Following a set of rules, even arbitrary rules, can be a part of a tradition. For example, one of the rules that my family follows is putting up a Christmas tree around the beginning of December and decorating it. This is work, in some sense "stupid" and "irrelevant" work: my hands have gone numb while trying to cut with a handheld saw at the base of at tree before. The needles make a mess everywhere. Cutting down trees is probably not great for the environment. But, if my (American, Protestant) culture weren't so hellbent on seeing religion a matter of individual belief, we'd probably recognize that this is a religious practice. It's a unique set of weird things we do that sets us apart and brings us together.
Other practices seem connected to holding a sense of wonder for the world we live in. My experience with Sabbath-remembrance is that it is an attempt to commemorate life itself (as a creative act) by choosing to rest (not creating) on that day. (I can't speak for Jews, my background was Christian.) As someone who's now a religious "none/other", I think there's something still work respecting in these practices, even if they sometimes seem badly aligned with the modern fast-moving world.
Following a set of arbitrary rules can create tradition and community, and if these are harmless this is fine, but this example of finding workarounds for your own religion comes across as keeping up appearances for others who subscribe to it; not actual religious adherence. I mean, most gods I've read about don't look to kindly on interpreting their principles to the letter (“Look! I'm not touching the switch, but if I say ‘Alexa, I feel gloomy’ the light comes just happens to come on!”) rather than to the spirit.
"Israel" is literally defined in Genesis to mean "the one who strives with God", so this kind of argumentative approach to one's own religion might not be approved by "most gods", but that doesn't mean it can't be part of some religions. I would also note that some Jews who have replied to this thread have indicated that they do endeavor to follow both the letter and spirit of the law.
I have always understood there to be two classes of hacks in Judaism.
The impermissible class circumvents the spirit of the law.
The permissable class clarifies what the spirit of the law actually is.
The spirit of the Shabbat law is to rest and resting is defined as refraining from a set of 39 categories of labor. One of these categories is transferring an object from one domain to another. But is it really labor to carry a cake to a friends house as a gift when attending a meal? Is it labor to push a child around in a stroller?
The loophole of Eruv is intended to enable Jews to define communities by drawing a string around them and demarcate a logical line of what constitutes labor vs not on Shabbat as a something external to the community vs external to the home. This is a psychological exercise to force Jews to understand the boundaries of their communities so as to protect them from actually performing labor and preserving the sanctity of Shabbat.
The point is to sculpt the life of the practitioner—so that we remember God and His creative presence in our lives in all that we do. Extra work beforehand, moving effort around to clear the Sabbath, then having a weird day on the Sabbath, is a great way of doing that. Acting as a family on the Sabbath doesn’t hurt either!
The orthodox all seem to feel an obligation like that of lay brothers in Christianity. Even there: God is eternal, so prayer cannot change Him. Why pray? It changes us. Why pray unceasingly? For unceasing change.
In most societies, we leave most people at the default shape of life and set apart those who want to sculpt their living of their life. Orthodox Judaism asks that level of commitment of all its members, and so has persisted for a couple hundred years with less change than most.
It’s also odd to me that violating the spirit of the rules via technicalities is considered morally acceptable in that context (and yes, like any religion there are twisted rationalizations about why it all makes perfect sense).
Hell, in ancient times they even had land Sabbaths.
Not that it’s all feasible but can you imagine how better off oceans and lands would be if they could be given even a year’s break on a seven year cycle?
I think religion brings many good things to the world, guides people and gives them something to hold on to in difficult times. But the super strict following of rules that someone interprets out of a book that was written thousands of years ago is not one of the good things. And to be sure: for me that applies the same to all religions, this article is about Jewish hacks but there are also Christian and Muslim rules that make no sense now centuries later.