@lordofthemark 213526 wrote:
Oh my goodness, how did I miss a 77 page paper from the Conservative movement on the question of exercize on shabbat, with a section explicitly dicussing issues relating to biking. I will get back to y’all on this when I have had time to read and digest it.
https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/2011-2020/lubliner-recreation-sports-shabbat.pdf
quick notes
for those who view driving on Shabbat to synagogue as impermissible,
riding a bicycle to services is preferable to traveling by car. Indeed, even those who permit
driving to communal worship on Shabbat might find cycling preferable. Biking is undoubtedly a
greener alternative and makes one more a part of the natural landscape — Shabbat-compatible
qualities which add to its superiority over the automobile as a mode of transportation for the sake
of participating in Jewish communal life.76
Yay!!!!! This, so much this!
We would limit the permissibility of riding a bicycle on Shabbat, however, to the
following set of circumstances: 1) to fulfill only those divrei mitzvah which take place on
Shabbat, e.g., for a mohel to officiate at a brit milah or for an individual to attend services or
programs of a specifically religious nature; 2) to obviate the need to drive to the synagogue on
Shabbat. In an area where the local synagogue is within comfortable walking distance, cycling
would not be a permissible substitute for walking; 3) the entire ride takes place within the limits
of an eruv; 4) it is understood that the concern of shema yitaken remains — in no way should this
specific exemption be construed as a green light to change a tire or fix one’s gears on Shabbat
because one is riding to shul.
Boo! Since I can walk to shul – but can I say that the 40 minute walk via Fairlington is not comfortable? Maybe that is addressed further in the responsa? Or I can ask my rabbi? (of course people who live that close drive, but they are clearly in violation)
Also I need to make sure that putting a chain that has fallen off back on the gears does not count as “fixing”.
