On the Use of an Electronic Lock on the Sabbath (English synopses)

The following is an English synopsis of this Hebrew text.

Question: More and Sabbath observant Jews (shomrei shabbat) have to travel for purposes of business (or even social visiting) that requires them to spend the Sabbath in hotels. Today, almost all hotels ( outside of Israel) are quipped only with electronic locks in their rooms. Since these locks use some form of electricity, and it is assumed that the use of any kind of electricity is forbidden to be used on the Sabbath, many Jews avoid using them. This is usually done by either requesting a non-Jewish hotel employee to open the door to their room for them, or by some kind of subterfuge where the guest pretends not to know how to use the key that opens the electronic lock. However, not only is this often difficult to do, it also makes Jewish observance look ridiculous, and perhaps even defames Judaism (hillul hashem) thereby. It also involves the possible prohibition of deceiving any other human being. Finally, since the reason for the installation of these locks is for security purposes, i.e. so that keys cannot be copied by criminals, unusual behavior on the part of hotel guests might well arouse the suspicions of the hotel employees, who might not be willing or even able to comply with such an unusual request. As such, we have been questioned by several Jewish travelers who are faced with this considerable problem to find out if they may open the electronic lock to their hotel room on the Sabbath; and if so, how may they do this in an halakhically acceptable way.

RESPONSE: Of course, the simplest answer would be to advise the Sabbath observer to avoid travel if the only place they might stay over the Sabbath is in a hotel where all the rooms have electronic locks. However, such advice could often lead to financial hardship if taken. There is a halakhic principle: “The Torah is concerned with the financial welfare of Jews.” Moreover, such trips at times are for the sake of visiting family or celebrating family events like weddings, and that itself is considered to be the fulfillment of a commandment (dvar mitsvah). There is precedence for such permission in cases like these; hence such advice need not, perhaps ought not, be followed.

Although there is much dispute among halakhists as to whether the use of electricity is a biblically based (d’oraita) or rabbinically based prohibition (de-rabbanan), it can be argued that opening an electronic lock is in violation of neither prohibition. The biblical prohibition is the prohibition of fire (esh), and that means making and extinguishing an open flame, which is obviously not the case here. The rabbinic prohibition is the prohibition of heating an object so that it would even bum very tender flesh (thus quite minimal heat). But nothing is heated in the use of an electronic lock. Futhermore, even if one holds that the use of any electrical device is a biblically based prohibition, and even if one does benefit directly from this use as in our case, nevertheless, the grave security concerns that have caused the installation of these electronic locks in the first place are ample reason to permit their use when no plausible alternative is available. Also, if one uses the key to this lock in a “backhanded,” i.e. unusual way (ke-l’ahar yad), then the prohibition become a rabbinic prohibition, hence it is even easier to permit in situations where there is possible danger (sakkanah). Nevertheless, even if one holds that the use of an electronic lock is not a prohibited use of electricity, since there is a common assumption that the use of any electricity is prohibited on the Sabbath, for the sake of appearance (mar ‘it ayin), one should therefore use the key in a way different from the way it is ordinarily used.

Finally, there is the question of carrying the electronic key on the Sabbath (i.e. in places where there is no eruv). Unlike former times when guests usually left their keys at the front desk of their hotel and simply retrieved them by telling the desk clerk their room number, now, for security reasons, hotel guests are expected to keep their keys on their person at all times when leaving and returning to the hotel. Although there is precedence for attaching keys to one’s clothing, but only in the guise of jewelry, there is precedence for not requiring this subterfuge. Once again, for reasons of security, all persons, especially foreigners of one kind or another, are required to have proper identification ( often a passport) on their person at all times in public. For this reason, then, one is permitted to attach their hotel key and their official identification to their clothing with a clasp.

In conclusion, we express the ancient Jewish hope that the Messiah speedily will come in our day, and the type of dangers that have prompted us to formulate these permissions will no longer be our problem. May it be God’s will that every Jew will be able to keep the Sabbath in peace wherever he or she might be found.

NOTE: Citation of all pertinent sources, and full analysis of their meaning, are to be found in the full Hebrew version of this responsum.