structured repayment of the loan -- fixed fee, dynamic loan term -- is is an interesting way to make it hard to compare against other lenders
You would need to consult an appropriate scholar to be sure, but it could be to be compatible with Islamic finance, which prohibits charging interest. Some banks do mortgages structured around fees rather than interest too.
I suspect that although this lending may be Sharia compatible, many other parts of Stripe would not be due to interest rate components (and depends on fine print of penalties, recovery etc too).
18 miles of translucent wire stretches around NYC called an eruv:
On the Sabbath, which is viewed as a day of rest, observant Jewish people aren't allowed to carry anything—books, groceries, even children—in public places (doing so is considered "work"). The eruv encircles much of Manhattan, acting as a symbolic boundary that turns the very public streets of the city into a private space, much like one's own home. This allows people to freely communicate and socialize on the Sabbath—and carry whatever they please—without having to worry about breaking Jewish law.
These approaches are so baffling to me. Their tagline is even "control electricity on Shabbat!" while telling you all the ways you're technically not controlling electricity.
Loopholes that violate the spirit of the law but technically fit the letter of it make sense in doing your taxes, but it seems extremely risky to take that approach with a god. "Haha guys, very clever, you got me" doesn't seem like the end result for a being known for smiting.
There's no prohibition on controlling electricity as such, the most relevant actual prohibition (there are a few other justifications for particular circumstances) is on starting a fire, which prohibits turning on a light (which most devices involve) and also many ways of controlling electricity (e.g. a switch) violate as it a spark is created. Benefitting from a fire that's started before Shabbat is not prohibited, only the act of lighting it.
Regarding the loopholes, well, in Rabbinic Judaism the notion is that there simply can't be any loopholes there. Unlike laws written by humans, the word of God is considered axiomatically perfect and flawless - if you find a "mistake", that can't be a mistake, that's fundamentally impossible, God does not make mistakes. There simply can't be an accidental hole or a mistaken omission. The letter of the law is considered literally divinely perfect, every nuance or "loophole" is considered as intentionally placed there by an all-knowing being that knows all the future consequences of that nuance or "loophole". If God wanted the law to be slightly different, He obviously could and would have made it different, but He did not, so it should be interpreted exactly as written.
I suppose I'm left wondering if this causation loophole - a properly engineered switch being deemed not to cause anything, despite an obvious cause/effect linkage to an observer - is usable in other, nastier scenarios.
Can I (setting aside the obvious secular punishments for a moment) murder someone with a bomb activated via one of these switches?
In the case of murder, the result and intent is prohibited, so no matter how you get there, that's a sin.
In the case of having a fire on Shabbat, there's nothing wrong with wanting a fire or having a fire, the result is not prohibited or a moral wrong; but in that particular time and place you are prohibited to light a fire.
A hundred years ago the standard solution was to simply have someone else (non-jewish) do it, e.g. local gentile boys used to spend saturday mornings doing minor chores in jewish households for some tips. Nowadays it is done with technology. Murder is inherently wrong, so having someone else do your murdering for you is also wrong, but these actions are merely prohibited for you personally so having someone else (or something else!) do it in your stead is considered just fine.
>the standard solution was to simply have someone else (non-jewish) do it, e.g. local gentile boys used to spend saturday mornings doing minor chores in jewish households for some tips
That sounds like a bad incentive. If a shabbos goy decided to convert he would have to stop being paid, which means that you would be paying the shabbos goy to not convert.
That's perfectly fine, he should not convert if minor tips are an obstacle. Conversion is possible if someone really wants to, but is not really encouraged (and perhaps even intentionally discouraged, different branches of Judaism have different attitudes towards this) - in stark contrast to Christianity and Islam, proselityzing and bringing every soul worldwide to God is not considered an important goal.
Judaism is for the Jewish people, and while some individuals may join (e.g. in marriage) the Jewish people, from the perspective of Judaism it's perfectly okay if all the non-Jewish peoples (i.e. most people in the world) stay non-Jewish forever and their relationship with God is different.
I assume it’s a signal to others that you’re also willing violate the spirit of other laws (or rules, not necessarily legal) under the guise of plausible deniability.
Wow: that is some tortured denial of cause and effect.
I am going to set up a switch that buys you a hamburger delivery. But it has a 1 in 1000 chance of stealing 1000000 dollars. Are you committing a sin when you push the switch because you are hungry?
You would need to consult an appropriate scholar to be sure, but it could be to be compatible with Islamic finance, which prohibits charging interest. Some banks do mortgages structured around fees rather than interest too.