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Sabbath mode and the environment10:49 am Thursday, April 30, 2009by stacey palevsky I just read my colleage Rachel's post about the Shabbos Mode that some appliances are equipped with so that people who strictly observe Shabbat won't inadvertantly work on the holiday. She questions the logic of such a feature, and asks: Is it just another loophole? But I think the more important question is: Is it friendly for the earth? As Jews, we're commanded to keep the Sabbath holy, but we are also commanded to care for our Earth because, as God told Adam, "if you damage it, there is no one to repair it after you." These competing values clash on Shabbat. If you keep the light on all night, yes, you're keeping the mitzvah of not working on the Sabbath (as opposed to the horror of switching on the light to pee in the middle of the night), but you're also wasting a tremendous amont of energy if that's what you do each week. Just think: One lightbulb that stays on for 24 hours once a week for a year burns 714 pounds of coal, 5 pounds of sulfur dioxide, 5.1 pounds of nitrogen oxide, 1,852 pounds of carbon dioxide PER YEAR(statistics' source here). And that's only ONE LIGHTBULB. Now multiply those numbers by the number of households who keep even one lightbulb on every Shabbat all around the globe. That's a lot of wasted electricity. So what's more important? A religious person's need to keep the fridge and bathroom lights on or the oven warmed, or our community's need to collectively reduce our energy consumption for the betterment of our planet? I think we seriously need to reconsider the kosher-ness of Shabbos mode. What do you think? Permalink Leave a comment Spread the Word E-mail a friend
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Green, energy, consumption, conservation, Shabbat, Orthodox,
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05/01/2009 at 07:25 AM
“So what’s more important? A religious person’s need to keep the fridge and bathroom lights on or the oven warmed, or our community’s need to collectively reduce our energy consumption for the betterment of our planet?”
It’s funny you should ask that now - in April/May 2009.
Bill Clark asked a similar question back in March 2004 - a little over 5 years ago.
The question & answer were published online & mat be found at http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/166/Q1/
Here’s the concluding statements :
But imagine - what would happen if everyone in the world kept Shabbat? Imagine one day a week when no cars, planes or boats guzzled gas, no factories coughed out polluted stench, no TVs, stereos, or computers leeched electricity?
Just imagine the health benefits if everyone rested once a week! And how many road deaths (the majority of which occur on weekends) would be avoided. Most of all, imagine the positive environmental impact if we all took one day a week to recognize the beauty of G-d’s world. If one day in seven were spent thinking: “This is G-d’s world, not mine!”
No, I don’t think Shabbat observance is going to eat a hole in the ozone layer. It might even mend one.
*****
Thoughts on that, anyone?
Login to reply to this comment or post your own05/01/2009 at 09:08 AM
jewishlibrarian, that’s a really good point, and one Stacey and I were talking about after she posted this entry yesterday.
One or two light bulbs being left on for 25 hours one day a week, and maybe an oven being left at 200 degrees, WILL definitely make some impact on the environment. But at the same time, that household won’t be using any other lights, they won’t be watching TV or using the computer, they won’t be driving or using microwaves, hair dryers, etc. So in the end, the environmental impact may be a lot LESS than on a regular day.
It would be interesting to see a comparison of energy use in a shomer Shabbos household on a “normal” day and on Shabbat. Anyone know of one?
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