Climate Change: Who Rules the Windows?

Adapted from the writings of Dayan Yitzhak Grossman

July 24, 2026

Bechadrei Chareidim and Matzav.com report:

A bais din in Beit Shemesh has issued a unique compromise ruling to resolve a prolonged dispute between residents of an eight-story apartment building over the operation of a Shabbos elevator, balancing the needs of elderly and upper-floor residents with concerns about preserving the building’s Shabbos atmosphere.

The ruling follows lengthy deliberations over a dispute that erupted in a residential building in the city’s Ramat Beit Shemesh Dalet neighborhood, highlighting an issue that has become increasingly common as high-rise construction expands within the Chareidi community.

According to sources, the building was originally equipped by the developer with a Shabbos elevator control system, which was included as part of the apartments’ specifications when the units were sold. However, after residents moved in, disagreements emerged over whether the system should actually be operated on Shabbos and Yom Tov.

Residents supporting the elevator’s operation argued that the feature was purchased as part of their homes and that they were entitled to use it. They noted that an elderly resident living on the seventh floor, as well as a family residing on the top floor, face significant hardship without a functioning Shabbos elevator, at times making it difficult even to attend tfilos on Shabbos.

Opponents countered that operating a Shabbos elevator would undermine the atmosphere and sanctity of Shabbos within the building. They also argued that it could negatively affect the chinuch of children and alter the building’s unique character, which is home primarily to bnei Torah families.

Both sides ultimately agreed to submit the matter to a bais din composed of Rav Naftali Tzvi Hirsch Rotenberg, one of Beit Shemesh’s rabanim, together with Rav Yitzchak Lezenovsky, a dayan at the Nesivos Chaim Bais Din in Yerushalayim and the Ashkenazi bais din in Beitar Illit.

During the proceedings, the dayanim heard extensive arguments from both sides. In their written ruling, they discussed at length the sanctity of Shabbos, the unique religious character of Beit Shemesh, and the sensitivity within the Chareidi community regarding the operation of electrical systems on Shabbos. At the same time, they also took into account the residents’ property rights and the fact that the Shabbos elevator system had been installed by the developer as part of the original building plans.

Rather than adopting either side’s position in full, the bais din fashioned a detailed compromise. Under the ruling, the Shabbos elevator will operate only during designated hours, its operation will be limited in scope, and additional measures will be implemented to minimize any perceived impact on the building’s Shabbos atmosphere while still accommodating residents who require its use.[1]

I have been unable to find the bais din’s actual ruling, or even any real details of its analysis and reasoning. This article and the following one consider a related halachic discussion that may offer some perspective on the case at hand, of the principles for resolving disputes about whether to open or close the windows in a shared space like a shul, public transportation vehicle, or workplace, and their application to our case.

The first authority to have (reportedly) addressed this question is R’ Yisrael Salanter, who asserts that during the summer, the halacha sides with the faction that wishes to open the window, even if only a single person wishes to open it and a hundred want it closed, and the reverse holds during the winter. He derives this principle from the following pair of Mishnayos:

Peiah (the corner of the field that the Torah mandates be left for the poor to reap)[2] is to be given while it is still attached to the ground. In the case of the trellised grapevine and the date palm, the owner cuts down the fruit and distributes it to the poor. R’ Shimon says: So too with the walnut tree.[3] Even if ninety-nine of the poor people say to distribute it and one says for each to grab (lavoz), we listen to the one, for he has spoken according to the halacha.

In the case of the trellised grapevine and the date palm, it is not so. Even if ninety-nine of the poor people say for each to grab and one says to distribute it, we listen to the one, for he has spoken according to the halacha.[4]

R’ Yisrael understands that opening a window in summer and closing it in winter are “according to the halacha,” so he rules that we listen to those who desire that even if the overwhelming majority disagree.

R’ Chaim Kanievsky challenges the precedent from peiah, because there we are dealing with deOreisa rules derived from psukim,[5] or at least—in the case of the trellised grapevine and date palm—a gzeirah deRabanan due to a concern for danger, so if any one person wants it, he is heeded.

But here, there is no halacha governing what they should do, it’s just that generally, in the summer it is hot and in the winter it is cold. But if there is a reason that they desire to close the window in the summer or to open it in the winter, it would seem reasonable that we should follow the majority, as in all matters (see Mishnah Brurah siman 53 s.k. 53).

The Rivevos Efraim (R’ Efraim Greenblatt), in a very brief teshuvah that does not mention the reported position of R’ Yisrael Salanter, rules that the desire of even one person to keep a window closed trumps that of everyone else to open it, and he does not distinguish between seasons:

In a classroom, sometimes the entire class is hot and one person is very cold, even if he wears a garment, and the question is what to do: open the window as everyone else wants, or leave it closed?

It appears that there will be no harm to those who are hot if it will be closed, and they only want to open it for their pleasure. But to the one who is cold, he has a health concern, and it is necessary to respect this, because it is prohibited to cause harm to an individual. So it seems obvious that it should be closed.[6]

Rav Greenblatt’s assumptions that feeling cold is a health concern and that causing someone to feel that way might harm him are actually doubtful. While it is a common belief that moderately cold temperatures can make people sick, science teaches that colds are caused by viruses, and it is far from clear that feeling cold has any effect on one’s susceptibility to infection. Some experts maintain that the common belief is a myth,[7] though some research suggests there may be some truth to it.[8] Additionally, even if cold temperatures do increase the risk of contracting a cold, it is still rather doubtful that a person’s subjective sensitivity to cold increases his susceptibility to colds.

R’ Tzvi Shpitz distinguishes between seasons and between healthy and sick people, but in striking contrast to R’ Chaim Kanievsky, he never considers the preference of the majority to be relevant:

Question: Reuven recently began a new job in an office. Because he loves the outdoors and fresh air, it is important to him that the windows remain open when he works. But his co-workers complain that the draft disturbs them and is causing them to catch colds. They would like to know what halachic approach to take to help them resolve this dispute.

Answer: A. In the winter months, even if only one worker would like the window closed and the majority of the workers would like it to remain open, it must be closed. During the summer, the opposite is true: Even if only one worker wants the window open against the majority that want it closed, it must remain open. This is true even if it might cause one of the people who want it closed to catch a cold.

B. During the spring and fall, if everyone involved is healthy, they have equal rights and must come to some sort of compromise. But if one person is not well, he has the upper hand, and the healthy workers must abide by his wishes. The same rules would apply when traveling on public transportation or when learning or davening in a shul or Bais Medrash.

C. Although we have discussed a person’s rights according to halacha, the Jewish nation is a holy people who have the trait of gmilus chasadim ingrained in their genes as an inheritance from our forefather Avraham. Therefore, each person must do his utmost to accommodate the wishes of his co-workers and not allow any suffering or dispute to result from his insisting on his rights.[9]

[1]Beit Shemesh Bais Din Issues Unique Ruling to Resolve Shabbos Elevator Dispute. Matzav.com. Moshe Weisberg. Psak Din Meyuchad: Kach Huchra Hasichsuch Saviv Ma’alis HaShabbos Beveit Shemesh. Bechadrei Chareidim. The Matzav.com article is apparently more or less a translation of the Bechadrei Chareidim article. Cf. here.

The permissibility of the use of elevators in general, and Shabbos elevators in particular, on Shabbos and Yom Tov is a complex topic and beyond the scope of our articles; for discussion and background, see R’ Levi Yitzchok Halperin’s Ma’aliyos BaShabbos; R’ Chaim Jachter, The Use of Elevators on Shabbos: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV and Gray Matter IV Technology: The Use of Elevators on Shabbos; R’ Mordechai Frankel, Going Up: All About Shabbos Elevators, Kashrus Kurrents Summer 2024; R’ Shlomo Brody. Ask the Rabbi: The Heights of Halacha. The Jerusalem Post. (also here); here; here;.

[2]Vayikra 19:9.

[3]“Chalikei egozim,” as understood by the Aruch, Rabeinu Shimshon, and Ra’av. The Rambam understands it to refer to a certain type of very tall nut tree.

[4]Peiah 4:1-2.

[5]See Yerushalmi ibid., cited by Rabeinu Shimshon ibid.

[6]Shu”t Rivevos Efraim cheilek 4 (O.C.) siman 219.

[7]See Castellani, John W., Ingrid K. M Brenner, and Shawn G. Rhind. “Cold Exposure: Human Immune Responses and Intracellular Cytokine Expression.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (United States) 34, no. 12 (2002): 2013–20. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005768-200212000-00023; Cynthia Weiss, Mayo Clinic Q and A: Myths about catching a cold; John Tregoning, cited in Is it true that…going out when it is chilly can make you catch a cold? The Guardian.

[8]See Foxman, Ellen F., James A. Storer, Megan E. Fitzgerald, et al. “Temperature-Dependent Innate Defense against the Common Cold Virus Limits Viral Replication at Warm Temperature in Mouse Airway Cells.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, no. 3 (2015): 827–32. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411030112 (see popular reports of this study here; here; here; here; and here);

See Huang, Di, Maie S. Taha, Angela L. Nocera, Alan D. Workman, Mansoor M. Amiji, and Benjamin S. Bleier. “Cold Exposure Impairs Extracellular Vesicle Swarm–Mediated Nasal Antiviral Immunity.” Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 151, no. 2 (2023): 509-525.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2022.09.037 (see popular reports of this study here; and here).

Cf. LaVoy, Emily C. P., Brian K. McFarlin, and Richard J. Simpson. “Immune Responses to Exercising in a Cold Environment.” Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (United States) 22, no. 4 (2011): 343–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2011.08.005, and here; here; here; here; here; and here.

[9]R’ Aron Tendler, Hilchos Choshen Mishpat, Volume II: Number 26: Close The Window! based on a column by R’ Tzvi Shpitz. Rav Shpitz published this same framework (and accompanying analysis) in Mishpetei HaTorah cheilek 1 siman 89 pp. 324-26.