Menachem Posner: And one more note: It is permitted to ask non-Jewish household help to wash the dishes on Shabbat. If they choose to use hot water and/or a sponge, that is their prerogative. Since the act of washing dishes itself is permitted, the methods they choose to employ is not our concern.
John: Perhaps the most notable change in the post-exilic period is the, "dissolution of the tribal unions," and the growth in importance of, "individual families (father's houses)….After the exile these are the foundations of the new community. If previously the elders owed their authority to the position which they occupied in the clans and tribes, this is now based on the special position of their families within the people itself." (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, pg. 658)
