Benefiting from melacha performed by a non-Jew

It is forbidden to benefit from any melacha performed by a non-Jew on a Jew’s behalf on Shabbos . This prohibition applies even if the non-Jew’s action was for an ulterior motive, such as selling an item and earning a profit. The prohibition of benefiting extends into Motzei Shabbos; after Shabbos, one must wait for the amount of time it took to perform the melacha before one can benefit from it. For example, if it took a non-Jew an hour to cook food for a Jew on Shabbos , the Jew must wait until an hour after Shabbos is over to eat that food. This concept is known as kdei sheya’aseh --waiting the amount of time it takes to perform the melacha .

Two reasons are given in the Rishonim to explain this halacha : 1) It is forbidden to benefit from any melacha done for Jew on Shabbos (as in the case of melacha performed by a Jew for a Jew), and 2) If it were permissible to benefit from a non-Jew’s actions, Jews would eventually come to ask non-Jews outright to perform melacha for them, which is strictly forbidden.



A door opened by a non-Jew

Contemporary poskim discuss the question of whether a Jew can enter through a door if a non-Jew carries a key through a reshus harabim in order to unlock the door for him. Some poskim say that walking through the door is benefiting from melacha performed by a non-Jew and is forbidden. Others disagree and explain that the Jew may benefit from the opening of the door because only carrying the key was forbidden, not opening the door. Some poskim even permit walking through a door that was opened through forbidden labor (such as a door with an electronic lock). They explain that opening the door is not a direct benefit, but merely the removal of an impediment that was blocking entry into the room.



Melacha performed by a non-observant Jew

A Jew may benefit from melacha that a non-Jew performed for himself. In some situations, he may even benefit on Shabbos. In other cases he must wait for Motzei Shabbos , but he does not need to wait kdei sheya’aseh (see above). The poskim discuss the status of melacha that a non-observant Jew does on Shabbos . One possibility is to classify him together with a non-Jew, and in that case it would be permissible to benefit from melacha that he did for himself. Another option is to give him the same status as a religious Jew who does a forbidden melacha knowingly. The halacha would then be that it is forbidden to benefit until after kdei sheya’aseh . A practical application of this question would be boarding a bus immediately after Shabbos if it was driven on Shabbos by a non-observant Jew. Some poskim rule that one must wait to board the bus until the amount of time that the bus was driven on Shabbos has elapsed. Other poskim rule that one may be lenient under pressing circumstances.



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.

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Rav Zev Smith, Shlita