Is it Permissible for the Rabbi to Give a Bar Mitzvah Boy a Gift in Shul on Shabbat?

Introduction: We are all familiar with the prohibition on Shabbat to conduct business transactions. However, there is a less known application of this halacha that one is not allowed to make any acquisition (kinyan) on Shabbat, even if no money is transferred as part of the deal. So taking possession of something that was not yours on Shabbat is problematic and, therefore, there is a general prohibition not to give a gift on Shabbat. The prohibition applies both to the person giving the gift as well as the one receiving it. The situation below will allow us to explore some of the parameters of this halacha. As you will see below, there are various applications of this halacha that can result in some problematic situations, but if one familiarizes himself with the details below, one can easily avoid these prohibitions.

Question: Many shuls have the practice to give a gift to a Bar Mitzvah boy on the Shabbat of his Bar Mitzvah. Is this permissible? Does this not violate the prohibition of giving presents on Shabbat?

Answer: The Mordechai says that it is prohibited to give your friend a gift on Shabbat or Yom Tov unless it is for a mitzvah, such as acquiring a lulav and etrog from your friend (obviously without any need to pay) so you can perform the mitzvah. Rav Ovadia proceeds to quote a number of poskim who all agree with this position. 

Based on this, the Magen Avraham questions the ancient practice of giving a gift to a Chatan on the Shabbat before his wedding? The Shulchan Aruch Harav also says this practice is incorrect unless it is a gift of food that is needed or can be eaten on Shabbat. The Sefer Elya Raba says that this practice can be justified as giving a gift to a Chatan can be categorized as a mitzvah of being mesameach chatan v’kallah. Similarly we could say that giving a Bar Mitzvah boy a sefer as a gift can be categorized as a mitzvah as well for supporting his ability to learn Torah. In addition, since he can learn from that sefer on Shabbat, it could be categorized as a for the mitzvah of limud haTorah.

Rav Ovadia suggests another solution could be to advise the Bar Mitzvah boy to have in mind that although he is receiving the gift from the Rabbi, he is not actually acquiring the gift until after Shabbat. (In practice, I have seen Rabbis use the moment to teach and tell the boy that although he is giving him the gift he should not acquire it until after Shabbat.)

Rav Ovadia concludes that based on the above, we can technically justify the practice of the Rabbi giving a Bar Mitzvah boy a present on Shabbat. We can argue that it is a mitzvah in and of itself and the boy can use it to perform the mitzvah of limud haTorah on that Shabbat. However, there is a suggestion that can help avoid the problem all together (that we will use below to help us handle the issue of giving gifts to others on Shabbat as well). There is a halachic principle of zachin l’adam shelo b’fanav - someone can acquire an object on behalf of his friend when it is beneficial to him, even when the friend is not present. Therefore, the Rabbi can give the gift before Shabbat to someone else who can acquire it and make the kinyan on behalf of the Bar Mitzvah boy. This way, the boy actually acquires the gift before Shabbat, avoiding the issue altogether.

To conclude, how can we ever  giving gifts to our friends on Shabbat? It is the practice to give gifts to people who host us for a Shabbat meal or perhaps to give someone a birthday (non-muktzvah item) on Shabbat. How can we do this?

1. The halachically simplest option is to bring the gift before Shabbat. In practice, this does not always work as we want to give it on Shabbat.
2. The next best and totally permissible option is to give the gift before Shabbat to your own family member or friend who can acquire it on behalf the host you intend to give it to on Shabbat.
3. If the gift is a food item like a cake or bottle of wine, it is permitted to be given as it is an item that can be eaten together on Shabbat as part of the mitzvah of seudat Shabbat. Ideally, one should attempt to use approach #2 first, but can certainly rely on this if it is not done before Shabbat.

(This summary was based on יחוה דעת חלק ג׳ סימן כא׳)

Is it Permissible to Bring Your Car to a Non-Jewish Mechanic on Friday Afternoon?

Before getting to Rav Ovadya’s analysis, a word of introduction is in order. There is a prohibition on Shabbat called Amira L’akum or Amira L’nachri, to have a non-Jew do melacha for you on Shabbat. This is a broad topic that requires more time than the one specific question we will deal with this week, but suffice it to say that this prohibition needs proper study. As we will see shortly, this does not only mean you cannot ask on Shabbat a non-Jew to do melacha for you, but it even applies to asking him before Shabbat to do something for you on Shabbat. Similarly it applies not only if you ask him, but in many cases even if you didn’t ask at all; just deriving benefit from melacha that the non-Jew did for you on Shabbat is problematic. However, there are other details and exceptions that will allow you to get certain things done in certain situations. While these laws do apply on Yom Tov as well, there are differences that require further study. You can CLICK HERE for a summary from Rabbi Howard Jachter that covers more on this topic. Also, a classic English book published by Artscroll on this topic is called The Sanctity of Shabbat.

Question: Is it permissible for  a Jew to bring his car to a non-Jewish mechanic on Friday with the stipulation that it be ready for pickup on Sunday morning? In other words, does the fact that the Jew knows that it is likely that the non-Jew will be fixing the car on Shabbat make this halachically problematic?

Answer:

The prohibition of Amira L’nachri applies even if you asked him before Shabbat. The Rambam says this explicitly in Hilchot Shabbat, Chapter 6, Halacha 1:

אָסוּר לוֹמַר לְנָכְרִי לַעֲשׂוֹת לָנוּ מְלָאכָה בְּשַׁבָּת אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְצֻוֶּה עַל הַשַּׁבָּת. וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאָמַר לוֹ מִקֹּדֶם הַשַּׁבָּת. וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינוֹ צָרִיךְ לְאוֹתָהּ מְלָאכָה אֶלָּא לְאַחַר הַשַּׁבָּת. וְדָבָר זֶה אָסוּר מִדִּבְרֵי סוֹפְרִים כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא תִּהְיֶה שַׁבָּת קַלָּה בְּעֵינֵיהֶן וְיָבוֹאוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת בְּעַצְמָן:

It is forbidden to say to a gentile to do labor for us on Shabbat even though he was not commanded regarding Shabbat and even though he said to him [to do the labor] before Shabbat and even though there is no need for this labor other than [until] after Shabbat. And this matter is forbidden rabbinically (literally, from the words of the scribes) so that Shabbat will not be light in their eyes and they will come to do [forbidden work] themselves.

The Maharam M’Rutenberg makes the same point, acknowledging that people mistakenly think that the only prohibition is asking the non-Jew on Shabbat, but if you ask before Shabbat for something to be done on Shabbat there is no problem. He says that is a mistake and it is clear from the Talmud (Avoda Zara 22a and Shabbat 17b) that it is just as prohibited even if you ask before Shabbat. Rav Ovadya proceeds to quote a litany of other poskim who make the same point, concluding with the Shulchan Aruch in  סימן שז.

But this all assumes you actually ask him directly before Shabbat to do the melacha for you on Shabbat. But what about our situation, where you do not actually ask that, but you drop off the car to be fixed close to Shabbat and ask for it to be complete by Sunday morning (and you are paying him a set fee, not an hourly rate)? You are not asking him directly to do it on Shabbat, but it is understood that that is the likely option. Is this just as problematic? Rav Ovadya says this is permissible since you are asking for work to be done and the non-Jew could choose to do the work on Friday before Shabbat or on Motsei Shabbat. If he chooses to do it on Shabbat itself, that is not your problem. He quotes the Shulchan Aruch (סימן רנב סעיף ב׳ וד׳) who says it is permissible to give your clothes to a non-Jewish cleaners on Friday so long as you do not explicitly as him to do the work on Shabbat. Moreover, if he brings them back to you on Shabbat, you can even wear the clothing, Similarly in our situation, so long as you do not ask the mechanic to do the work on Shabbat, it should be permitted. (It should be noted that for Ashkinazim, the Rema writes that in the situation of giving the clothing to the non-Jew before Shabbat and he delivers them to you on Shabbat, you may not wear them until Motsei Shabbat.)

There is one more issue to consider. If you drop the car off on Friday so close to Shabbat that it is clear that he had to do some or all of the work on Shabbat, does that change things? Does it matter knowing that he does not work on Saturday night?

The Magen Avraham says that if Saturday is the day the market is open then it would be prohibited on Friday to give a non-Jew money to go buy something for you even though you have not said explicitly to buy for you on Shabbat; it is clear that that is the only option and will happen as the market is only open on Shabbat. This is also the opinion of a litany of other poskim. However, this is not the opinion of Maran Beit Yosef, Rav Yosef Karo. The father of Sefardic Halacha would permit this. He only prohibits if you actually ask him to do the work on Shabbat. The sefer Minchat Kohen quotes this lenient position of Maran Beit Yosef and concludes that since amira l’nachri is a Rabbinic prohibition, we have the right to be lenient in a case of halachic doubt. 

How do we handle this machloket?

Rav Ovadya quotes a number of Sefardic poskim who say that we follow Maran Beit Yosef; this is the case when he is strict and even when he is lenient. Therefore, in a case of need, Sefardim could be lenient and would be allowed to drop their cars off close to Shabbat and ask for it back shortly after Shabbat knowing that the work will be done on Shabbat; so long as you do not ask to do the work on Shabbat. However, bnei Ashkinaz would have to be strict in this situation unless ample time was given on Friday before Shabbat to do the work.

Summary:

1. Everyone agrees you can never ask the non-Jew to do the work for you on Shabbat.
2. If you deliver the car with ample time for the non-Jew to do before Shabbat or you know he works Saturday past the time Shabbat ends, then according to both Sefardim and Ashkinazim, this would be permitted.
3. If you deliver the car without ample time for the work to be done on Friday and you know he is not working on Saturday night, then this should preferably be avoided. If it is a situation of real need, Sefardim could be lenient, whereas Ashkinazim may not. In this situation, Sefardim may only be lenient if paying a set fee for the work and not if there is an hourly fee.)

(This summary was based on יחוה דעת חלק ג׳ סימן יז׳)