When I was a young man exploring traditional Judaism. I genuinely feared the repercussions of scorning halacha. 5-6 decades later and hopefully wiser and more sophisticated, I've come to appreciate that the spirit of Jewish law is as -if not more important than the letter of the law. Sadly, I've also had to reconcile myself to the fact that for many (NOT ALL!) Jews who claim loyalty to the halacha, Judaism has become a "racket" for promoting and protecting insulated lifestyle from any genuine piety related common decency and the welfare of others. Sad. Disappointing.
The spirit of Shabbos is certainly not fulfilled when people ignore the fact that their electricity is produced through Chillul Shabbos. Even if a technical Heter could be found.
Is "storage" a mistranslation? Electricity cannot be stored locally except in batteries. And those generators are obviously not batteries. By the way, they are fuelled by diesel fuel whose exhaust is even more noxious than gasoline.
Batteries are still very expensive and last at most 15 to 20 years by the time Israel switches to renewables the batteries would have to be replaced twice.
Ultimately we will have to buy all those batteries anyway, for when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow. And no need to buy all of them at once.
I believe that the halachic issue here is not the USE of electricity, but the PRODUCTION of electricity.
Operating one's electrical appliances from "kosher" batteries is no less a USE of electricity than operating those appliances from the national grid.
The Haredi Parties' proposal will do nothing to diminish the PRODUCTION of electricity.
It will only mean that haredi neighborhoods and towns would no longer BENEFIT from electricity production they hold to be halachically non-optimal.
If they thought the regular grid electricity was truly forbidden, they would not use it at all. And that is not the case. Having lived for several years in an extremely haredi enclave, my experience matches what R' Slifkin wrote.
In general, even families that tap in to the Shabbos Generator only do so for their lights, not for their fridge, and CERTAINLY NOT for their AC. And they do not stop using their AC due to concern about using power from the regular grid. This applies as well to Battei Kennesses. They use the generator only for lights and DO NOT forego the comforts of AC rather than draw power from the regular grid.
This is not to say that drawing from the grid is non-problematic, but haredi PRACTICE (in general) has been that it's not sufficiently problematic that it would cause them to do without AC in their Battei Kennesses.
For the above reasons, I do not think that the haredi party demands are tied to decreasing Chillul Shabbos, given that electricity production will remain just as it was before -- and its just THEIR electricity (and THEIR wanting to shift the costs of THEIR kosher electricity to the State) that they're worried about.
I must be missing something fundamental here. In Israel, the electricity supply is produced by power plants that burn natural gas or coal (or sometimes diesel) and generate steam or pressurized gas, which drives a generator.
It's the same principle as a portable or neighbourhood generator, though the portable generator is more like a car engine run in reverse (no steam), and is much less efficient than a power plant. A generator is not an "energy storage device".
How is there any substantive difference in Halacha between a central natural gas-fired power plant operating on Shabbat vs. a diesel-fired neighbourhood generator operating on Shabbat?
Probably the issue is the staff working at the plant. Unless you have gremlins or shoemaker elves, there are probably no people working inside of a solitary generator.
What does "encourage" mean? Find ways to allow people to observe their stringency without harming others? If not,why not? The state spends millions to encourage people to go to soccer games.
The state does not 'encourage' people to soccer games. It 'allows' them to - as it should be in a secular democracy. Furthermore, the state does not spend 'millions' encouraging this.
In the US, states spend even upwards of a million to build sports stadia for the substantial financial benefit of team owners.
Provided you pay off the politicians. NY governor is getting substantial income from concessions in a (American) football stadium she pushed to finance at over a billion dollars.
And if HaShem knows that you are utilizing electricity produced by Jews who do not observe Shabbat, will G-d punish you? Discount your own practices? Is Shabbat observance about pleasing a vindictive deity who is quick to anger and has no compassion or capacity for mercy? Speaking for myself, that kind of literal fidelity to the letter of the law has less to do with the joys and blessing of being respectful of tradition than seeing halacha as prescribed formula for succeeding at....... I have no idea. The Masorat exists to serve me, not the other way round.
The categorization of the Halacha is based on non-knowledge of the basics behind the Halacha, as well as how people follow it.
The 'pashtus' is that the electricity is forbidden. The hospitals require electricity, yes. But additional users require additional work, which is not piku'ach nefesh. Creative reasoning is required to permit it, it is a kula that is relied on because the alternative is too difficult.
But mainstream Halacha should forbid it, and any efforts to prevent people sinning should be encouraged by people who appreciate Torah uMitzvos.
A Tesla Powerwall for a single home in the USA cost $11,500 plus installation. It has a capacity of 13.5 kWh of which 90% is usable. (Battery has internal resistance). This capacity is enough for 2 days for a medium home. Anybody who is really serious about Sabbath observance can buy this. Just don't ask others to pay for it..
"Plus, if this was really a concern for them, then they would simply use regular electricity, which they agree is permissible me’ikkar ha-din and which they still use for refrigerators and so on."
That is not correct. Homes that are linked up to generators, in the main, use it for everything.
When I was a young man exploring traditional Judaism. I genuinely feared the repercussions of scorning halacha. 5-6 decades later and hopefully wiser and more sophisticated, I've come to appreciate that the spirit of Jewish law is as -if not more important than the letter of the law. Sadly, I've also had to reconcile myself to the fact that for many (NOT ALL!) Jews who claim loyalty to the halacha, Judaism has become a "racket" for promoting and protecting insulated lifestyle from any genuine piety related common decency and the welfare of others. Sad. Disappointing.
The spirit of Shabbos is certainly not fulfilled when people ignore the fact that their electricity is produced through Chillul Shabbos. Even if a technical Heter could be found.
Is "storage" a mistranslation? Electricity cannot be stored locally except in batteries. And those generators are obviously not batteries. By the way, they are fuelled by diesel fuel whose exhaust is even more noxious than gasoline.
Take them literally and buy them lithium batteries for storage. That ultimately will help everyone when all our electricity is from renewable sources.
Batteries are still very expensive and last at most 15 to 20 years by the time Israel switches to renewables the batteries would have to be replaced twice.
Do you have any idea how much it will cost???!!!
Ultimately we will have to buy all those batteries anyway, for when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow. And no need to buy all of them at once.
I believe that the halachic issue here is not the USE of electricity, but the PRODUCTION of electricity.
Operating one's electrical appliances from "kosher" batteries is no less a USE of electricity than operating those appliances from the national grid.
The Haredi Parties' proposal will do nothing to diminish the PRODUCTION of electricity.
It will only mean that haredi neighborhoods and towns would no longer BENEFIT from electricity production they hold to be halachically non-optimal.
If they thought the regular grid electricity was truly forbidden, they would not use it at all. And that is not the case. Having lived for several years in an extremely haredi enclave, my experience matches what R' Slifkin wrote.
In general, even families that tap in to the Shabbos Generator only do so for their lights, not for their fridge, and CERTAINLY NOT for their AC. And they do not stop using their AC due to concern about using power from the regular grid. This applies as well to Battei Kennesses. They use the generator only for lights and DO NOT forego the comforts of AC rather than draw power from the regular grid.
This is not to say that drawing from the grid is non-problematic, but haredi PRACTICE (in general) has been that it's not sufficiently problematic that it would cause them to do without AC in their Battei Kennesses.
For the above reasons, I do not think that the haredi party demands are tied to decreasing Chillul Shabbos, given that electricity production will remain just as it was before -- and its just THEIR electricity (and THEIR wanting to shift the costs of THEIR kosher electricity to the State) that they're worried about.
I must be missing something fundamental here. In Israel, the electricity supply is produced by power plants that burn natural gas or coal (or sometimes diesel) and generate steam or pressurized gas, which drives a generator.
It's the same principle as a portable or neighbourhood generator, though the portable generator is more like a car engine run in reverse (no steam), and is much less efficient than a power plant. A generator is not an "energy storage device".
How is there any substantive difference in Halacha between a central natural gas-fired power plant operating on Shabbat vs. a diesel-fired neighbourhood generator operating on Shabbat?
Probably the issue is the staff working at the plant. Unless you have gremlins or shoemaker elves, there are probably no people working inside of a solitary generator.
What does "encourage" mean? Find ways to allow people to observe their stringency without harming others? If not,why not? The state spends millions to encourage people to go to soccer games.
The state does not 'encourage' people to soccer games. It 'allows' them to - as it should be in a secular democracy. Furthermore, the state does not spend 'millions' encouraging this.
In the US, states spend even upwards of a million to build sports stadia for the substantial financial benefit of team owners.
Provided you pay off the politicians. NY governor is getting substantial income from concessions in a (American) football stadium she pushed to finance at over a billion dollars.
What does this have to do with Israel? It's a different model & system - though I agree the model is ridiculous and premised on scare tactics.
And if HaShem knows that you are utilizing electricity produced by Jews who do not observe Shabbat, will G-d punish you? Discount your own practices? Is Shabbat observance about pleasing a vindictive deity who is quick to anger and has no compassion or capacity for mercy? Speaking for myself, that kind of literal fidelity to the letter of the law has less to do with the joys and blessing of being respectful of tradition than seeing halacha as prescribed formula for succeeding at....... I have no idea. The Masorat exists to serve me, not the other way round.
The categorization of the Halacha is based on non-knowledge of the basics behind the Halacha, as well as how people follow it.
The 'pashtus' is that the electricity is forbidden. The hospitals require electricity, yes. But additional users require additional work, which is not piku'ach nefesh. Creative reasoning is required to permit it, it is a kula that is relied on because the alternative is too difficult.
But mainstream Halacha should forbid it, and any efforts to prevent people sinning should be encouraged by people who appreciate Torah uMitzvos.
All the same, 24hrs of "local storage" in any given city isn't a bad idea. From an infrastructure or security perspective.
A Tesla Powerwall for a single home in the USA cost $11,500 plus installation. It has a capacity of 13.5 kWh of which 90% is usable. (Battery has internal resistance). This capacity is enough for 2 days for a medium home. Anybody who is really serious about Sabbath observance can buy this. Just don't ask others to pay for it..
It's not about Torah. It's about the grift
"Plus, if this was really a concern for them, then they would simply use regular electricity, which they agree is permissible me’ikkar ha-din and which they still use for refrigerators and so on."
That is not correct. Homes that are linked up to generators, in the main, use it for everything.
Perhaps you are not familiar with how this is done.
The reality is precisely as R' Slifkin says it is.
See my comment.