Saturday, October 5, 2013

Amirah l'Nochri, Part 7

Hi,

We have been learning about Amirah l'Nochri, the practice of asking a non-Jew to perform acts on Shabbat that a Jew may not do personally.

If a non-Jew performs an action for his own benefit, such as lighting a fire for his own heat or light, a Jew may benefit from that action as well.

This was the standard "Shabbos goy" practice in Europe - A Jew would invite a non-Jew to come over Friday night, and the non-Jew would enter, feel cold, and light the oven for his own warmth, thereby warming the Jew as well. Of course, the non-Jew would stay for a while, enjoying the warmth.

(Aruch haShulchan, Orach Chaim 276:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai


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