However, Mrs. Schwartz, with strong emunas chachomim , mentioned to her husband when he returned to the store that the Chazon Ish had insisted that there was olive oil to be had in their store. She recounted the details of the day’s encounters and urged her husband to do his best to recall if some oil might not be hidden somewhere. During their conversation, she recollected a faint memory of the can of oil that had fallen down the hollow shaft years earlier.

Yaakov could not remember if it had actually been olive oil. “Maybe it was a tin of sardines that fell? I remember trying my best together with my brother to fish it out. Even if it is still there, the can must have rusted over entirely. There is no point in trying to get to it now.”

Mrs. Schwartz was persistent. If the Chazon Ish was certain there was olive oil in the store and had requested that it be searched for, it was worth tearing down the shelving to fulfill his request. Yaakov removed all the merchandise from the shelves and began unscrewing them from the metal beams. He then hired an Arab worker to dig the shafts out of the ground. He began with the one on the right side and worked for two and a half hours, digging a meter into the ground, before managing to get the beam out, but no can was unearthed. The entire store was covered with sand, the inventory spread all over the floor, the Arab’s wages spent in vain, and Yaakov was discouraged. Undaunted, Mrs. Schwartz insisted that the left beam be excavated. It took another three hours of hard work before it was out of the ground, but lo and behold, there was the can of olive oil – complete and unharmed.

Yaakov took the can in both his hands, and leaving the Arab to replace the beams in the ground, ran with his wife to the home of the Chazon Ish. “Rebbe, I brought you the olive oil!” he breathlessly announced. The Chazon Ish replied, “I told you that there is olive oil in the Schwartz’s store,” and very happily paid him enough money to cover the expenses incurred in tearing down the shelving.

On the way home, Yaakov remarked to his wife, “Now we know why the beams were left exposed when the store was constructed ten years ago. Hashem knew that there would be a shortage of olive oil this year and wanted to save a can of oil for the Chazon Ish. That is also why both my brother and I were unable to recover it and get it out of the shaft.”

Benefitting from melacha done by a non-Jew

If a non-Jew preforms a melacha on behalf of a Jew on Shabbos, it is forbidden for any Jew to benefit from it on Shabbos. For example, if a non-Jew lights a candle, it is forbidden for a Jew to use the light to do anything that he could not have done without the light. If it was a melacha d’rabonon, only those for whom the melacha was done (including family/household) may not benefit from it. A short-term guest is also forbidden from benefitting from the melacha unless he arrived after the melacha was done. It is forbidden to benefit from a non-Jew’s work even if the work was done on the non-Jew’s property (e.g. a hotel owned by a non-Jew) and even if the melacha did not alter the item (e.g. moving an item from a reshus harabim to a reshus hayachid ). The issur of benefit remains in effect after Shabbos ends for as long as it would have taken to perform the melacha after Shabbos.

( שו"ע רעו, א, משנ"ב א ו־ג, וביה"ל ד"ה אסור, וד"ה בקבלנות; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 2, 6 ו־7)

Indirect benefit from a non-Jew’s melacha

It is permissible to benefit from melacha done by a non-Jew for pay if the melacha does not benefit the Jew physically. For example, if a non-Jew extinguished a destructive fire with the intention of being paid, it is permissible to for a Jew to benefit from this. The benefit derived from the salvaged property is not a direct benefit of the melacha . The same is true in the case of a non-Jewish policeman who stops traffic to allow a Jew to cross the street. The melachos involved with stopping traffic removed an impediment from crossing, but the Jew did not physically benefit from the melacha itself. The poskim discuss whether it is permitted to benefit from a key that was used to open a house if it was brought by a non-Jew in a forbidden manner. The lenient opinion compares it to the other cases where the Jew is not benefitting directly from the melacha of carrying, but only indirectly from the open door.

( ביאורים ומוספים דרשו רעו, 8)

Melacha that a non-Jew performs for himself

If a non-Jew performed melacha for his own benefit or for the benefit of someone with an illness (even if it is not life-threatening), it is permissible to benefit from the melacha on Shabbos. For example, if a non-Jew kindled a light for himself, anybody can benefit. The same light can benefit one or many. Likewise, if an electrical breaker turned off and the non-Jew turned it on for his own benefit and thus turned on the lights for the other Jewish residents, it is permissible to benefit from the melacha because it was necessary for the non-Jew to do it for himself. However, it is forbidden to benefit from melacha that a non-Jew probably did for the benefit of a Jew (e.g. if a non-Jew adjusted the air conditioner settings because more people entered the room). A Jew who is friendly with a non-Jew should not benefit from melacha that he performs on Shabbos because it is likely that he will do the melacha for the sake of his Jewish friends.

( שו"ע רעו, א, משנ"ב ח-י, וביה"ל ד"ה ויש; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 13; וראה שם, 11)

PLEASE NOTE: The information in this email is for learning purposes only. Please review the Mishna Berura and Biurim U'Musafim before making a halachic decision. Hebrew words are occasionally transliterated to enable a smoother reading of the text. Common Ashkenazi pronunciation is generally used in these cases.

This Week's Limud

English Shiur

Rav Zev Smith, Shlita