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A hypothetical question, but perhaps nonetheless illustrative of underlying principles : If by some method, humanity [or some non-human force] managed to stop the rotation of the Earth around its axis, would Shabbos still need to be kept?

Suppose the rotation was stopped on a Tuesday (GMT). Would we view days as progressing based on clocks, or would we view the day as forever standing still based on the Sun never setting?

Loewian
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user9806
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    very related: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/9250/when-does-somebody-living-in-space-e-g-iss-observe-shabbat – Loewian Aug 05 '19 at 21:36
  • What about the opposite case, where the rotation speeds up? Yaakov experienced קפיצת הדרך and immediately davened Maariv; he didn’t wait until however many hours he skipped passed before he davened. – DonielF Mar 18 '20 at 14:29

1 Answers1

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The Gemorrah rules that Shabbos comes by itself and it not dependent on a Beis Din, contrary to Moadim which are dependent on Kiddush HaChodesh כדאיתא בב"ב קכ"א.

I understand that "Beit Din" in the Gemorrah means our acting as a result of astronomical phenomena. For example, Yom Tov can only come a certain number of days after the Beis Din has ascertained that there was indeed a New Moon. This applies even nowadays, according to the Gemorrah in Rosh HaShannah. What the Gemorrah says about Yom Tov and Beis Din would be analogous to our acting due to a certain number of rotations of the earth. The Gemorrah means that Shabbos comes independant of astronomical phenomena. Therefore the answer that Shabbat comes independent of astronomical phenomena is valid.

Answer #2: Also, even if your question were at least a ספק, it isn't worse than what the Shulchan Aruch in Siman שדמ deals with (what to do if you find yourself in the desert and you aren't sure what day Shabbos is). You still have to keep Shabbos m'Chumrah. In your case, you know for sure when the last Shabbos was.

Meuchedet
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  • Shabbos comes by itself because the Earth rotates about its axis. If the Earth isn't rotating, how can Shabbos come? – Daniel Aug 06 '19 at 13:20
  • Answer 2 isn't addressing this case. That's where the day changes and you don't know which is Shabbat. This is about when the day doesn't change: how do you count 7 days? – Double AA Aug 06 '19 at 15:29
  • @Meuchedet : How you count days would seem to be, in fact, very relevant. If the Earth is spinning, counting a day is easy - Sun comes down and up to the same point in the sky, one day has passed. But if the Earth is not spinning, what does counting a day mean? Is it just waiting until 24 hours pass...But why 24? If the Earth slowed down its rotation rate, we probably wouldn't still count days using 24 hour increments - it seems our notion of what a "day" depends on the apparent position of the Sun, and not on an absolute time period. – user9806 Aug 07 '19 at 22:11
  • If what you are saying is true then the Gemorrah in Bava Basra would say something else! The Gemorrah in Bava Basra (and other places) says that you do not determine when the Kedusha of Shabbos is -- Shomayim does. What you are saying applies to the Kedusha of Yom Tov (that Beis Din halachically determines) -- not of Shabbos.
    • – Meuchedet Aug 08 '19 at 08:45
  • @Meuchedet : The Shulchan Aruch you refer to says "A person who was traveling in the desert [and lost track of the days and] does not know which day is Shabbos should count seven days from the day when he became aware that he lost track [of the previous days]". But how do you count the seven days? Is it by looking at the Sun going up and down, or is it by having a fixed time (24 hours) pass? – user9806 Aug 08 '19 at 17:22
  • That is something that you will not be able to determine (as referenced by the Gemorrah in Bava Basra), just like someone in the dessert cannot determine what Shabbos is. Therefor you should apply the rules of sefeikos and heterim to say brachos that the Shulchon Aruch and Aruch HaShulchon talk about m'dina d'Gemorrah. – Meuchedet Aug 09 '19 at 08:05
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    @Meuchedet : The Shulchan Aruch says to count days to determine when to keep the next Shabbos. How is this counting to be done? It's a simple question. Even if Shabbos is determined "min shamayim", it is still up to humans to keep it, and to do that they need to know when it is. And that involves humans counting days. – user9806 Aug 09 '19 at 21:49
  • That's exactly the point לפי טענות דעתי you are missing! המופלא ממך בל תדרוש. You can and see obligated to pasken when You Tov is. You cannot decide when Shabbos is. That is what the Gemarrah is saying. So you have something that is to you an inherent ספק במציאות. How should you solve this ספק? The Aruch HaShulchan brings a proof from the Shulchan Aruch סימן שדם that you apply the Halachos of sefeikos to sfeikos bmetzius. Chazal are telling us that when you aren't sure when Shabbos is, act according to siman שדם. Start counting from the day your safely is nolad. Rule out days that can't be... – Meuchedet Aug 11 '19 at 21:36
  • ...Shabbos. if you think 2r – Meuchedet Aug 11 '19 at 21:40