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Comment by abductee_hg | Hacker News Reader

hmm, and here i was thinking that the Shabbat is to disconnect and unwind... you know get away from the constant notifications and such.

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Ok. A serious question here: Can some HN Jews, enlighten me (a 100%-proof agnostic) on what they actually do on Shabbat? Are you allowed to use the internet? If something in your house breaks, are you not allowed to fix it? Do you just sit around gazing into space just in case something you do is classed as 'work'?

I find the whole concept quite interesting.

For Sabbath observing Jews, “work” is defined as a certain set of 39 (?) activities that are defined in the bible and relating to building the “Mishkan”. Generations of Talmudic rabbis then added new interpretations and requirements on these rules to adapt for new technology. eg, the prohibition against using electricity is because it relates to igniting a spark, which is one of the 39 prohibited activities (Or “malakha”)

Internet? No

Something breaks, fix it? No

Sit around all day? No :)

For many that keep the Sabbath, the time is spent eating, praying, and studying and there’s somewhat of a schedule. Friday night: synagogue, then big ceremonious dinner. Saturday morning: Synagogue. Saturday afternoon: big ceremonious lunch and study or sleep. Saturday evening: back to synagogue again. It’s a pretty full day.

You left off the most important activity of the double mitzvah!

> Something breaks, fix it? No

I assume that's only if not urgent? e.g. pipe blows up or rock hits a window for whatever reason, you can at least effect basic repairs if not immediately call the tradie?

>you can at least effect basic repairs if not immediately call the tradie

You're not supposed to do either on shabbat unless its life or death.

In strict orthodox Judiasm nope.

The only time you can break the Sabbath is if it is "pikuach nefesh" (life threatening if not done)

So, say a pipe blew and is flooding the apartment building you're supposed to not do anything?

you turn off the main water shutoff and get to fixing it after shabbat (i.e. no different than turning on and off the faucet)

FTFYriday night: synagogue (for the men) then big ceremonious dinner (that the women have been cooking)

There's no cooking allowed on the Sabbath, and women can and frequently do go to synagogue with the men. (But if they stayed home, they were probably setting the table while the men were in the synagogue.)

depends what community you are in. Can point to plenty of orthodox synagouges (especially those with large single populations) that get large numbers of both men and women to all services.

and being a single guy, I've hosted many a meal where I did the cooking, table setting and cleaning. (though in practice at these meals, there is also a pot luck nature to them and many times there's a whole system where your friends come over help you set the table and then help clean up and throw everything away all the trash after the meal, collecting silverware, wrapping up the plastic table cloth cover with all the crumbs/spills on it).

The major theme is that we are not allowed to do anything constructive/productive. Just as God stopped creating the world on the seventh day, we stop our part of making the world.

This is broken out into fine detail in the sources. There are 39 categories of work listed, covering agriculture, food production and cooking, textile production, building, and a few more.

When electricity came along there was a big debate among rabbis if its use comes under one of the existing categories or not. Nowadays among Orthodox Jews it's universally agreed that it does. This obviously wipes out a lot of modern life - not just the internet but even switching on lights, etc.

Reading, learning, eating lots of good food with the family, meeting friends, taking your kids to the park - all totally permitted.

As kids, yes it was sometimes annoying. But now it's amazing.

What about games?

provided they don't cause you to violate the 39 melachot or any of the rabbinic extensions of that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/39_Melachot

It's not hard to violate them though. Carry something in public? nope. Use electricity/fire? No. etc etc

What we can't do is to any acts of creation. So pushing a button and creating a circuit, building and many other things are forbidden. If something breaks we wait till Shabbat ends. Or if there is discomfort caused, in some cases we can hint or ask a non jew to fix it, turn off a light, ect. If a life is in danger we can and should do anything we can to save a life even if it means violating Shabbat. What we do do is go to Synagogue (when they aren’t closed for covid-19), eat meals with friends and/or family, visit people who have celebrations (new baby, or wedding ect), read and study. And no we don't "just sit around gazing into space just in case something you do is classed as 'work'" like it may appear to be on first glance as we know what we can and can't do.

Most Orthodox Jews would not use any electrical device, or repair items on the Sabbath, no.

Sabbath is 25 hours. Typical schedule...

7-10 h sleep

3-4 h prayers

3-5 h meals

0-4 hours religious study

Remainder is light recreational activity, walking to/from synagogue/friends' homes.

I'll give you a focus on what I do, not what I don't.

- I have two full, sit-down meals with my family and sometimes friends as well, typically with appetizers, mains, the whole she-bang. No cellphones.

- I go to synagogue (when it is not closed due to COVID) and pray. They have a light meal after services where I socialize before going home and having a bigger meal.

- I go to the park and play with my daughter. Other Jewish families in my neighborhood often do the same, so we socialize while our kids play.

- I catch up on reading

I wake up, go to shul (right now it's a social-distance service, we all wear masks and sit 6' from each other in a back yard). Then we have a few drinks.

Then I go home. Before COVID, we'd visit several friend's houses, walking around the neighborhood, eat a little, have lunch, talk.

Then we'd meet again for the afternoon service. Then I'd go home and read for a while.

Then we'd meet again for evening service and havdalah. Then we'd have a few more shots and go home.

(During the winter when days are shorter, things are compressed. This is "summer mode" with long days.)

For a different view from the rest of the replies: our family takes a more relaxed view of things. Shabbat is for food, family, and taking time off from the hustle and bustle. This may include things like:

* Scrabble and other board games

* Cycling and other outdoor activities

* Reading

* Gardening

* Picnicking with friends (though not so much nowadays)

We don't really subscribe to the very strict definition of "work", and I don't think the rest of our synagogue community does either. But phones, internet, and computing are largely discouraged.

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