Tony's Bowling Alley
One Friday about twenty years ago I was on the subway,
seemingly with plenty of time to arrive at my destination
before Shabbos. Suddenly, there was a screech . . . The train
came to an abrupt halt. Technical difficulties. I looked at
my watch; there was still ample time to get to my
destination.
Apparently, the technical difficulties were quite
complicated, and after an hour-and-a-half they still had not
been solved. At this point I was starting to get nervous; the
hand of my watch were moving quickly and soon Shabbos would
be here. Finally, after two hours the train started to move
again, with only a short time left until Shabbos.
I made a quick calculation and realized that I was not going
to make it to my destination. With about fifteen minutes
until sunset, I ran out of the subway station and entered the
first building I saw: Tony's Bowling Alley. I asked to speak
to the manager and was introduced to Tony.
I explained to him that soon it would be a Jewish holy day
and would be prohibited for me to carry anything. Could I
leave my bag with him? Even though he was not Jewish, he
gladly agreed, and I deposited my belongings, including $300,
in his office.
Meanwhile, I tried to figure out where I was. I found a place
to pray, and then walked to the home of a friend, who lived
about forty blocks away. He was a little surprised to see me,
but he and his family made me feel welcome in their home. The
next morning we walked to where I had intended to be; and
after Shabbos my host drove me back to the bowling alley.
Everything was topsy-turvy there, and I suspected that I was
not going to get my bag back. Finally I found Tony, who had a
look of amazement on his face. He explained to me that after
we had met there had been a robbery in the bowling alley. He
took me into his office which had been thoroughly ransacked
for any valuables.
He told me, "They took everything, but did not touch your
bag. I am sure it is because you observed your holy day. The
Jews are a holy people; may G-d bless you."
He handed me my bag with the three hundred dollars sitting
safely where I had left it.
Financial Concerns
In retrospect, I am extremely thankful to Hashem for setting
up that situation in a way that I was able to safeguard my
possessions with relative ease. However this is not always
the case. What is expected of a Jew who finds himself
stranded on the road before Shabbos?
The thought of leaving one's valuables in an exposed area is
distressing, and presents a formidable hurdle for most
people. At the same time, transporting an item in a public
domain constitutes the Torah prohibition of hotzo'o,
carrying, and other means of saving the items can violate
rabbinic decrees. How can these difficulties be
reconciled?
Our Sages said "odom bohul al momono", a person
becomes frantic at the thought of abandoning his property
[and could come to violate the Torah prohibition of
carrying]. In order to minimize this possibility, they
relaxed some of the rabbinic restrictions, and permitted
putting one's valuables in a place where a Torah
transgression would not come about. Thus a person could keep
his money without being desecrating Shabbos.
Non-Jews
If a person can find a Jew or non-Jew who will remain inside
over Shabbos (as in the above story), this is the best place
to store one's possessions. What if a person is still on the
road when Shabbos comes in? What should he do with his
property?
If a person is traveling with a non-Jew, that is the first
choice for depositing one's valuables. Generally it is
forbidden for a non-Jew to do any melochoh for a Jew
In this case our Sages waived this rabbinic decree to prevent
the Jew from violating a Torah prohibition.
Suppose that there are no non-Jews in the immediate vicinity
that a person would trust with his valuables. Must a person
put his fears aside and give them his property, or may he
rely on one of the other options? In this case the halacha
permits a person to take another option (Mishna Berura
266:2,6).
[The gemara states that if a non-Jew is not available
then the next best option is to put the item on one's animal.
For the purposes of this article this option will be omitted,
since today it is generally not relevant.]
Dumb, Foolish, Minors
A non-Jew is the first choice for depositing one's
possessions since he is not obligated in the mitzvos. If this
option is not available then one may consider another
category of individuals who are also not included in the
Torah prohibition.
A person who sleeps in a graveyard or wears winter clothes in
the summer is among the individuals that fit into the
halachic classification of shoteh. A shoteh
is considered to be lacking all understanding, and is not
obligated to observe mitzvos. Therefore when valuables cannot
be given to a non-Jew, he is the next best choice (assuming
that he is capable of safekeeping one's possessions).
A cheresh (a person who is deaf and dumb from birth)
is considered to have a weak level of understanding.
Therefore it is preferable to give the items to a shoteh
who has no understanding at all. If this is not possible
the items may be given to a cheresh.
A katan (minor) is also considered not to have
understanding. Why then is it better to give valuables to a
shoteh? Since the minor is on the way to adulthood
where he will have understanding, the shoteh is a
preferable option. Because the katan and cheresh
each have a reason that puts them above a shoteh,
in a choice between the two of them, one may choose either
(Shulchan Oruch 266,5).
Problems Incurred
There are a number of halachic issues, which complicate all
of these options. If the katan is one's son, it is
better not to give him one's possessions. Since the father is
obligated to teach his child to keep mitzvos, it is
preferable for the father not to ask him to do that which for
the father would be a transgression (Biur Halacha
266,5 in the name of Pri Megodim).
Modern discoveries have given us techniques to educate the
deaf and dumb close to the level of other adults. Some
poskim see this as a reason to change their status,
and to consider them like hearing and speaking adults
(Minchas Shlomoh 1,34). This would take a cheresh
out of the category of individuals to whom one can give
one's money.
Even if one finds a minor who is not his son, or a cheresh
who is uneducated, there is another problem. Some
opinions say that one cannot actively cause any Jew to do a
transgression (Shulchan Oruch 266,6). How can one give
his possessions to one of these individuals without causing
them to do a transgression?
As mentioned earlier, the prohibition to carry only applies
when one picks up carries and places the object in a public
domain. In order to stop the cheresh, shoteh or
katan from transgressing when they want to rest, a
person should take the item back from them before they stop,
and give it back after they start walking again. In this way
they will not transgress the Torah prohibition of carrying
(Biur Halacha, ibid).
If the possessions are given to a cheresh, shoteh or
katan before Shabbos, or one is in an area which is
not a public domain (karmalis) or there is an
eruv, they are permitted to carry the objects in a
normal manner for the rest of Shabbos (Rema,
ibid.).
Slow Down
If none of the above possibilities work out, what can one do?
Our Sages permitted one remaining option for someone to
safeguard his possessions. However they only revealed this
with great reluctance, basing themselves on the verse, "It is
the honor of Elokim to hide this . . ." (Mishlei
25,2). We too must share their hesitation and only rely
on it in a situation where there are absolutely no other
possibilities available.
The prohibition of hotzo'oh, carrying, has two primary
conditions. First one must pick up the object and put it down
within a public domain. Second, he must carry the object
uninterruptedly a distance of four amos. If one of
these two conditions is absent, his act does not violate the
Torah prohibition.
In this vein, when no other option was present, our Sages
permitted a Jew to carry an item himself, in increments of
less than four amos at a time, stopping momentarily
between each four amos. Some authorities require a longer
pause, sitting down between each interval. Alternatively two
people could continually hand the items back and forth every
section of less than four amos, eliminating the
requirement to stop or sit.
After hours of carrying your possessions at a snail's pace,
you finally arrive home. Now a new problem arises —
getting the valuables inside your house. Since this involves
a different transgression, transferring an item from a public
to private domain, walking slowly will not aid the situation.
Our Sages permitted one to fling the items into one's house
in an unusual matter, such as throwing the items off of one's
shoulders if he is carrying them in a knapsack thereby
removing the Torah prohibition from the act (Mishna
Berurah 266:16-18;32).
Lost Objects
The more time and effort a person invested into working for
and acquiring an object, the more distress he will feel when
parting with it. Valuable items that one finds "along the
way" while traveling on Shabbos are easier to pass up, and
our Sages did not fear that one would transgress a Torah
prohibition in order to take them. Therefore they did not
permit someone who found a wallet to pick it up on Shabbos
(Shulchan Oruch 266,13).
Some poskim are lenient and permit asking a non-Jew to pick
up money that one finds on Shabbos. Nonetheless once the non-
Jew has picked it up, the Jew may not tell him to bring it to
one's home. Only if the non-Jew "figures this out" by
himself, or if he agrees to give it to the Jew after Shabbos,
will one be able to take possession of it (Mishna Berurah
266,38).
Regarding other situations, even where the Jew stands to lose
considerably our Sages were not lenient to permit asking a
non-Jew to take the valuables. Even in a case of a fire, they
prohibited asking a non-Jew to remove items lest the Jew ask
him to extinguish the flames, which is prohibited unless the
fire poses a life threatening danger. (Today many fires are
life threatening and may be extinguished; see Rema
334,26).
A Time of Tranquility
In conclusion, it is important to add that these leniencies
were allowed in situations where one inadvertently
found oneself on the road with one's possessions before
Shabbos. It is forbidden to travel close to Shabbos with the
intention to rely on these solutions. A person should always
leave more than enough time to reach his destination before
Shabbos, taking into account (within reason) the pitfalls
that could occur along the way (Shulchan Oruch 266,8;
see also Mishna Berurah 266, 22).
Shabbos is a wellspring of tranquility for those who tap into
its waters. The way to enjoy this day is by getting ready for
Shabbos early. Although there is a mitzvah to prepare for
Shabbos also right before Shabbos, if major jobs are
completed early in the day, one can greet the entrance of
Shabbos with the honor and dignity it deserves.
In the merit of getting ready for Shabbos early, may we
experience the true flavor of Shabbos, a taste of the World
to Come.
