1. One should not rent his bath
house to Gentiles (to use on Shabbat) because they are recognized by
his name and through this, work is being done in it on the
Shabbat. For a regular bath house is not considered a
tenancy. [Meaning the Gentile is a tenant (or partner) who
works in order to earn a portion when the owner is resting. We
say that all rooms owned by Jews and rented to Gentiles are usually
done so on a day by day basis. Therefore, through this
arrangement, work is being done by a messenger of the Jew.
However, a field is permitted to rent because the normal way is for
those to accept fields on the condition of tenancy. Furthermore,
even though that people recognize the field belongs to a Jew, they will
say that the Gentile purchased the field through the process of
tenancy and is working for himself. An oven has the same law as
a bath house. Mills have the same laws as a field [even though they only purchase
three of four days and the Jew derives benefit from the Gentile's work
on Shabbat, it is allowed since he is working for himself ]. [1]
2. Even a bath house or an oven, if he rents them out year after
year and the matter is known that the way is to not hire the workers
but the rent to them, then it is permitted. Similarly is the
custom of most people in that area is to rent to them or to hire them
through tenancy it is permitted to rent property to Gentiles or to
give it to them through tenancy.
[Even in a forbidden area, if the oven or bath house did not
belong to a Jew but rather the Jew rented it from Gentiles and he in
turn re-rented it to Gentiles, it is permitted since the name of the
Jew
is not attached to it. Similarly, if there was a bath house
located in a house of lodging and they do not wash in a bath house but
just the one in his house; and they know that it is rented out to
Gentiles, then it is permitted. Suppose that one transgressed and
rented in
a forbidden area. There are those who say that after the fact his
renting is permitted and there are those who say that it is forbidden,
and so is the law.]
Footnotes:
1. It is a rabbinical decree to forbid a Jew from hiring a
Gentile to do work for him on the Shabbat. In the case of the
rented bath house through tenancy, this rabbinical prohibition does
not apply since the Gentile is not a messenger of the Jew. It is
forbidden due to a different reason. Even though the Gentile is
not hired by the Jew to do work for him, it is forbidden due to the
rule of "the bad eye" (Marat Ayin) since passers by think that the
Gentile is doing work for the Jew since they recognize the field
belonging to the Jew.
1. If one made a deal with a
Gentile to do a specific job for a fixed sum of payment and the Gentile
went and did the job, even if he did so on the Shabbat it is permitted
[1]. This only
applies in private where the public is not aware that this job is being
done on Shabbat is being done of a Jew. However, if the matter is
known and publicized then it is prohibited. For they merely see
the Gentile working unaware aware that he was previously hired at a
fixed rate. So they will say that the Jew hired the Gentile to do
work for him on Shabbat. Therefore, if one made the above deal
with a Gentile to cut his field, if the work took place in the county
or within the Sabbath boundary it is prohibited due to passers by who
would not know that he fixed a price with the Gentile.
[Even if one lives among Gentiles,
we fear that guests may come there and we fear members of his own
household may suspect this.
]
But if the work was done outside the Sabbath boundary and there is also
no other city within the boundary then it is permitted.
2. To sculpt stones or to fix beams are prohibited even if this
is being done in the home of a Gentile since they must be attached to
the Jew's home in order to be complete. If one did so, they
should not be set in the building.
[Others say that if it not known
that they belong to the Jew then it is permitted.
]
3. If a Gentile built a home for a Jew on the Sabbath in a
prohibited manor, it is proper to be stringent and to never enter the
home.
[However, if the
Jew made a deal with the Gentile that he may not work on the Sabbath
and the Gentile worked on the Sabbath anyways in order to
complete the job sooner, then it is permitted.
]
4. Work that is done the public eye, even on portable
items such as a boat, if known to be owned by a Jew have the same laws
as land based goods.
5. Suppose a Jew hired a Gentile for one or two years to write
for him
or to weave a garment. The writing and weaving that was done on
the
Sabbath is considered like he hired the Gentile at a fixed sum to write
a book or weave a garment; where he may do so at any time he
wishes. This is true as long as he does not meet daily with the
Gentile to monitor his progress and the work is not done in the home of
a Jew. There are those who prohibit hiring a Gentile for a length
of time.
[This is true
only when one hires the Gentile for a
single job like a garment to weave or a book to write. However,
to hire a Gentile to do all the jobs one needs to be done within a
specific length of time, according to every opinion this is prohibited.
]
6. A Jew who buys something that collects fees
[2], it is permitted to hire
a Gentile to accept the fees on the Sabbath. This applies so long
as the Gentile is acting under contract labor which means that he tells
him "when a hundred Dinars accumulates, take for yourself a certain
amount".
[ Similarly,
one is able to hire the Gentile to collect fees on all Sabbaths
provided that the Gentile collects
a portion [3] of the sum collected on
the Sabbaths for himself. We are not worried that passers by will
claim that he is doing work for a Jew. For it is a case of
monitary loss and in a case of monetary loss we are not concerned
(of
Marat Ayin). A Jew
who collects "for the coin of the king"
[4], the same law applies as
one collecting fees even though that it causes a voice to go out
on the Shabbat when the currency is collected. However one must
be cautious to ensure that the Jew does not stand next to the Gentile
on the Sabbath when he performs his duty either in the case of
the coin of thie King or the case of fee collection.
]
Footnotes:
1. Hiring a Gentile to work for you on the
Sabbath is Rabinically prohibited. This case is talking about
where one hired a Gentile before Shabbat to do work for a certain sum,
without time constraints. The Gentile is free to complete the job
at any time but it is at his benefit to work sooner so he can finish
it. If the Gentile in this case works on the Sabbath, he is doing
so out of his own benefit so it is permitted.
2. Lit. "taxes" or "a bridge". Unsure of meaning in this
context. I think he means something that collects a fee like a
bride or like taxes.
3. I do not know the translation of this word, הריוח .
4. Translated literally. I do not know what this refers
to.
____________________
Translated by Dr. Jay
Dinovitser D.O. 09/2010
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