Rabbinical ruling causes havoc on elevators

The Orthodox Jew and his wife are no longer using elevators custom-built for the Jewish Sabbath, ever since a rabbinical ruling last month outlawed them. Instead, they have been hiking up seven flights of stairs to get home each Saturday, lugging with them their five young children and a double stroller.

“It’s been very hard, but we’re walking up the stairs slowly and with a lot of patience,” said Ball, 29, while pushing a baby carriage with two toddlers in tow on a recent day.

Jewish law, or halacha, forbids the use of electrical items on the Sabbath. But for decades rabbis have allowed special elevators that automatically stop at every floor without the riders pushing any buttons, permitting Orthodox Jews to ride them and live in high-rise buildings.

The ruling last month by one of Israel’s leading rabbis, calling the elevators a no-go, has reignited a vigorous debate over the lifts, forcing Orthodox Jews living on top floors to decide if they’re up for the steep hike home from synagogue on Saturdays.

The decision stretches far beyond Israel’s borders. Buildings with Shabbat elevators are common in Orthodox communities around the world, and residents in places as far away as New York are now struggling with how to interpret the ruling.

Jacob Goldman, a real estate agent in an Orthodox neighborhood in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, said residents are not rushing to change their routines. Landlords and building managers have to think about the decree’s possible implications but aren’t likely to take any drastic measures.

“A landlord can’t take away people’s Sabbath elevators just because one person said they can’t be used,” Goldman said, adding that to do so could leave some people housebound on the day of rest.

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