One elevator in my building stops on every floor during the Jewish sabbath so no buttons have to be pressed

I wonder how many other religious belief loopholes exist across the world. It seems like a good thing to have in situations like this.

Why can’t Jewish people push buttons on Sabbath?

Religion is so weird

Sometimes organized religion is so stupid

How strange the mental gymnastics are to both believe your god forbids you doing a thing, but also is completely ok with you working around it to do it anyway.

Traffic signals in Jewish towns around here automatically bring up the walk signals during the Sabbath and other Jewish holidays.

Does this mean it’s constantly stopping at every floor all day?

Geez. Might as well schlep up the stairs.

How is using the elevator not in violation but pressing a button would be?

When I first moved to NYC, I lived in South Williamsburg, where there’s a big Jewish community. One Friday evening, I was heading out to the bars when a man in full traditional garb waved me over and asked for help.

I said, “Sure,” and he told me to follow him. Caught up in the moment, and maybe a little too trusting, I followed him into a building and all the way to the back.

At this point, I was starting to get really nervous. He stopped, looked at me, and pointed at the wall. “Can you turn that switch?” he asked.

I was terrified enough to agree to anything at that point, so I flipped the switch. He said, “Thank you.” That was it. No explanation.

I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, trying to make sense of the situation, then quietly slipped out.

For years, that bizarre encounter lived rent free in my head until I finally learned that Jewish people aren’t allowed to turn on lights during the Sabbath

I love how religion negotiated a day off into their scripture.

Master: Ok conquerored people, time for another 16 hour day of slaving. Wooo, LFG!

Peasents: Yea about that, we just found some new shit. Seems we’re off today because…GOD RESTED. Sorry bruh

Honestly this is r/mildyinfuriating . If you have to create a myriad of loopholes then the whole thing is pointless and meaningless to begin with. FFS people.

I love all the wacky loopholes really orthodox Jews use to try and trick an all powerful omnipotent being, lol

“God says I can’t flick a switch, but if I build a rube Goldberg machine that flicks it for me, then that doesn’t count”

True story from upstate New York:

In the Orthodox community, many families turn on their stoves before sundown on Friday so they can cook on Saturday without violating Sabbath rules.

One weekend, while I was working for the post office, an Orthodox woman I knew stopped me and asked if I could help restart her gas stove. The flame had gone out, and now it was leaking gas.

When I stepped inside, the house reeked of gas. For religious reasons, she couldn’t open the windows herself, and inside were a teenager and a baby. I immediately turned off the stove, opened the windows, found a fan, and set it up to push the gas outside. Then I got everyone out of the house.

I told her that if the smell didn’t fade in a few minutes, I was going to call the fire department. She asked me not to—said the men would be home soon from a service. I nodded, and we waited outside for about twenty minutes until the smell finally cleared.

I told her I wasn’t comfortable relighting the stove—it could happen again. She said she’d wait for the men to return and thanked me.

Walking back to my route, it hit me how dangerous the situation had been. If I hadn’t walked by when I did, they might have waited hours—trapped in that house, breathing gas or an explosion occuring —just waiting for permission to act.

Literally dying for religious reasons unable to save themselves.