Hi Rabbi, I was reading something about how Judaism encourages people to "repair the world" and to practice energy conservation. But then I read about an organization in Israel that makes gadgets that let people follow the Sabbath rules, but still live in the modern world. One is a light that stays on all the time, but has a cover that can be taken off when light is needed. Mostly they get around the injunction against using an electrical switch that way — by keeping things on all the time. Wasting energy, in other words.
My question: Which is more important, to conserve energy and help renew the world in a sincere effort, or to adhere to the Sabbath in this manner that wastes energy? I think it is clearly the former. Please tell me what you think. Thanks.
You’ve posed an excellent and timely question with all of the current discussion of global climate change and what should be done. The gadget you mention is used mainly in hospitals. When the light is covered, the patient can sleep, and it can be uncovered whenever the patient needs care. At home most people use timers, programmed before Shabbat to turn lights off and on. These timers save energy. But they can also use the covered gadgets at home if they prefer them to timers. The newer ones use LED bulbs, which use much less electricity.
You ask: "Which is more important, observing the Torah or conserving energy". Observing the Torah is more important. God, as Creator, owns the world and has the right to direct the use of its resources.
Remember the movie "Bambi vs. Godzilla?" (It was a very short film.) Your portrayal of "Environment vs. Shabbat" reminds me of it: Shabbat, the giant monster, "squishes" the tender Environment with one stomp of its foot. The End.
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 God's world. If one day in seven were spent thinking: "This is God'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.
