Editing Shabbat (section)

====Electricity====
{{Main|Electricity on Shabbat}}
[[File:Teddy bear Shabbat lamp.tif|thumb|upright|Teddy bear lamp in the collection of the [[Jewish Museum of Switzerland]]. The cap can be twisted, which covers the lightbulb with a dark shell and dims the light in a way arguably acceptable on the sabbath<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lubrich, Battegay |first=Naomi, Caspar |title=Jewish Switzerland: 50 Objects Tell Their Stories |publisher=Christoph Merian |year=2018 |isbn=978-3856168476 |location=Basel |pages=202–205}}</ref> ]]

Orthodox and some Conservative authorities rule that turning [[Electricity|electric]] devices on or off is prohibited as a ''melakhah''; however, authorities are not in agreement about exactly which one(s). One view is that tiny sparks are created in a switch when the circuit is closed, and this would constitute lighting a fire (category 37). If the appliance is purposed for light or heat (such as an [[incandescent bulb]] or electric oven), then the lighting or heating elements may be considered as a type of fire that falls under both lighting a fire (category 37) and cooking (i.e., baking, category 11). Turning lights off would be extinguishing a fire (category 36). Another view is that completing an electrical circuit constitutes building (category 35) and turning off the circuit would be demolishing (category 34). Some schools of thought consider the use of electricity to be forbidden only by [[rabbinical law|rabbinic injunction]], rather than a ''melakhah''.

A common solution to the problem of electricity involves preset timers ([[Shabbat clock]]s) for electric appliances, to turn them on and off automatically, with no human intervention on Shabbat itself. Some Conservative authorities<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Neulander|first=Arthur|date=1950|title=The Use of Electricity on the Sabbath|journal=Proceedings of the Rabbinical Assembly|volume=14|pages=165–171}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Adler|first1=Morris|last2=Agus|first2=Jacob|last3=Friedman|first3=Theodore|date=1950|title=Responsum on the Sabbath|journal=Proceedings of the Rabbinical Assembly|volume=14|pages=112–137}}</ref><ref>Klein, Isaac. ''A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice.'' The Jewish Theological Seminary of America: New York, 1979.</ref> reject altogether the arguments for prohibiting the use of electricity. Some Orthodox also hire a "[[Shabbos goy]]", a non-Jew (who must not be regularly employed by the household in question) to perform prohibited tasks (like operating light switches) on Shabbat.