Can an observant Jew use a camera on Shabbat?
A camera may not be used on Shabbat or holidays. Creating the photographic image would raise problems with two of the 39 categories of melechah prohibited on Shabbat: coloring/dying, and writing/drawing. Additionally, most cameras use electronics, which heat up filaments and a flashbulb (cooking or kindling), motors spark internally (kindling), closing a circuit is completing it (a “final hammer blow”, as the concept is called in the Talmud). Lastly, posing for the picture intentionally raises the issues of coloring or drawing. So, if the picture is for your benefit you can’t intentionally walk into the field in front of the lens. Anything a Jew can’t do for himself, he can’t ask a non-Jew to do for him; however, he can enjoy it if a non-Jew did it for him without his asking. There are exceptions, such as for communal need (such as the synagogue janitor), or to prevent massive loss.
