This Is What the Creator of the Universe Wants Us To Do!

I’ve written before about rules that the ultra-orthodox (Haredim) follow, most recently the prohibition against doing certain things outside of a home on Saturday.  

Toilet etiquette is apparently a big deal. Here is a response I found from a Rabbi’s blog to a reader who asked if it was permissible to tear off a piece of toilet paper from a roll on Saturday: 

“One is not permitted to tear sheets of toilet paper from a roll on Shabbos or Yom Tov, whether the tearing is done along the perforated line or in between… Tearing a sheet of toilet paper from the roll is a “constructive” act of Koraya because a usable sheet is thereby produced.

“Toilet paper should be cut before Shabbos or separated tissues should be used…"

Another reader asked whether one could flush a toilet on Saturday:

“It goes without saying that flushing a toilet is permitted on Shabbat.” (Of course!)  “There is some discussion, however, whether it is permissible to flush a toilet that is equipped with a of tzoveiah, the prohibition against coloring a substance or item on Shabbat.[1]  As such, those who use such devices in their home should remove them before Shabbat.”

If I were rude (or maybe ruder than I am), I’d say that their shit does stink, at least on Saturday!  

If you are in a religious neighborhood in Brooklyn, or in what I call “Hassidic Park” in St. Louis, you’ll see large numbers of the Haredim walk to synagogue on Sabbath because they are forbidden to drive. 

What most people don’t know is that they are also forbidden to push a button.  (They can’t even Google on Saturday.)  Therefore, in Israel all buildings with an elevator must have at least one elevator which is essentially a "local," stopping at each floor so that true believers don’t have to push any buttons. 

I posed a question on a Rabbi’s website, relating to electric cars:  

“If one is permitted to ride in an elevator that is powered by electricity, why can’t one ride in an electric car so long as a gentile drove it?”

The answer:

“That's a great question that touches on a complex topic. 

“The gist of it is that most elevators actually are not permitted to be ridden on Shabbos. There are very specific requirements for an elevator to be categorized as a Shabbat elevator. This article mentions some of them. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1159378. 

“There is also another major difference between the two cases. One is that an elevator is not human and cannot be considered to be working on your behalf. It was also activated before Shabbat.

“The other is a person whom you asked or hired to drive you somewhere. That person also begins doing the work for you on Shabbat itself. This is not the right place to expand on those details but suffice it to say that those are crucial differences that can make a big difference between something permitted or forbidden on Shabbat.”

Click on the website for some more fun and legalisms!