My last real Thanksgiving, so turkey day of 2019, my family and I just couldn't be bothered.

It's always such a hassle to figure out plans, decide who makes what, navigate all of the family

trauma landmines during conversation. So that year, I suggested we go to the only place I could

think of that would offer copious amounts of alcohol and food and minimal judgment if things went

sideways. And that place was an all-you-can-eat buffet in Las Vegas. Not only was it a genius idea,

it saved my family all the stress of the holiday. And it was one of the best Thanksgiving's

in recent memory. And maybe that's what we should be thankful for this year. Ease, stress

relievers, the things in life that make everything else easier. So this week, we're featuring an

episode from Nice Try and our dearly beloved friend, Avery Truffleman, about arguably the household

appliance that makes cooking a little easier. The crock pot. So this holiday folks, set it and

forget it. Take it away, Avery. On a lot of appliances, many normal, unassuming refrigerators and

dishwashers, there is a secret code. Sometimes it's not even in the instruction manual. But if you can

figure out the right series of unintuitive unrelated buttons to press in a very particular order,

the appliance will enter Sabbath mode. So you have to simultaneously press the

up button for the refrigerator temperature and the down button for the freezer temperature,

which are some distance apart. That's my friend Menachem and his mom and her refrigerator.

And when they press those buttons, nothing appears to happen.

Because Sabbath mode is about what doesn't happen.

So without getting too rabbinical about it, Sabbath mode is a way of accommodating what observant

Jews can't do on Shabbat. Shabbat starts at night on Friday night at sunset and it ends at the

emergence of stars when it's completely dark outside. So that's generally about 25 hours.

And in those 25 hours each week, every Shabbat observant Jews are supposed to absolutely rest

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