I love our site. :-) ^^^

@MonicaCellio evening

@MikeL. hi!

@MonicaCellio So, on sabbath, I asked some of our preachers about starting fires.

The bottom line is that we go by a subjective definition of work and consider the ban on kindling fire an example of that. Since these days, igniting a burner or such takes barely any effort (as opposed to going out to gather wood, building a fire and then igniting it with a firesteel or such), it's not "work" enough to be unacceptable.

@MikeL. thanks for checking and reporting back! So the explicit passage about fire is understood as being about the larger task (go get wood and build a bonfire etc) as opposed to turning on the stove that, yeah, involves a flame?

@MonicaCellio Yes, on account of being addressed to the then-nomadic Israelites.

@MikeL. I can see that. Thanks!

@MonicaCellio No problem:) I had to ask someone more knowledgable once you've brought it up, or I probably would have had to make do with a microwave instead of my gas stovetop:D

@MikeL. there are some things microwaves were not meant for, so I'm glad you asked. :-)

So the idea is to minimize (force * distance)