{"id":7213,"date":"2016-01-09T11:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-01-09T09:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=7213"},"modified":"2016-07-14T15:07:52","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T12:07:52","slug":"01-09-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-09-11\/","title":{"rendered":"11. Shvut Di-shvut<\/em> for the Sake of a Mitzva or Great Necessity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The prohibition of asking a non-Jew to do melakha <\/em>on Shabbat, like other rabbinic prohibitions, is called a shvut<\/em>. There is a disagreement among the poskim<\/em> whether the Sages permit transgressing such a prohibition in order to enable the performance of a mitzva. For example, if the lights go out on Friday night, and it will be impossible to enjoy the Shabbat meal or to learn Torah, may one ask a non-Jew to turn on the lights?<\/p>\n

According to Itur<\/em>, whenever a mitzva is involved, the Sages permit asking a non-Jew to perform melakha<\/em>. However, according to Rambam and most poskim<\/em>, one may not ask a non-Jew to do a melakha<\/em> that is forbidden by Torah law, even for the sake of a mitzva. They agree that one may ask a non-Jew to perform a rabbinic prohibition for the sake of a mitzva. In other words, the Sages did not permit transgressing a shvut<\/em> even to enable the performance of a mitzva, but they did permit transgressing a shvut di-shvut<\/em>. It can be helpful to think of a shvut<\/em> as half a Torah prohibition and a shvut di-shvut<\/em> as a quarter of a Torah prohibition, since it is prohibited only by combining two rabbinic safeguards.<\/p>\n

In practice, one may engage in a shvut di-shvut <\/em>for the sake of a mitzva. Thus, if a brit<\/em> must be performed on Shabbat, and there is no mila<\/em> knife at the location, one may ask a non-Jew to bring the knife through a karmelit<\/em> (where carrying on Shabbat is rabbinically forbidden), because this action is a shvut di-shvut<\/em> for the sake of a mitzva. The prohibition of asking a non-Jew to do melakha<\/em> is rabbinic, and the prohibition to carry in a karmelit<\/em> is also rabbinic. However, one may not ask a non-Jew to carry the knife through a reshut ha-rabim<\/em>, because one may not violate a normal shvut<\/em> even for the sake of a mitzva. There is another solution for the problem of transporting the mila <\/em>knife. The non-Jew may be asked to carry the knife with a shinui<\/em>, thus creating a case of shvut di-shvut<\/em>, since the prohibition of asking the non-Jew to do melakha<\/em> is rabbinic, and the prohibition of carrying with a shinui<\/em> is also rabbinic (see below, 24:4).<\/p>\n

According to most poskim<\/em>, for the sake of a mitzva even a Jew may violate a shvut di-shvut<\/em>. For example, if one needs to bring a knife through a karmelit<\/em> to perform a brit<\/em> and no non-Jew is available to do so, a Jew may carry the knife with a shinui<\/em> so that the action becomes a shvut di-shvut<\/em>. To be sure, some are stringent and forbid this; but in practice, if it is necessary to enable the performance of a mitzva, even a Jew may perform a shvut di-shvut<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Just as a shvut di-shvut<\/em> is permitted for the sake of a mitzva, it is also permitted in a case of minor illness (SA 307:5) and in order to avoid a substantial monetary loss (MB 307:22). Shvut di-shvut<\/em> may not be incorporated into one\u2019s normal Shabbat routine.[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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[8]<\/a>. Eruvin<\/em> 67b states that one may tell a non-Jew to bring hot water for a brit<\/em> through an area without an eruv<\/em>. There are three opinions as to why this is permitted. According to Itur<\/em> (quoted by Ran at the end of Shabbat<\/em>, ch. 19) the non-Jew is asked to carry in the public domain. This is prohibited by Torah law for a Jew, but is permitted here because violating a shvut<\/em> is permitted for the sake of a mitzva. However, according to Rambam (MT 6:9-10), the non-Jew is asked to carry in a karmelit<\/em>, which is only rabbinically prohibited even for a Jew. Thus we see that a shvut di-shvut<\/em> is permitted for the sake of a mitzva or for the sake of one who is slightly ill. According to Tosafot<\/em> (BK 80b) the leniency in the case of a shvut di-shvut<\/em> is only in the case of a brit<\/em> because it is a particularly important mitzva (and violating a single shvut<\/em> is permitted for the supremely important mitzva of settling the Land of Israel), but the leniency of shvut di-shvut<\/em> is not relevant when it comes to other mitzvot<\/em>.In practice, SA 307:5 rules according to Rambam and allows one to transgress a shvut di-shvut<\/em> in the case of a minor illness, a great need, or for the sake of a mitzva. MA explains that \u201ca great need\u201d refers to a great monetary loss.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, some poskim <\/em>rule stringently, maintaining that one may not ask a non-Jew to perform a Torah prohibition with a shinui<\/em> (see Be\u2019er Yitz\u0125ak<\/em> \u00a714). But in practice, when it is necessary we are lenient. (See MA ad loc<\/em>.; MB 340:3; SSK ch. 30 n. 49, following R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. The latter adds that according to Eshel Avraham <\/em>307:5, even if the non-Jew then performs the melakha<\/em> in the normal fashion, the Jew may still benefit from it, since he requested that the non-Jew do it with a shinui<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

Some prohibit a Jew from transgressing a shvut di-shvut<\/em> even for the sake of a mitzva. They maintain that the entire leniency discussed (Eruvin<\/em> 67b) is relevant only to asking a non-Jew to perform a melakha<\/em>, because this does not require that a Jew take direct action (Pri Megadim<\/em>, Eshel Avraham<\/em> 307:7; Maharam Schick<\/em>, O\u0124 \u00a7121). However, most poskim<\/em> rule leniently even for a Jew in the case of shvut di-shvut<\/em> (Ha-elef Lekha Shlomo<\/em> \u00a7146; Maharam Brisk<\/em> 2:64-66; Livyat \u0124en<\/em> \u00a735). Since the prohibition is rabbinic, the law follows those who are lenient.<\/p>\n

It is important to emphasize that one should not make regular use of the leniency of shvut di-shvut<\/em>. It should be used only occasionally, in cases of true necessity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The prohibition of asking a non-Jew to do melakha on Shabbat, like other rabbinic prohibitions, is called a shvut. There is a disagreement among the poskim whether the Sages permit transgressing such a prohibition in order to enable the performance of a mitzva. For example, if the lights go out on Friday night, and it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-09"],"yoast_head":"\n11. 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