Payment For Jewish Work Done On Shabbos & Yom Tov (Babysitter, Waiter, etc.) – What’s The Halacha? [#110]

Payment For Jewish Work Done On Shabbos & Yom Tov (Babysitter, Waiter, etc.)

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Today we're going to be discussing the question about Getting paid for Shabbos work, when a person does work on Shabbos, whether for example it's a babysitting, or they're a waiter, or any other type of job that they can do on Shabbos, as well as when they do mitzvah related items. For example, if someone is going to be a chazan, or reading the Torah, or blowing a shofar on Rosh Hashanah, the question is if they are able to allow to be accepting money for that work which they did on Shabbos or Yom Tov.

So for the purposes of splitting this up in clarity, we're going to put this into two videos. Today we're going to be speaking about Non inherently mitzvah items. Let's say like babysitting or again like a waiter or things like that And then we're going to have a follow up video which will be video number 111 Which will be speaking about mitzvah related items again Like Torah reading or blowing a shofar or doing a mitzvah related item which person gets paid for We will post that video immediately onto the website at the same time that this video is available You for anybody who wants to see that right away without waiting for us to release it to all of the platforms and the groups.

So the question is what is the problem with a person accepting money for something that they've done on Shabbos? You're the employer, you want to get somebody to babysit or wait, for example, or you want to work as one of those things. So is it okay? So the question is there's a concept called Skhar Shabbos, which the rabbis prohibited a person to profit from business like activity?

on Shabbos. This was even if they're doing an activity which is permissible on Shabbos. Let's say like again, babysitting or doing waiter job, just cleaning up and helping out to set up a meal. So the reason why they didn't allow that is because using a Profiting from work or a rental or a service would fall into that category of Skhar Shavs, of profiting from Shabbos work.

They also bring over here is that it's not only in a case where you would get paid on Shabbos. Obviously not getting paid on Shabbos, but even if you accept the money after Shabbos, it would still be prohibited according to the Lachas of Skhar Shavs. So the question is, there a possible way for a person to Shabbos?

arrange this Payment or this work to be done in a permissible way and yes The answer is it is possible using a concept of havlah and we're using a sefer here Called commerce and shabbos by yosef kushner and he brings it down from shulchan aruch in the Shulchan Aruch Orachayim, Simen Shin Vav, Seif Daled, and it's brought down in the Mishnuburah in Seif Katan, Chaf Aleph, for anyone who wants to look it up inside.

And the reason we're here is that although, Shachar Shabbos, of accepting this money, profiting from your work, or rental, or service on Shabbos, is not allowed, it's not allowed If a person would combine it in this concept of Havlah, which is literally called absorbing, which we've spoken about in different videos, if they would absorb this work that is done on Shabbos with non Shabbos work, and it's all put into one package, which is pre negotiated from the beginning, before the work was done, then it would be allowed.

For example, if somebody is going to be babysitting, or waitering, or whatever. on Shabbos. So as long as it's pre negotiated that they're also going to have outside of Shabbos hours where they're also going to be working, whether it's before Shabbos or after Shabbos, and that's all combined into one job that they're going to be doing.

And again, they have to also do work after Shabbos or before Shabbos in a way that a person would normally be paid. You can't say, You'll babysit her or wait her on Shabbos, and then after Shabbos, I want you to walk up the stairs, and I'm going to pay you for that. It has to be actual work that a person normally gets paid for.

And if that is prearranged before Shabbos, then a person would be able to take one lump sum payment for everything, and it would be allowed. Again, only if it's pre negotiated before. He does bring over here certain cases where, let's say, it would not be possible. To prearrange and have outside of Shabbos time.

Let's say someone's coming in for a Simcha only for Shabbos and there isn't time To have the person work for you outside of the Shabbos hours So they bring over here is that you could if there's no pre negotiation at all in a case of a babysitter He says since a babysitter it could be very common that a babysitter would work anyways without being told The pricing, so therefore it should not be pre negotiated with the babysitter, and then only afterwards, where it's clear that you wouldn't have had to pay.

For any work because there was nothing pre negotiated, then you can actually give a gift for that work. By a waiter, it's not so common that you would have a person work the whole Shabbos without any pre arrangements at all, but again, if you had such a arrangement where there was nothing spoken about before, then it would be allowed to give the person a gift afterwards.

So that is the way that a person would do the work for a job which is non material related. We will follow up with the cases where a person is doing a mitzvah and how that would be set up if they need to rely on Havla'ah or if there are any other conditions which can be satisfying this requirement.