242:1 - Ezra HaSofer's washing machine

The Shulchan Aruch writes that the takana of Ezra was “to wash one’s clothing on Thursday in order to honor Shabbat [with clean clothing]”. The Gemara in Babba Kama (82a) which serves as the source for this takkana of Ezra, is pretty much verbatim like the Shulchan Aruch says.

This general formulation leaves the door open for 2 differing approaches to understanding what the Takana was all about.

1. The Sha’ar Hatziyun (242:16) quotes the Eliya Rabba and others who understand that the main objective of the takana was to ensure that the Shabbat clothes were clean when Shabbat arrived. The reason for stressing Thursday was a secondary, precautionary measure to keep the erev-Shabbat schedule open for other things.
2. The Sha’ar Hatziyun further quotes the Magen Avraham who disagrees. According to the Magen Avraham, the main intent of Ezra’s takana was to stress that there should be no laundry done on Friday whatsoever. It was not intended to encourage people to clean their Shabbat attire. 

I think that these two approaches to understanding takanat Ezra have a very practical implication in this day and age: Doing laundry with a washing machine on Friday.

According to the Eliya Rabba, since a washing machine provides the clean clothes for Shabbat and still keeps your erev Shabbat schedule wide-open for other preparations, there is no apparent violation of takanat Ezra and this would seemingly be permitted.

According to the Magen Avraham however, Ezra’s takana was no laundry on Friday’s. Period. Apparently no matter how advanced your technology is, there is a Thursday night deadline for cleaning your clothing.

So, like many things in Halacha – I guess it depends who you ask.

P.S.- R’ Nevenzahl (in his comments to the Mishna Berura) writes that today one can be lenient to do laundry with a washing machine erev Shabbat.

R’ Nevenzahl continues by offering an explanation as to why we can forego the takana of Ezra when we usually assume that an official takana cannot be disregarded even if its core rationale is no longer relevant. But according to our understanding of the Eliya Rabba above, I don’t think you need to work so hard for a justification. According to these poskim, the core takana of Ezra was never intended to limit laundry on Friday, but rather to make sure you have clean clothes in a way which won’t overtake your erev Shabbat schedule. Seems like the washing machine is pretty much exactly what Ezra Hasofer had in mind.

242:1 - By Way of Introduction

By way of introduction to Hilchot Shabbat, I think it is important to take a look at…. the introductions to Hilchot Shabbat, provided by the Tur and the Beit Yosef at the beginning of siman 242.

The Tur opens his discussion quoting several passages from the Gemara (Shabbat 118b) that stress the importance of keeping and honoring Shabbat properly (translations are my own):

“R’ Yochanan said in the name of R’ Yosi: One who (properly) enjoys Shabbat is rewarded with boundless inheritance”

“R’ Nachman said: Such a person is even saved from oppression at the hands of foreign kingdoms”

"R’ Chiya bar Abba said in the name of R’ Yochanan: One who keeps all of the laws of Shabbat is forgiven for all of his sins, even if he is an idol worshiper”.

"R’ Yehuda said in the name of Rav: One who (properly) enjoys Shabbat is granted all the requests of his heart”

The Beit Yosef quotes Mahar”i Abohav who provides explanations to this list of rewards, as well as some important perspectives on Shabbat observance:

"…he is rewarded with boundless inheritance” – Since a person honoring Shabbat properly spends freely without boundaries in order to purchase the biggest and best for Shabbat, his reward is of a similar nature – inheritance and wealth without boundaries.

“…he is saved from oppression at the hands of foreign kingdoms”/“...he is granted all the requests of his heart” – His acceptance of the burden of Shabbat saves his from being burdened by foreign kingdoms. Furthermore, he is given anything his heart desires so that he will be able to then use these rewards for further Oneg Shabbat – enjoyment on Shabbat itself.

“…he is forgiven for all of his sins, even if he is an idol worshiper” – This person’s attempt to learn and keep the Halachot of Shabbat properly is a clear indication that his idol worship is void of any real meaning or intention. There is no better or more fundamental sign of one’s belief in Hashem than the observance of Shabbat and the study of its halachot.