Poll: Would You Install a KosherSwitch?
The promoters of the new “KosherSwitch” are working hard to get the word out, promoting a light switch which they explain is endorsed by Rabbonim, claiming it can be used on Shabbos and Yom Tov.
The switch has a single knob to turn it on or off leading to a piece of plastic to block a streaming electronic light pulse that when received turns on the light. Turning the switch on moves the piece of plastic, which is not connected to anything electrical, so that it no longer obstructs the pulse, according to JTA.
Rabbi Yisrael Rozen of the Zomet Institute comes out against the switch in no uncertain terms, joining the voice of prominent Rabbonim in the United States. Despite developers’ claims that the switch is endorsed by prominent Rabbonim, he explains that his institute’s work to develop and market items that work on the ‘grama’ principle for Shabbos and Yomtov are for people who absolutely require it, like government officials, senior security officers and physicians. Rabbi Rozen emphasizes that he or his colleagues would never dream of permitting the masses to use a light switch or electricity on Shabbos regardless of the reports that it operates within the confines of halacha.
“This item was recycled from 2010 and already then denials and renunciation by great rabbinic authorities were published regarding everyday use for this product,” Rosen wrote April 14 on Zomet’s website. “No Orthodox rabbi, Ashkenazi or Sephardi, has permitted this Gramma method for pure convenience.”
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Maybe Rabbi Braun could do a one minute Halacha about it, would be interesting to see what our Rabbonim have to say about it.
It’s hard to believe that it will be permitted. It seems to me it could be compared to the Halacha of opening a window near a candle. Or like a Shabbos clock, could I add a piece so the light should turn on in 10 minutes?