 | |
| Developer(s) | YidTec, Inc. [1] [2] |
|---|---|
| Platform | Android |
| Website | http://shabbosapp.com, archived from the original 2015-09-20 |
The Shabbos App claimed to be a proposed Android app to enable Orthodox Jews, and Jewish Sabbath-observers, to use a smartphone on the Sabbath. [3] [4] [5] [6] The app was supposed to appear in late 2014. Some argued from the outset that this project was nothing more than an elaborate hoax or prank. [7]
A team of ten software developers at YidTec, Inc., including Yossi Goldstein, Yitz Appel, Yehuda Levi, and other programmers, were working on the app. [1] [4] [8] [9]
On October 22, 2014, its developers stated on the Shabbos App website that they were planning to release the app with full functionality on December 1, 2014, on Google Play. [10] [11] In this announcement, the developers also stated that the application is legitimate, and not a hoax or a joke. [11] The developers announced on November 16 that they were running behind schedule. [10] [11] [12] [13]
Under Jewish law, as interpreted by mainstream Orthodox Jewish rabbis, Jews are not allowed to work on the Sabbath, which is a day of rest, and Orthodox Jews do not turn electricity on or off on the Sabbath. [1] [2] An exception to these prohibitions is those situations that involve saving lives. [1] [2]
The developers said that the Shabbos App was built in a manner that avoids and resolves the Jewish law problems related to using a smartphone by texting on the Sabbath, allowing observant Jews to text on the Sabbath. [1] [4] [5] [14]
They also said the screen stays lit for the entire day, texts can be automatically deleted, and an indicator lights green when plugging in the phone will not immediately trigger charging it. [1]
The app was controversial in some Orthodox Jewish circles. [1] [2] [3] [4] [15]
Rabbi Moshe Elefant of the Orthodox Union and Rabbi Yair Hoffman both spoke out against the app. [1] The Orthodox Union ran two opinion pieces against the app [16] as well as another piece by Rabbi Ari Kahn which was also run by Aish.com. [17] [18] Rabbi Dr. Raphael Zarum, Dean of the London School of Jewish Studies wrote that the Shabbos App developers:
"have found solutions to the halachic challenges of typing-writing, screen illumination, sound generation and battery drainage and charging.... I have no doubt that all major halachic authorities will come out against this, except for use in emergency situations. However, the real issue will be how many people, despite their rabbis, will download this new app, open it weekly and feel a bit less guilty about their Shabbat phone habits." [19]
Elie Klein said the Jewish community should use the app's introduction as an opportunity to examine how the meaning of Shabbat is being communicated to the next generation. [20] Another commentator focused on the benefit of just disconnecting for a few hours, rather than using the app. [21]
Rabbi Yaakov Menken wrote in early October 2014 that while it was true the Shabbos App had attracted a great deal of attention and discussion, he was pretty sure the app is a hoax, "designed to make Orthodox Jews look bad by demonstrating their focus on … what, precisely, I’m not sure ..." intended to "mock attempts by serious, committed Jews to face the new challenges presented by modern technology". [22]
According to one of the developers, several rabbis are on board with the project whom the developer described in September 2014 as "Orthodox and knowledgeable in Torah and halacha", though he declined to name them. [23] Rabbi Steve Bar-Yaakov Gindi, a long-time rabbi who received ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and administers a Jewish educational website, notes that laws for observing the Jewish Sabbath have changed slightly over time to accommodate technological developments. [4] He noted: "Today, there are security cameras everywhere, and no rabbis forbid walking in front of them. That is a good example of how halacha has adjusted, in a perfectly legitimate way, to answer the needs of society using a new technology. To my mind, this is very similar." [4] Others explain that there is specific halachic leniencies that are applicable in such a scenario (ccvc cameras), in most instances, and are not at all a product of 'adjustment to the times'.
Facebook pages were created both in favor of and against the app. [4] [14] Jewish Business News listed it as # 2 in its article "Top 20 Tech Stories of 2014 With Jews in Them". [24]
Halakha, also transliterated as halacha, halakhah, and halocho, is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandments (mitzvot), subsequent Talmudic and rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions which were compiled in the many books such as the Shulchan Aruch. Halakha is often translated as "Jewish law", although a more literal translation might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking". The word is derived from the root which means "to behave". Halakha not only guides religious practices and beliefs; it also guides numerous aspects of day-to-day life.
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word siddur comes from the Hebrew root ס־ד־ר, meaning 'order.'
Shabbat or the Sabbath, also called Shabbos by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the creation of the heaven and earth in six days and the redemption from slavery and the Exodus from Egypt, and look forward to a future Messianic Age. Since the Jewish religious calendar counts days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on the civil calendar is Friday.
Kiddush, lit. 'sanctification', is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Additionally, the word refers to a small repast held on Shabbat or festival mornings after the prayer services and before the meal.
Chayei Adam is a work of Jewish law by Rabbi Avraham Danzig (1748–1820), dealing with the laws discussed in the Orach Chayim section of the Shulchan Aruch. It is divided into 224 sections - 69 dealing with daily conduct and prayer, and 155 with Shabbos (Sabbath) and Yom Tov (holidays).
A Shabbat elevator is an elevator which works in a special mode, operating automatically, to satisfy the Jewish law requiring Jews to abstain from operating electrical switches on Shabbat. These are also known as Sabbath or Shabbos elevators.
Halakha addresses a number of topics applicable to tobacco and cigarette smoking. These include the health impacts of smoking; the permissibility of smoking on holidays and fast days, and the impacts of second-hand smoke on other people.
Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg was a rabbi, posek, and dayan in Jerusalem. He is known as a leading authority on medicine and Jewish law and referred to as the Tzitz Eliezer after his 21-volume halachic treatise covering a wide breadth of halacha, including Jewish medical ethics, and daily ritual issues from Shabbat to kashrut.
A blech is a metal sheet used by many observant Jews to cover stovetop burners on Shabbos, as part of the precautions taken to avoid violating the halachic prohibition against cooking on the Sabbath.
Sabbath mode, also known as Shabbos mode or Shabbat mode, is a feature in many modern home appliances, including ovens, dishwashers, and refrigerators, which is intended to allow the appliances to be used by Shabbat-observant Jews on the Shabbat and Jewish holidays. The mode usually overrides the usual, everyday operation of the electrical appliance and makes the operation of the appliance comply with the rules of Halakha.
A Shabbos goy, Shabbat goy or Shabbes goy is a non-Jew who is employed by Jews to perform certain types of work (melakha) that Jewish religious law (halakha) prohibits a Jew from doing on the Shabbat.
Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth was an eminent Orthodox Jewish rabbi and posek in Jerusalem. He was one of the primary students of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and the author of a two-volume Hebrew language treatise, Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah — translated into English as Shemirath Shabbath: A practical guide to the observance of Shabbath — a compendium of the laws of Shabbat which is viewed by many as an authoritative work regarding these laws.
In Judaism, a person who is shomer Shabbat or shomer Shabbos is a person who observes the mitzvot (commandments) associated with Judaism's Shabbat, or Sabbath, which begins at dusk on Friday and ends after sunset on Saturday.
The Zomet Institute is an Israeli high-tech non-profit organization specializing in IT equipment and electronic appliances designed to meet Halakha.
According to halacha, the operation of a motor vehicle constitutes multiple violations of the prohibited activities on Shabbat. Though Jewish law is based on texts that were written long before the existence of the automobile, when driving one performs various actions which the texts specifically prohibit.
Electricity on Shabbat refers to the various rules and opinions regarding the use of electrical devices by Jews who observe Shabbat. Various rabbinical authorities have pronounced on what is permitted and what is not, but there are many disagreements in detailed interpretation, both between different individual authorities and between branches of Judaism.
Simcha Bunim Cohen is an Orthodox rabbi and author who has written English-language halachic works that deal with the intricate laws of Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
The Schlesinger Institute for Medical-Halachic Research was founded in Israel in 1966 under the funding of Shaare Zedek Medical Center. It is named after the hospital's second Director General. The institute is dedicated to the halachic approach to medical ethics, and has the purpose of researching, and resolving the halachic issues that emerge as medicine progresses, to consider their medical, halachic, legal, and ethical ramifications, and to present practical responses. Leading rabbis, physicians.
Benzion Zvi Klatzko is a United States-based Orthodox rabbi best known as the founder of Shabbat.com.
Jack Simcha Cohen (1936–2014) was an "18th consecutive communal rabbi in his family" and "the face of Orthodox Judaism" to a TV program "viewed by millions each week." He held positions in New York, New Jersey, California and Australia, with his "final position in the rabbinate" in Florida.
