Sunday, October 12, 2008

Can you flush the toilet on shabbos?

Every once in a while when we have irreligious people over for shabbos or yom tov we get asked the question:

Are you allowed to flush the toilet on shabbos/holiday?

W
ell we usually crack up and go "duh, who'd keep shabbos if you couldn't?"

Or,

"Would anyoone use their own bathrooms if you couldn't? Don't you think everyone would head off to the shul or something?"

Well, I've got news, pretty soon that question will be legit, here's why:

Just What the Economy Needs: A $5,000 toilet


enjoy! :)

9 comments:

EsPes said...

my mother grew up not frum, and she told us that when she was a kid and went to the rabbis house on shabbos, she was scared to flush the toilet cuz she didnt know if it was allowed.

David Staum said...

I had a great-uncle who wouldn't flush the toilet on shabbat. Never was quite sure what he felt the problem was.

Mikeinmidwood said...

When I was young I asked that.

The toilet in the article seem to be just to high tech for a bathroom.

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

FrumSkeptic: I never even thought of such a question. Although we did learn in Halacha about flushing if there's those blue coloring stuff, or some other gadget in there. I forgot what the Halacha was, because we don't have that stuff, so I didn't pay attention.

The article is hysterical. "Nothing says welcome quite like a friend that rises to greet you," that sounds so regular out of context.

I actually heard of similar bathrooms like this already, where it has the water and drier thing.

What I find really cool, are the ones that clean the seat automatically, makes life much easier when you have boys who...
I think FrumSatire actually once posted a video on youtube, a while ago, of one of those cool bathrooms. lol

Being that I love technology, that sounds really good, but not quite worth the 5,000. Although for those that are saving on therapy bills, perhaps it is worth it. lol.

JB said...

According to my Rav insofar as flushing the toilet on shabbos "it depends on what you have in mind" I guess it's jus like kiddush

mlevin said...

Babysitter - when you have boys over self cleaning toilets are not enough. Often time you would need a selfcleaning bathroom, (including floors and walls)

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

Mlevin: that is true unfortunately. Perhaps they will start making bathrooms that will start an automatic sprinkler like a car wash, after somebody leaves the bathroom, and then like a drier that should clean the whole place.

Ookamikun said...

You should tell them that when you need to flush, you call the shabbos goy neighbor.

Japan has even better toilets with control panels that look like a computer and they are very common.

mlevin, there's a self-cleaning bathroom in Manhattan.

mlevin said...

The only self-cleaning bathrooms in NY are public bathrooms.