Kindling and Quenching a Fire and Travel Vehicles

Any part of a single attached unit such as a wood stick, even if it is just nailed together, or a candle or a gas canister or an atomic reactor fuel rod that is burning as a chain reaction, if this heat will eventually spread to the entire unit, even if it will not reach part of the unit until after the Sabbath, it is considered as if the entire unit is now burning all at once. Therefore, even if he removes the lower end of the candle and then he replaces it, he is guilty of quenching a fire by removing the piece of candle (even though this piece would have been consumed after the Sabbath) and he is also guilty of kindling a fire when he replaces this piece of candle. Therefore, if the source of the heat cannot sustain a chain reaction, as with the coil of an electric heater, Biblically it not considered as if the entire unit including what is not yet burning is red hot now, but Rabbinically the unit that is not yet burning is considered red hot now and is forbidden to remove that part from the whole.

A piece of fuel that is not attached to the burning unit but is close enough to ignite is not considered a single unit even if it is lying on the burning unit in a place that is not yet burning. Therefore, the Chayai Adam agrees with the opinion of those who hold that by removing it he is only preventing the detached fuel from igniting. consequently, the work of quenching a fire is only when it is burning and not if it is going to ignite.

The Shulchan Aruch disagrees and rules that it is Rabbinically forbidden. The reason being that to the public it appears as if it is one unit since it will be ignited and therefore, people will say that if this is permitted then it is also permitted to remove oil from a lamp especially when it will not cause it to be extinguished until after the Sabbath. Therefore, it is forbidden to remove a piece of metal that is lying near a burning stick that will eventually transfer its heat to the metal and turn it red hot. Since extinguishing metal is Rabbinically prohibited and removing a detached piece of fuel is Rabbinically prohibited, this prohibition is called "a double Rabbinical prohibition" (תרי דרבנן) However, placing a piece of fuel only near the burning object is a violation of kindling a fire since it will definitely ignite and this is a normal way to kindle a fire, even though the fire with its own energy came to the fuel to consume it.

The glowing of a metal heated by electricity is not a chain reaction from within the metal nor is it considered heat transferred to the metal from the electrical wires and is not the same as heat transferred from a fire to a metal. The reason is that since there is no real heat in the electric wires to transfer to the metal. With a metal heated by electricity, the electricity creates the heat in the metal as long as the electricity is flowing into the metal. The metal does not sustain its own heat through a chain reaction. Therefore, Biblically the metal is not considered one unit even though the electricity will create heat which penetrates from one end of the metal to the other. Therefore, if there are resistors in the heating element and it will take a minute to reach the end with enough current to heat it to glow red hot and before that occurs he breaks off the end piece, he is guilty Rabbinically of a double Rabbinical prohibition of quenching a fire and kindling a fire if he reattaches it. Furthermore, he violated the Biblical works of cutting.

The electric wires themselves although attached to the heating element are not considered part of the heating element because they are not hot. If he removes electrical energy from the battery and recharges it while the bulb is still burning, he has not violated the work of quenching a fire because it was not extinguished. It is not considered a chain reaction because the fire is not consuming the battery. The battery is constantly causing the creation of new fire, therefore, the battery cannot be considered as if it is burning now. He has however, kindled the fire since if he did not recharge it, it would have been extinguished on the Sabbath. He also violates the work of improving an implement by recharging the battery. If the recharging will last six months or longer then he violated a Biblical prohibition. The law for one who drains the power from a battery in order to extinguish the bulb is the same as for one who extinguishes a fire by putting a candle in water so that when the wick reaches the water it will be extinguished. Since this is an unusual way of extinguishing a fire and it is an indirect action because the glowing fire continues by its own electrical energy to consume the remaining electrical energy of the battery, it is Rabbinically forbidden. This is a double Rabbinical prohibition because extinguishing a metal fire is also a Rabbinical prohibition. However, if he closes the switch, this is the normal way that bulbs are extinguished and he is guilty of violating a single Rabbinical violation, extinguishing a metal fire. Regarding the sparks that he creates when opening or closing a mechanical switch, he creates them and they separate themselves from the wire. Therefore, they burn themselves out and are not extinguished. However, when turning off an electric motor he is also guilty of extinguishing a metal fire because the tips of the wires that produce the sparks are red hot before the current is turned off.

Although the heat in the bulb is constantly being created this is not to be interpreted in the same way as in the case where sparks are created and say that after closing the switch the burning metal extinguishes itself. The reason is that sparks are detached from the electrical wires when it burns out and each spark being created is created as an individual unit. The bulb however, is attached to the wires and the electricity is constantly creating heat in the same unit. Therefore, stopping the flow of electricity is tantamount to removing a burning stick from a red hot metal that is being heated by the stick, even though in this case heat is being transferred to the metal from the burning stick and in the case of a bulb heat is being created in the metal.

The rule that excludes extinguishing a burning metal from the work of quenching a fire states that to violate the Biblical work of quenching a fire the fire must create charcoal. Therefore, burning metal, electrical sparks, gas or gasoline burning by itself, do not produce charcoal and they are Rabbinically forbidden to quench.

On Yom-Tov it is forbidden to increase the light of a bulb or the heat of an electric oven, even though during the process the flow of electricity is continuous and at no time is it cut off. The reason is that any increase in heat is considered creating a greater fire in the metal because the increased heat is not caused by the previous glowing fire, it is not igniting fuel, and any fire that is not transferred from another is considered "created".

If the heat source is a piece of burning wood that is heating the metal, then on Yom Tov he may increase the heat of the metal by increasing the wood fire or by nearing the metal closer to the wood fire. He is not allowed to decrease the metals heat by moving it away from the wood fire unless it absolutely necessary for Yom Tov in order to avoid spoiling the food.

When the cord of a working electrical appliance is pulled from its electrical connection, it produces sparks. The same is true for opening and closing an electrical switch while the appliance is operating. If he disconnects the electricity flowing to a timer he is also violating the work of dismantling which is a derivative of the work of demolishing.

In places such as hospitals where it is against regulations to burn candles it is permitted to recite the Sabbath and Havdallah candle blessings over electric lamp bulbs because a flame is not required by law. The mitzvah of searching for leaven with a strong flashlight or bulb is preferable since he does not fear to search anywhere with it even in a car that contains gasoline.

It is customary not to move a flashlight if it is lit, or an electrical lamp when it is on even if he needs it or the place that it is occupying. The reason is that it would appear as if he is doing a mundane weekday work on Sabbath or Yom Tov.

Driving a vehicle powered by a combustion engine violates the Biblical work of kindling a fire and the Rabbinical works of improving an implement and cooking. Driving on Yom Tov violates a Rabbinical prohibition of creating sparks through the spark plug. If the vehicle has an automated system which when set to keep at a specific speed, weighs the vehicle and automatically feeds more fuel per increase in weight, then the passenger violates the work of kindling a fire. On Yom Tov it is forbidden because it is considered doing a mundane weekday act on Yom Tov. The reason the passenger is guilty on the Sabbath is because by doing the action of entering the vehicle and not leaving before it starts he is definitely causing a larger fire and he is doing it the way the system was built to work.

Electric motor vehicles work on the same principle of electric motors. As the pull weight increases the motor demands more electrical current, the sparks increase proportionally to the increase in electrical current and the motor power is increased. Consequently, when he enters a vehicle powered by an electric motor he is causing the sparks to increase which is the work of kindling a fire. Battery-operated vehicles recharge their batteries automatically when moving. Therefore, the driver also violates the Rabbinical work of improving an implement since the recharged energy is spent shortly afterwards and does not last long. Electric trolleys and subway trains do not operate on batteries; they move from station to station and stop only for signal lights. They are in the category of a temporary implement, such as a mechanical watch. Therefore, each time he rides in them he violates the Rabbinical prohibitions of improving an implement and increasing the size of the motor's sparks. If done on Yom Tov he violates a double Rabbinical prohibition of creating sparks that are not needed. This is not the case with a combustion engine vehicle. Entering such a vehicle which does not have an automated system will cause it to slow and will not increase the size of the sparks or the fuel flow. This is only done manually.

On Yom Tov if he cannot find a non-Jewish driver he is permitted to take a seriously ill person by car to be treated.

If someone has to attend to the needs of a seriously ill person and this attendant is relieved on the Sabbath, or if his car breaks down before the Sabbath and he is far from home, he should call home before Sabbath to prepare an envelope with cash to pay the taxi and to place the envelope near the entrance. If the taxi comes on Sabbath he should ask the driver to open and close the door to avoid turning the car light on and off. If he is wearing a Yarmelke he should recline in the seat so that he will not be seen through the car window. When he arrives, the driver should open the door for him and he should instruct the driver to take the money. He should explain to anyone seeing him that it was an emergency. This is permitted only with vehicles operating on combustion engines not with electric motor driven vehicles.

If it is necessary to use a public telephone that is housed in a cabin, he is forbidden to close the door because that would turn on the cabin light. If the door will close automatically when he enters the cabin, then he must hold it open. If it's built with a floor switch that turns the light on when he steps on the cabin floor, then he must dial by leaning into the cabin without entering it. If, however, due to the excitement he did not think first and he finds himself in the telephone cabin with the lights on he cannot benefit from the cabin's light unless there is enough light anyway to see by or unless without this light he would be unable to call for help. If there is even a small danger to the life of the person and he needs the cabin light to call for help, it is obvious that this is permitted.

If he finds himself in the cabin and he cannot leave unless he opens the door and by doing so he extinguishes the bulb, he must ask a non-Jew passerby to open the cabin door or stand on the cabin floor while he exits. If he cannot find such help then he should exit in an unusual manner by opening the door with his foot or by sitting on the floor and exiting while still sitting on the floor.

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