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(I realize the irony in asking a meta question also on Shabbat, but still.)

I just answered a question and its Shabbat; sorry, I didn't notice. So, I read this here on meta:

Is asking and answering on Mi Yodeya on shabbat discouraged?

but I'm still wondering if I should so something about it. e.g. delete the answer and undelete it this evening.

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  • Should this be left on meta, or ported to the main site as a halacha question?
    – DonielF
    Commented Aug 3, 2017 at 20:30
  • @DonielF: I think it's more of a meta issue. You could consider adding some note on this issue to the Tour/FAQ I suppose.
    – einpoklum
    Commented Aug 3, 2017 at 22:06
  • Not my call. @Monica and the other mods are in charge of those.
    – DonielF
    Commented Aug 4, 2017 at 0:09

1 Answer 1

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As you've seen from the linked question, we do not object to people asking questions on Shabbat. If you are Jewish then you might want to discuss use of computers on Shabbat with your rabbi, but that's a personal matter for you. If you aren't Jewish, you've done nothing problematic by posting on Shabbat and have no reason to be concerned.

That said, I'll make two arguments for just leaving it alone instead of trying to remove it if you did post and you worry it's a problem:

  1. If your concern is that you've violated halacha by posting on Shabbat, then you should also be concerned with doing more on the site to try to undo it. Better to just walk away than to compound the Shabbat violation by doing more. (This happened to me once on this site, by the way.)

  2. If your concern is that people will see that you posted on Shabbat, deleting it won't completely hide that fact anyway. If you were to delete the post on Shabbat and undelete it after, the posting date would still show. And if you leave it deleted it's still visible to higher-rep users. A question that you asked and deleted might never be noticed, but an answer probably would be.

So, bottom line: if you're not a Shabbat-observant Jew and are only worried about appearances, then don't be worried. If you're a Shabbat-observant Jew and goofed, presumably you're more aware and will be more careful in the future but there's nothing to do in the moment. And if you're a Jew but not Shabbat-observant, but you're experiencing some "I shouldn't have done that" feelings, there's still nothing to do in the moment but maybe this is something you want to reflect on further and/or discuss with your rabbi for future consideration.

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    My concern was no. 2; and I'm not Jewish, just with Jewish roots and an Israeli (mis-)education. I was worried it is rude of me to put it "in people's face" that I answered their question on the Shabbat. But ok.
    – einpoklum
    Commented Jul 23, 2017 at 8:35
  • 2
    @einpoklum nope, not rude at all for somebody who has no Shabbat restrictions to post here on Shabbat. There will, naturally, be longer delays before you get responses, due to the nature of the crowd. Also, we're a worldwide site, so a Saturday timestamp from someone whose geographic location isn't widely known wouldn't necessarily raise eyebrows anyway. Maybe the occasional person might wonder if we have a new user in UTC+11 or wherever, but really, it's nothing to worry about. Welcome!
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented Jul 23, 2017 at 17:17
  • Monica, this is a great answer. But, be careful. This person may decide to convert just because he sees how polite we can be ;-)
    – DanF
    Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 18:57
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    @einpoklum Now, that you have revealed your "identity", I just wanted to welcome you to the site. And, my thanks for being this concerned for other people's sensitivities despite the fact that you now know that there was no problem. To me, it's encouraging to discover people that behave as you did. I hope that you will discover interesting facts as well as contribute to this site in the future.
    – DanF
    Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 19:01
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    I observe Shabbat but obviously there are times when it is not Shabbat for me but is for someone else in a different part of the world, and assuming it is not Shabbat for me I would probably answer the question. However I have refused to text chat with Jewish but non-observant people at a time when I know it is Shabbat for them.
    – CashCow
    Commented Aug 4, 2017 at 14:01

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