"וביום השביעי שבת שבתון מקרא קודש כל מלאכה לא תעשו"(כג,ג)
Giving Directions on Shabbat?
It was Shabbat afternoon in Jerusalem and
Danny was heading towards shul for a Torah shiur, when a car pulled over near
the curb. The driver rolled down his window and called out to Danny, “Hey, can
you tell me how to get to Bialik Street? I've been driving around here for a
half hour already and still can’t find that street!”
Danny
smiled knowingly, being familiar with that hard to find street. He was hesitant
as to what he should do; on the one hand, if he directs the lost driver, then
Danny will be causing him to continue being mechalel Shabbat. On the other
hand, perhaps, the driver will have a shorter drive to his destination, and
thereby Danny would essentially be minimizing the driver’s chillul Shabbat.
Is Danny permitted to give the
driver directions on Shabbat?
Answer:
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
zt "l and Rabbi Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik zt" l: Yes,
he may. Although it is usually forbidden to assist transgressors, in this case
it is preferable to instruct the driver so it will help him reach his
destination in the shortest way. This will minimize the chillul Shabbat.
In order to avoid a “chilul Hashem”,
however, he should say to the driver: "Today it is Shabbat Kodesh and we
are forbidden to drive, but in order to reduce the chillul Shabbat, I can tell
you the fastest way to get there." It is not considered as though Danny is
complicit in the aveira; it is actually the opposite, it is considered as
though he is sparing the driver from a greater aveira.
Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg zt
"l (the author of the Tzitz Eliezer) believes that Danny
should NOT cooperate by directing the driver
A person isn’t responsible for preventing a Jew from an intentional sin (see
Baba Kama 69 הלעיטהו לרשע וימות)
.
There are
a few more considerations here for not directing the driver:
Firstly, by assisting and
enabling the driver, Danny is getting him to be more accustomed to committing
such an aveira.
Secondly, witnesses to this incident
may come to the false conclusion that Danny isn’t bothered by this display of chillul
Shabbat.
By Danny saying, “Today is
Shabbat…”, the driver will likely not correct his behavior, and may even view
this statement with derision.
Summary –
According to Rabbi Shlomo
Zalman Auerbach zt "l and Rabbi Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik zt" l
Danny should instruct the driver in order to minimize the amount of driving.
According to Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg zt
"l he should not cooperate at all with the chillul Shabbat.
*****
The Dilemma
A related story from TZADDIK
IN OUR TIME by Simha Raz
Late one Friday afternoon, in Jerusalem, shortly
after candle lighting, Reb Aryeh Levine, and his young son, Simcha Shlomo, were
walking to shul for Kabbalat Shabbat. Along the way, a seemingly non-religious
Jew, with a lit cigarette dangling from his lips, asked the good rabbi to
kindly show him the way to a certain nearby hotel.
Now, Reb Aryeh was in a
dilemma: How could he walk through the streets of Jerusalem side by side with a
Jew smoking a cigarette when Shabbat was so near? Yet, on the other hand, the
man was obviously a stranger to the Holy City, looking for the place that would
provide him food and lodging. How could he just leave the man to go wandering
about aimlessly?
Reb Aryeh reached a decision:
he would walk the man to his hotel. So, they went together- the short
man with the white beard in his Shabbat clothing, and the tall man seemingly without
a trace of religion about him. As was his way, Reb Aryeh affectionately held the
stranger’s hand and engaged gently in conversation, asking how he was and
hoping that he would enjoy his stay in the Holy City. With a mild, unobtrusive
insistence, however, Reb Aryeh kept interspersing comments about the imminent
approach of the holy Shabbat. He then
delicately added that smoking was forbidden by Jewish law on Shabbat. To these
remarks, though, the man responded with a stolid, studied indifference.
Try as he would, the man could not help but feel what a
peculiar, if not absurd scene he caused,
walking beside this dignified rabbi through Jerusalem's streets and puffing on
his cigarette with a rather obvious obstinacy. When they reached the hotel, the
two looked at each other – the man threw his cigarette away. "Rabbi,"
he said in a voice somewhat husky with emotion,
"I am quite stubborn. In all my life I have yielded to no one. Yet,
somehow you have worn down my resistance. How can I remain disrespectful before you?
Here you see, I have thrown that confounded cigarette away; and I solemnly
pledge to never again smoke on the Shabbat."
******
The Chatan in the Clothing Store
It was Erev L’ag B’omer and
Yossi was busy preparing for his upcoming and rapidly approaching wedding. He
was anxious to buy his wedding suit. Fortunately, the store was still open. The
shopkeeper mentioned that he would be closing early for his yearly excursion to
Mount Meron. Yossi promptly took a few suits into the dressing room. After
trying on the third suit, Yossi looked in the mirror and was pleased.
When he
emerged from the dressing room, he was amazed to discover that the store was
dark and empty! Yossi (who was
understandably distracted) hadn’t realized that the shopkeeper had closed the
store and locked him inside. First,Yossi tried knocking gently on the door.
Then he tried banging on the door. Then he tried to pick the lock -all
unsuccessfully.
It occurred
to Yossi that he might remain trapped in the store until the store
reopened-after L’ag B’omer!
In desperation, (and being
hungry and thirsty), Yossi became more aggressive and resumed banging on the
unyielding door until the glass broke, and he was able to get out.
Later that night at home, his conscience
bothered him. Should he have waited a whole night in the tiny shop without
food, and water?! Was it justified for him to break the door?
Answer:
Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein:
Perhaps it was permissible for
him to break out. This can be learned from the commentary in Tractate Bava Kama
(page 28a) where one learns that if a person fills the entire yard of his
friend with barrels, the owner of the yard may break them in order to pass.
The Tosafot (commentaries on
theTalmud) pointed out that even though the owner of the house could have
lifted them up and arranged them on each other (so that he could leave without
breaking them), Chazal (sages from that time) did not require the man to
make the effort, and he IS, therefore, allowed to break them.
The
Chazon Ish (Rabbi Yeshaya Karelitz) explains further that the Tosafot
meant that Chazal didn’t require the man to exert excessive effort which
is a big inconvenience, but rather he should exert some small effort which
is a little inconvenience to arrange the barrels (and not break them).
The Chazon Ish explained that the
reason that the owner may break the barrels; that when someone filled his yard
with barrels thereby denying him access to get out, the owner of the yard must
be allowed to break through them to make a path for his exit. Otherwise, it is
not possible for a society to be conducted this way ("לא שבקת חיי").
In this case, the shopkeeper
was negligent by not checking that the dressing room was indeed vacant, and for
that reason, Yossi should be permitted to break the door.
Furthermore, in this case,
according to the Chazon Ish, Yossi was permitted to break the door because it
wasn’t a small inconvenience but rather a big one (as Yossi would’ve
had to remain the whole night without food, or drink!).
However, One criterion from
the Chazon Ish that is NOT relevant to the case here of Yossi being locked in
the store, is that it was a fluke and not a frequent occurrence (such as barrels
blocking access out of house) that could interfere with how “society is
conducted”. There is no reason to assume that this may happen again, unlike the
case of the barrels.
A final comment to our case:
Although Yossi was justified
and permitted to break the door, he nevertheless must try to notify the owner
or the police to prevent the possible consequence of a thief entering the
store.
*****
Compiled by Rabbi Daniel Kirsch
