Shabbat mode

Sabbath mode is a feature in many modern appliances, including ovens and refrigerators which is intended to allow the appliances to be used (subject to various constraints) by Sabbath-observant Jews on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays.

One of the Sabbath laws is that raw food may not be cooked on the Sabbath, but food which was already cooked beforehand may be kept warm until mealtime. On holidays, food may be cooked fresh, but turning the flame on is problematic. In the past, both of these could be accomplished simply by lighting a flame before the day begins, and using its heat over the course of the day. In recent decades, however, appliance manufacturers have instituted a safety feature which automatically shuts off the heat after a number of hours. This renders the appliance useless for those who observe these religious laws.

The key features of Sabbath mode ovens are that it disables the standard six- or twelve-hour cutoff and all lights and displays are disabled, so that no visible activity takes place when the oven door is opened.

In more recent ovens, Sabbath mode will often feature the ability to adjust the temperature of the oven without any feedback to the operator of the oven. This is not relevant to the Sabbath, but is useful on holidays, when adjusting the heat is allowed, but changing a digital readout on the control panel is not, according to the prevailing Orthodox opinion and the minority Conservative view.

With some Sabbath mode ovens that are controlled using a keypad to set the temperature, there is a pseudo-random delay triggered after a button is pressed before the temperature change takes place.

Those who feel that hitting the keypad closes a switch (and that completing a circuit is not allowed) do have other options, such as the "Tweaker" which was featured on the TorahTechnologies.org web site that emulates old manual ovens by adding a knob that confuses the accurate temperature measurement in a beneficial fashion.

In June 2008, a number of prominent Poskim signed a Kol Koreh (public pronouncement) stating that it was unequivocally forbidden to raise or lower the temperature on Yom Tov using the Sabbath Mode feature. [ [http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/19228/Preventing+Transgression:+Gedolei+HaPoskim+Asur+Shabbos+Mode+on+Ovens.html] ] The Kol Koreh referred to the long-held lenient opinion of Rabbi Moshe Heinemann ["See" [http://www.star-k.org/cons-appl_kitch.htm] ] as a Daas Yachid (a minority opinion that should not be relied upon - literally: the opinion of an individual). [Rabbi Heinemann was not mentioned by name.] However, it has been pointed out that Rabbi Heinemann's opinion is fully consistent with the rulings of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, who was not only one of the greatest Poskim of his generation, but whose understanding of electricity and technology was probably unparalleled among any of his peers. [This is evidenced by the fact that Rabbi Auerbach wrote a pioneering Halachic work on electricity when he was only 25 years old ("Meorei Aish", first published in 1935, with glowing approbations from, among others, Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski).] ["See" [http://www.haloscan.com/comments/hirhurim/3422115356094084166/#584307] , [http://www.haloscan.com/comments/hirhurim/3422115356094084166/#584321] , [http://www.haloscan.com/comments/hirhurim/3422115356094084166/#584510] , [http://www.haloscan.com/comments/hirhurim/3422115356094084166/#584561] , [http://www.haloscan.com/comments/hirhurim/3422115356094084166/#584614] , and [http://www.haloscan.com/comments/hirhurim/3422115356094084166/#584789] .] Indeed, none of Rabbi Auerbach's sons or sons-in-law, including Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, Rabbi Ezriel Auerbach, [Rabbi Ezriel Auerbach is a son-in-law of one of the prominent signatories of the Kol Koreh, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv.] and Rabbi Zalman Nechemia Goldberg, all prominent Poskim in their own right, participated in the Kol Koreh. [Rabbi Auerbach took a more lenient position regarding electricity than did the Chazon Ish. However, although the Chazon Ish was perhaps the greatest Posek of his generation, his view, that virtually all use of electricity on Shabbos and Yom Tov involves a Biblical prohibition (even where no light or heat is created) is not the majority opinion. "See" [http://www.daat.ac.il/DAAT/english/Journal/broyde_1.htm] ; "see also" Electricity on Shabbat in Jewish law.] A Sabbath mode refrigerator includes, at a minimum, the ability to disable all lights or other electrical activity from occurring when the refrigerator door is opened. Some Sabbath mode refrigerators include a timer for the compressor so that opening the door, which will normally indirectly cause the compressor to turn on as the temperature rises, will have absolutely no effect on any electrical operation of the appliance.

WordNet reports that KitchenAid introduced the feature in 1994.

ee also

* 39 categories of activity prohibited on Shabbat
* blech
* cholent, especially the section on serving hot foods on Shabbat

References

* http://www.wordspy.com/words/Sabbathmode.asp
* http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-cooking-SM.htm
* [http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/5808278.html An early sabbath mode patent in the USPTO database: #5,808,278]