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THE DAFYOMI DISCUSSION LIST
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General: Sechar Shabbos
Shmuel asked:
I am thinking of purchasing vending machines that will be catering to
"goyim" The Sheila is, Whether any sales made on shabbos/yom tov is
considered schar shabbos? If it is, is there any way to get around
the issur & be able to buy these machines? Thank You.
Shmuel, Monsey, NY USA
----------------------------------------------
The Kollel replies:
There are several issues to consider in answering your question.
Let's list them.
1. Is there any problem of Mar'is Ayin?
2. Is there a problem of Lifnei Iver because of the occasional
secular Jew that might use the machine on Shabbos?
3. Is there any problem of making Kinyanim on Shabbos with a vending machine?
4. Is the money you receive on Shabbos considered Sechar Shabbos?
Let's address these issues in the order we listed them.
1. The Gemara (Shabbos 17b) says that one may not sell something to
a non-Jew if the non-Jew would remove it from the Jew's property on
Shabbos (see Shulchan Aruch, OC 252:1). The Rishonim give two reasons:
(a) either because it looks like the Jew commanded the non-Jew to
remove it from his property on Shabbos or
(b) because it looks like the Jew sold him the item on Shabbos (see
Mishnah Berurah 252:9).
According to this, one should make sure that the vending machines are
not on his property (or another Jew's property). If the property
belongs to a Jew but people don't know this, then there shouldn't be
a problem (see Shulchan Aruch OC 243:1). Also, if people know that
the non-Jew bought the item from a vending machine there might not be
a problem either. The Poskim, however, are Machmir (Responsa
Maharshag 117, Minchas Yitzchak 3:34).
If the vending is not on a Jew's property but people know that it
belongs to a Jew, there could be an additional source of Mar'is Ayin
- people think that a Jew is allowed to make money on Shabbos. This
is an issue that is becoming relevant because of the increased use of
websites for marketing. Such a website is essentially a fancy
vending machine. Is there a Mar'is Ayin if a website that obviously
belongs to Jews (eg. one that sells Judaica) is operating on Shabbos?
R. Yitzchak Weiss (Minchas Yitzchak, above) says that it should not
be known that the machine belongs to a Jew, but he doesn't elaborate.
Anyway, with your vending machines there is probably no reason why
people have to know that they belong to a Jew.
2. There are very few places left in the world (certainly in the
Monsey, NY area) where one can say with confidence that no secular
Jew will use his vending machine on Shabbos. If such a possibility
exists, is it considered Lifnei Iver to operate the machine on Shabbos?
The SHACH (YD 151, #6) says that there is no Isur of Lifnei Iver if
the Jew is a Mumar. There is a Machlokes among the Poskim whether
today's secular Jew is considered a Mumar or he is only a Tinok
she'Nishbe Bein ha'Goyim. The Dagul me'Revava, however, commenting
on that Shach, says that the Shach doesn't mean Mumar in the
technical sense of the word, but rather any Jew that is doing the
act, knowing full well that Orthodox Jews don't do that on Shabbos.
This would probably include today's secular Jews and therefore
mitigate the problem of Lifnei Iver.
Besides this, I saw in the Sefer Shemiras Shabbos ke'Hilchasah
(29:28, footnote 70), in the name of R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, that
there is no problem of Lifnei Iver because you are entitled to assume
that the Jew will not use the machine on Shabbos. This is based on
the Mishnah in Shevi'is (5:8) that says that one may sell, in the
Shemitah year, a plowing ox to a Jew who is suspected of not keeping
the laws of Shemitah, because you are entitled to assume that he may
eat the ox instead of plowing with it.
3. There is a general Isur to make Kinyanim on Shabbos (Beitzah 37a,
Rambam, Hilchos Shabbos 23:12). In our case the Jew starts the
Kinyan before Shabbos when he loads the items into the machine and is
Makneh them to whoever buys them. The non-Jew completes the Kinyan on
Shabbos by buying the item. Does the Isur of Kinyanim apply in this case?
One argument says that since the Jew is not actually doing anything
on Shabbos, then the Isur doesn't apply, just as there is no Isur in
starting a Melachah on Erev Shabbos that will continue on its own on
Shabbos (Shulchan Aruch OC 252:5). Furthermore, the Isur of Kinyanim
is a Gezeirah mid'Rabanan to prevent one from writing on Shabbos
(Rambam above, Rashi, Beitzah 37a). Since you are not aware that the
Kinyan is taking place, the Gezeirah does not seem relevant in our case.
Nonetheless, there are major Poskim, among them R. Akiva Eiger
(Responsa, #159), that hold that the Isur of making Kinyanim applies
in our case. The Avnei Nezer (Responsa, OC 51) explains R. Akiva
Eiger's position this way: it is permissible to start a Melachah on
Erev Shabbos that will continue on Shabbos because the Melachah will
continue whether on not the person is still around and therefore we
can say that the person has no involvement in the Melachah. But if
one starts the process of a Kinyan before Shabbos, it can only be
completed by the non-Jew on Shabbos if the Jew is still around.
Therefore, it is considered as if he has some involvement in the
Kinyan on Shabbos. There are Poskim that argue with R. Akiva Eiger
and say that the Isur of Mekach u'Memkar does not apply in our case,
but it is hard to decide the Halachah against his opinion. R.
Yitzchak Weiss (Responsa Minchas Yitzchak, 3:34) offers a solution to
this problem. The Jew should make the following stipulation: the
Kinyan on anything sold on Shabbos should take effect retroactively
on Erev Shabbos. This stipulation relies on the concept of Bereirah,
but since the Isur involved is only de'Rabanan, we can rely on Bereirah.
4. The money (the profits) that the owner makes on Shabbos is
considered Sechar Shabbos and he cannot accept it (Shulchan Aruch, OC
306:4). Also, the concept of Havla'ah (that the Shabbos profits are
"swallowed" by the rest of the money in the machine) cannot be
applied here. R. Yitzchak Weiss (same) offers a solution to this
problem as well. The owner should stipulate that he is not taking
possession of the money until after Shabbos. He bases his solution
on the solution of R. Yehudah Assad to a similar dilemna (Responsa,
OC 83). In some congregations there was a custom to give presents to
the Rav after he would deliver a major Derashah. Receiving presents
on Shabbos is problematic (Magen Avraham, 306:15), therefore R. Assad
suggested that the Rav should have in mind that he is not taking
possession of the gifts until after Shabbos.
In short, it is possible to allow vending machines to continue
operating on Shabbos with the following stipulations:
1. They shouldn't be on the Jew's property.
2. He should stipulate that the Kinyan on anything bought during
Shabbos should take effect retroactively on Erev Shabbos.
3. He should stipulate that he is not taking possession of the
profits from Shabbos until after Shabbos.
Kol Tuv,
Yonasan Sigler
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