Can a Non-Jew Wheel Your Stroller

Question:

May one instruct a non-Jew on Shabbos to wheel a baby carriage in the street when the parents want to visit friends or family and eat the seudas Shabbos there or they wish to participate in a Bris, Bar Mitzva or something similar?

Answer by Rabbi Shlomo Segal, dayan of the Crown Heights Beis Din (Badatz):

The prohibition of instructing a non-Jew to do work for a Jew is explained in great length in the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch in many different chapters including the comments in the footnotes.

Three reasons are given for this prohibition:

1) When a non-Jew does work for Jew, because he was instructed by him, it is considered as he is his shliach, emissary, and an emissary is considered as the person who has instructed him. Although, we do not use this principle according to Torah, unless it is an instance of one Jew doing a something for another Jew, still our sages have considered a non-Jew doing work for a Jew as a shlichus, serving as an emissary for the Jew.

2) There is an allusion to this prohibition on Shabbos and Yom Tov in the Torah (Shmos 12:16), “On Yom Tov work should not be done”, implying that even by someone else. If this prohibition is relevant on Yom Tov, it is surely effective also on Shabbos.

3) In order that Shabbos should not be lenient in the eyes of people and they might begin doing work themselves.

As result of the above mentioned three reasons, our sages have been very stringent in instructing a non-Jew to do work for a Jew on Shabbos and have instituted decrees. 1) Even when the non-Jew is doing the work on his own for a Jew, although the Jew did not transgress any prohibition, the Jew is not permitted to benefit from the work. This also applies to Motzoei Shabbos that one cannot benefit from this work until after the time duration of the work. For example if the job was done in one hour, the Jew cannot benefit from this job until an hour after Shabbos, because on another occasion, he might directly instruct the non-Jew to do this job for him (see Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch 243:2).

The Alter Rebbe also cited this concept in Hilchos Yom Tov (chapt. 515:1), “The same applies on Yom Tov that our sages have been concerned, that if they will allow one to benefit from a non-Jew’s job done on Yom Tov, immediately on Motzoei Yom Tov, he might instruct the non-Jew to do something for him on Yom Tov, in order to have it ready for Motzoei Yom Tov. In addition to the fact that instructing a non-Jew has become very casual and is considered lenient by people, therefore our sages have decreed not to benefit from the jobs done until after the time duration of the work, in order one would not benefit from a job done on Yom Tov.

We also find that our sages have been stricter in this matter and even more than a prohibition of Torah as stated in Shulchan Aruch (chapt. 318:1), “Although when one cooks on Shabbos or does other mlochos, the food is permitted to be eaten by other people on Motzoei Shabbos, without waiting until after the time duration of the work, although it was cooked for these people, but regarding the instructing a non-Jew to do work for a Jew, if we would allow him to use it immediately on Motzoei Shabbos, there would be a suspicion that he might instruct the non-Jew to do the work on Shabbos in order in order that he would have it ready for Motzoei Shabbos. Therefore, our sages have decreed that even when the job is done for others, one should wait until after the time duration of the work.

This also applies in an instance of a Mitzva. In Shulchan Aruch (chapt. 306:5) is cited, “One is not allowed to do work through a non-Jew, even if it is for the sake of a Mitzva and he was instructed before Shabbos.

The same is cited in Shulchan Aruch (chapt. 331:8), “It is forbidden to take out a child from his house to the Bris in a shul. If it is through a karmelis, a specific domain, there are those who permit carrying the child, in order that a large crowd could attend.

Therefore, from all the above, it is obvious that instructing a non-Jew on Shabbos to wheel a child in a carriage through the street is forbidden and especially according to the Alter Rebbe in chapt. 325, where he wrote, “One should be stringent in our type of public domain. Although 600,000 people do not pass in it every day, it is considered a public domain from the Torah. And in a status of public domain, one cannot permit it even if it was for the sake of a Mitzva.”

Therefore one should alert people who figure that it is permitted they should refrain from doing so on Shabbos.