showering on shabbos

Question

> This is eactly the sort of sloppy answering that infuriates me about you. Yes, there are ways to shower on shabbos that are permissible (a cold shower for example is perfectly fine) but a blanket statement (like your remarks on showering and about eating in treif restearunts or relying on the ingridient lable) is lazy and irresponsible. There are just too many varaibles. In the case of showering the most important variable is this: You, sir, have no way of knowing if the temparture on my hot water heater is truly set to a temparture that is lower than yad soledes bo. When I put on the hot water in my shower, I can't keep my hand under it for more than an instant. When the toilet flushes, I get scalded again. Isn't that yad soledes bo? But if I was foolish enough to rely on your website, I'd be taking hot showers on shabbos, and most likely being over a malacha. I am sure others have read what you wrote, misunderstood, and are now taking hot showers on shabbos in violation of Jewish law. If you want people to take you seriously, you need to qualify and clarify. You need to say: If you want to take a shower on shabbos you MUST do one of the following: (a) turn off your hot water heater, which means it'll be a cold shower, or (b) Make certain, using a thermometer, or thermostat, but make certain! that the water in your heater is not being heated to a temparture that is above yad soledes bo (whether its 110 or 120 or 125) Otherwise you are likely to be misunderstood and this is rabbinical malpractice!