Tanakh reading on iPad on Shabbat

Question

As I understand, Modern Orthodox Judaism forbids reading Tanakh from iPad/Kindle on Shabbat.

Does Conservative Judaism allow reading Tanakh/Torah on an iPad during Shabbat?

Answer 1

Does Conservative Judaism allow reading Tanakh/Torah on an iPad during Shabbat?

In "The Use Of Electrical And Electronic Devices On Shabbat" (p.48), Rabbi Daniel S. Nevins explains:

Returning to the subject of e-readers, as we have seen above the use of these devices on Shabbat is problematic on many levels. Downloading new content and making notations are biblically prohibited activities under the category of toledat koteiv, derivative forms of writing. Purchasing new content is additionally forbidden by the rabbis under the rubric of shvut. Using e-readers to display new screen views which are transient in that they automatically shut off after a few minutes of inactivity would not be biblically prohibited but would be banned rabbinically as toldat koteiv d’rabbanan. However, if such an e-reader had its network functions disabled and were used to display text in a temporary fashion (thus reducing the prohibition of writing to the rabbinic level of כבוד דרבנן) for the sake of a visually disabled person who had no other way to read, we would override the rabbinic level prohibitions in deference to כבוד הבריות, the demands of human dignity.

The problem that might appear when using a electronic device - a mobile phone, is that when you use it for studying Torah on Shabbos for example, who is to say that you won't use it for "accidentaly" searching something on the web? As explained in this article:

Once you’re using your computer and using your TV, then you might use it for other things as well.