) there is a responsum by Rabbi Morris Adler, Rabbi Jacob Agus and Rabbi Theodore Friedman that precedes Rabbi Bokser's and Rabbi Neulander's responsa. Under the section "The problem of electricity" they write: "We propose the acceptance of the view that electric lights are not Torah-itically prohibited. This form of activity belongs to the sphere of rabbinic legislation or the realm of shevut. There is a difference of opinion among the Codifiers as to whether a prohibition of shevut can be set aside for the sake of a mitzvah...there exists no unanimity of opinion concerning the reasons that justify the lifting of a Shevut prohibition...in the spirit of a living and developing Halachah responsive to the changing needs of our people, we declare it to be permitted to use electric lights on the Sabbath for the purpose of enhancing the enjoyment of the Shabbat, or reducing discomfort or of helping in the performance of a mitzvah." Rabbi Neulander's responsum extended the permission to all activities that do not involve a melachah, even those not directly connected with the performance of a mitzvah. However, it should be in consonance with the Sabbath spirit.

In the discussion following the presentation of these teshuvot shows that some rabbis were extremely upset. For example, Rabbi Rosenblatt said: "The majority report... has injected something new besides authority of the law, historic necessity or expediency...I am afraid that the result of the publication of the majority report will be lawlessness, fostered by the Committee of Jewish Law". When discussing the teshuvah permitting travel, which was presented together with the one on electricity, Rabbi Isaac Klein says that he does not want to spread irreligion, that aveirah goreret aveirah (the slippery slope argument), that the Neulander responsum speaks so much about Shabbat observance, but is is all window dressing, and that more harm than good will come out of this.

In "A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice", page 87, Rabbi Klein explains that the difficulty with the lenient responsa is not only halakhic: "In common parlance we certainly associate electricity with fire because it is used for the same purposes as fire: illumination, heating, coooking and burning. The empirical argument that the use of electricity adds to the joy of the Sabbath is too subjective." He then proceeds to suggest the use of timers, as "any work that proceeds automatically is permitted, provided the machinery was set in motion before Shabbat.
In his responsum on Shabbat travelling (Responsa of the Va'ad Halakhah of the Rabbinical Assembly, Vol. 4, 1992, can be accessed through www.responsafortoday.com) Rabbi Golinkin considers turning the ignition key akin to lighting fire. I am not sure this can be extended to all kinds of electricity (Rabbi Klein claims in his book, pp. 85-86 that "actual fire is created in the engine of a car"), but it is well known that rabbis considered that the prohibition against cooking or building may be violated when using electricity.

We must not forget that the rabbis who issued all theses lenient rulings felt that they were doing it in the context of revitalizing the Sabbath. In practice, people who wish to travel or turn on lights do so, for the most, with or without rabbinic authorization.
You could stress that a Conservative synagogue wants everyone to feel comfortable (even those who do not agree with the use of electricity) and able to observe while at the services, and that it is very easy today to set up the synagogue's electricity to timer before Shabbat (as Rabbi Klein suggests), that could turn the lights, conditioning units, etc, on and off. (In our shul in French Hill in Jerusalem and other Masorti synagogues, this is what we do). In this way, no one would feel the Sabbath is being violated.
Please feel free to write us again if you need further clarification.

Shabbat Shalom!
Shanah Tovah and Ketivah Vachatimah Tovah!