I understand Saturday is sabath but mi.yodeya is a site for jewish learning and nothing related to work , so why do people disappear from here on Saturdays? Does answering questions or questing etc also considered work?
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2http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/12572/759 – Double AA May 12 '13 at 01:14
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Using electrical devices is considered work for a variety of reasons, so we do not use computers on Saturdays. – Daniel May 12 '13 at 03:09
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1(Until the end of the Sabbath, of course) – Daniel May 12 '13 at 03:09
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I considered moving this question to meta but didn't -- while a question about traffic patterns is meta, a question about the reason for that isn't. – Monica Cellio May 12 '13 at 03:18
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1Is this not a dupe? – Seth J May 12 '13 at 03:47
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@SethJ Why would it be? (or am I not seeing the question you refer to as the dupe?) – Double AA May 12 '13 at 03:48
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@SethJ, the answer is the same, but I don't think the question is a dupe. – Monica Cellio May 12 '13 at 03:49
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@double aa elements of the question you linked and his own question ( http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/28657/what-is-considered-work-in-sabath) – Seth J May 12 '13 at 03:50
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@SethJ How is my linked question a dupe? That asks why X, this asks is Y included in Z. – Double AA May 12 '13 at 03:51
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As noted in the comments, using electricity is melacha and thus forbidden on Shabbat. See this question for more information about why electricity is prohibited. In addition, writing is forbidden on Shabbat, even if the text is ephemeral. Since, so far, it is not possible to ask and answer questions on Mi Yodeya without using electricity and writing, the Shabbat-observant participants here do not engage in those activities on Shabbat. (Or Yom Tov, holidays.)
Shabbat is of course determined by local astronomical events and Mi Yodeya is a worldwide community -- just because it's Shabbat in North America doesn't mean it is in Australia or Israel or Europe, after all. Further, as noted by Daniel in a comment, this site is also used by non-Jews, who aren't bound by Shabbat restrictions and are welcome to use the site then. So you will likely see some activity here on Saturday, but less than the rest of the week.
Monica Cellio
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4Also, we (hopefully) appeal to other people besides Jews, and they are are more than welcome to access Mi Yodeya on Shabbat. – Daniel May 12 '13 at 03:39
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1Even with a water operated internet we would still have the issue of writing. While it won't be a biblical prohibition since it is not lasting text, it is still rabbinically prohibited. – HaLeiVi Dec 03 '15 at 07:24
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@HaLeiVi Are you sure about that? Even though the letters appearing on the screen has no apparent connection to our pushing water-operated buttons on the keyboard? – Daniel Dec 03 '15 at 14:26