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SPECIAL EDITION:
Commerce on Shabbos & Yom Tov
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SALES / MARKETINGProduct salesmen and real estate agents are
generally classified as kablanim. As such, it is permitted to have them
market and sell on Shabbos and Yom Tov on behalf of their Jewish
employer as long as they were not requested to work specifically at that time.[1]Even if it is public knowledge that they are working on behalf of a Jew there
would still not be a concern of maris ayin since it is common knowledge
that salesmen work as kablanim.[2]Internet marketing and web-based sales generally do
not present a problem of amirah l’akum as there aren’t any “live” people
working on the Jews behalf.
Many poskim forbid placing an ad in the
Saturday edition of a newspaper. This is because it is assumed that there is
not enough time to be printed before Shabbos and would thus constitute
being kove’a melachto beshabbos[3].
The same would seem to apply to scheduling television and radio commercials for
Shabbos, (unless the media company is able to have the commercials run automatically
without doing any melacha on Shabbos).If the Jew did not schedule the ad specifically for Shabbos,
rather the media company did so based on their own consideration, it would be
permitted. However, if the Jew requested that the ads be placed at the most
cost effective time slots, and the media company based on their analysis chose Shabbos, that would constitute being kove’a melachto beshabbos.[4].With television and radio commercials, the melacha
being done is usually of rabbinic prohibition[5]and would thus be subject to the heter of “shvus d’shvus “. Additionally, if the ad was
placed through a media agency the heter of amirah l’amirah may apply . (Regarding the parameters of
these two heterim, please see Part 1.)
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A call center that takes phone orders or customer
service calls on behalf of a merchant or service provider is a kablan.[6]However, generally they are in agreement to answer all calls that come in even
those on Shabbos . This would be considered as the
merchant being kovea melachto beshabbos and thus prohibited. The heter
of shvus d’shvus may apply. MAIL ORDER Many merchants ship out their orders through a
fulfillment center. The merchant keeps his merchandise at the fulfillment
center and has his orders automatically sent to them. They in turn ship out the
product to the buyer. Even though the fulfillment center is considered a kablan,
at times the merchant may be considered being kovea melachto beshabbos.
For example if an order comes in on the first night of Yom Tov the
fulfillment center may be in agreement with the merchant to ship out the order
before the end of Yom Tov .
This would be prohibited. Additionally, since the work includes Biblical
prohibitions, such as taping (tefirah), the heter of shvus
d’shvus would not apply.[7] Sending a package via a shipping service in which it
is guaranteed to arrive on Shabbos or Yom Tov, would be kove’a
melachto beshabbos and thus prohibited. For example, when someone ships a
package from N.Y. to Chicago via UPS Ground, it is guaranteed by UPS to be
delivered within 2 business days. Therefore, one may not ship out such an order
on Erev Yom Tov with the intent of it arriving on Yom Tov. Additionally,
since the service usually includes Biblical prohibitions, such as carrying (hotza’ah),
and driving (ha’avarah), the heter of shvus d’shvus would
not apply. If however, the package was ready for delivery at a
UPS pick up location,[8]early enough on Erev Yom Tov that UPS would reasonably be able to
deliver it before sunset, it would be permitted. Many times one is not particular about the package
arriving before the end of Yom Tov, and thus it is only guaranteed to
arrive then because of a standardized agreement, such as with UPS ground. In
the opinion of some poskim, if one formally declares this intention to the UPS agent it would not be
considered kove’a melachto beshabbos, and would thus be permitted.[9] In any case, when one is shipping out an item to a
gentile customer, he may allow customers
to create an overnight shipping label using their own individual accounts which
they then email to the seller. The seller may then ship out the item on Erev
Shabbos or Yom Tov using this label.[10] Some poskim are of the opinion that the heter
of amirah l’amirah would apply to national shipping services since the
work is being done by various individuals with whom the Jew has no direct
contact. Other poskim however, consider a request to any employee of the company as a
direct request to all employees of the company, and thus the heter of amirah
lamirah would not apply. PROPERTY MANAGEMENT A superintendent of an apartment building or a
maintenance manager of a nursing home who receives a weekly or monthly salary
and is responsible for the upkeep of the building is considered a kablan.
If, for example, the boiler would break on a Friday night, the manager’s
agreement with the property owner would generally require him to repair it
before the end of Shabbos. This would constitute the property owner as
being kovea melachto beshabbos and it would thus be prohibited for him
to hire the manager in such a fashion. Additionally work on real property is usually
of Biblical prohibition and would not be considered shvus d’shvus.[11]If the superintendent lives in the apartment building and thus has a personal
benefit from the work being done on Shabbos, depending on the circumstances,
it may be permitted . If the superintendent or maintenance manager hires schirai
yom on the owners behalf, such as day laborers to do landscaping, the rule
is more stringent and it would be prohibited for the owner to have these
workers do melacha on Shabbos[12] even when they were not instructed to do the
work specifically on Shabbos.[13] However, if in the above example, if the property owner were to hire an outside company to provide lawn maintenance service, and they in turn hire day laborers out of their own pocket to do the job, it would be permitted as long as the Jew did not instruct the maintenance company to have the work done on Shabbos. Even when the work is being done in a permitted
matter, there may still be a concern of maris ayin. This is true even when
it is not public knowledge that the property belongs to a Jew. However, if the
property is an area where there are no observant Jews within the T’chum
Shabbos it would then be permitted.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rabbi Baruch Meir Levine Shlit”a is a member of the Bais Hava’ad L’Inyonei Mishpat and part
of the Bais HaVa’ad Shabbos division. The Bais HaVaad will be available
through the Yom Tov season to assist with Halachic concerns regarding Shabbos
and Yom Tov as well as with other Halachic issues. To contact the Bais HaVa’ad for
a Choshen Mishpat consultation or for other Halachic questions or services please
call 1.888.485.VAAD (8223) or email info@BaisHaVaad.com.
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FOOTNOTES
[1] O.C. 307,4
[2] Selling real estate is not considered melaches
mechuber.
[3] Chelkas yakov 1, 68
[4] Harav Shmuel
Felder shlita
[5]The printing of the newspaper ads, however, involves
ksivah (writing)as it would not seem to be classified as ribui
b’shiurim according to the Igros Moshe .
[6]
Even when they charge by the minute. (Heard from
Harav S. B. Cohen Shlit”a)
[7] The heter
of meches may still apply.
[8] Even without
notifying UPS. (heard from Harav Shlomo Miller Shlit”a)
[9] Harav Moshe
Heineman shlit”a . In the opinion
of this author, this would be permitted even without any declaration.
[10]Harav Shmuel Felder shlit”a
[11] The heter
of meches may apply.
[12] If the workers
were hired for general cleaning, many times the work can technically be done without doing any melacha and
would thus be permitted, even when hired specifically for Shabbos.
[13] The heter
of amirah lamirah however, may apply, since the Jew did not hire them
directly.
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