Gamers keeping Shabbat

[Gizzard]

I recently read the book "Word Freaks" which is about competition scrabble players and their world. One mentioned was an Orthodox Jew who had to have someone else arrainge the tiles and record his score.

There is also a long discussion of various rulings he got from different religious authorities; some argued that using the board with the raised partitions between letter-spaces is acceptable -- you are not "writing" as long as the Scrabble letters are separated, and you are not "breaking" when you disassemble the board -- while others argued that the flat board is better because it has no permanence -- and therefore is not like "writing".

Interestingly, he was able to keep score by moving tokens around on a pre-written scoresheet - a technique that can probably be applied to D&D.

 

[Taloras]

I too, am neo-pagan(not quite wiccan, but it was what brought me into paganism). I do not game on the Sabbats, but i do bring a little of my religion into the game. For instance, my dice bag has a pentagram on it and i have blessed it and the dice. I applaud anyone who puts religion before gaming, as it should be. Religion is more important than gaming, and to me, it always will be.

 

[Ravellion]

I applaud anyone who puts religion before gaming, as it should be. Religion is more important than gaming, and to me, it always will be.

I myself am an atheist. I have my own beliefs, and one of them is that anyone should be able to do whatever they want as long as no one else is negatively affected.

So applaud me for gaming, otherwise my friends would be at home, by themselves, hence being negatively affected by my playing Neverwinter Nights !

Rav, tongue-in-cheek

 

[DM_Matt]

lalala

 

[mythago]

but you're not allowed to own miniatures at any time

Huh? I have never heard any prohibition on owning miniatures. If one purported to be a miniature of HaShem, now, that'd be a problem.

Jeph, would your mother let you accept such a kippah as a gift, or would that be too weird for her?

 

[DM_Matt]

Huh? I have never heard any prohibition on owning miniatures. If one purported to be a miniature of HaShem, now, that'd be a problem.

The most extreme of orthodox Jews (and some Muslims for that matter) will not accept statues or anything like them, even if they are not for religious purposes. Many Orthodox Jews would not mind such things, though.

 

[mythago]

Again, I'm wondering where the original comment came from--I know that some Hasidim (the Lubavitchers, IIRC) produce trading cards, similar to baseball cards, depicting famous and honored rabbis.

 

[DM_Matt]

lalala

 

[mythago]

FWIW, I sent off a question to OU's "ask the rabbi" e-mail address, about the appropriateness of gaming on Shabbat. I will post the answer if I get one.

 

[Alzrius]

Again, I'm wondering where the original comment came from--I know that some Hasidim (the Lubavitchers, IIRC) produce trading cards, similar to baseball cards, depicting famous and honored rabbis.

You're kidding! I thought they just made that up for that Ed Norton - Ben Stiller movie Keeping the Faith.