Am I allowed to use a Shabbos elevator?

 

Question:

I am planning to go to a Shabbaton in a hotel where they have a Shabbos elevator that takes you to each floor up to the 5th floor. I have a 9-month-old baby and was planning to bring her stroller. Am I allowed to use the Shabbos elevator? My husband tells me the Rebbe was against using a Shabbos elevator because it is our weight that is causing the elevator to move?

 

Answer:

I don’t know of any statements from the Rebbe on this matter. There are however serious halachic considerations.

An automatic elevator, meaning an elevator that is programmed to stop on every floor and remains open for a certain amount of time, isn’t necessarily a kosher Shabbos elevator.

There are many more issues beyond pressing the button for the elevator to come or to indicate which floor it should stop. Chief among them is the fact that the weight of the passenger affects the motor, or more correctly the weight is used to replace some of the current in the motor and assist in lowering the elevator when descending.

However, there are various arguments for leniency in this regard, especially when using the elevator for a mitzvah or in the case of the elderly and infirm, etc. Ascending the elevator is even more lenient, as the effect of the passenger increasing the current to operate with a heavier load is much less significant.

One must also ensure not to activate the system (resistance sensitive pads, photoelectric device, or proximity detector) that opens the elevator doors. This can be accomplished by not getting too close to the elevator door when it is about to close since this can cause the door to reopen.

However, modern elevators have many more issues. When a passenger enters the elevator, he activates a scale which weighs the contents of the elevator and transmits the information to the control center. Also, the passenger’s weight triggers the mechanism that slows the elevator down and stops it at the next floor. The passenger movement can also cause the light which indicates the floor that the elevator is presently on to illuminate.

Shabbos elevators should only be used with a reliable hechsher. In these elevators, not only are the control buttons totally disconnected, but the circuits which control the doors, such as photoelectric eyes, or touch-sensitive switches in the doors themselves, are not in operation. The weighing device is also completely disconnected.

There are primarily two types of kosher Shabbos elevators. The elevators certified by the “Technological Institute of Halacha” is preferred by many poskim over the elevators certified by “Machon Zomet”. They operate very differently. Even so, one should only use it in desperate situations.

 

 

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