Responsa Radio


2 Fitbits, Intimacy in the Modern World, and “The 18 Minutes”

In this episode:

  1. Is it permissable to wear a fitbit on shabbat? What are the sort of concerns one should be raising with such a device?
  2. This question deals with the huge gulf between assumptions about marriage and sexual relations from the central Jewish law codes and today. How should one consider the values of these texts as applied to the modern age of delayed marriage and hook-ups?
  3. On Friday afternoons, there is a seemingly strange 18 minutes after the official candle-lighting time during which it is permitted to do one’s work as if it’s the normal week. How did this arise? And how should we think about working on the run up to shabbat in general?