Question: Is one permitted to instruct a non-Jew on Friday to perform a forbidden work for him on Shabbat?
Answer: We have learned that it is forbidden to instruct a non-Jew to perform work on Shabbat. For instance, one may not instruct a non-Jew to turn on the light on Shabbat, besides for specific situations which we shall not discuss at the moment.
Instructing a Non-Jew Before Shabbat
The Rambam (Chapter 6 of Hilchot Shabbat) writes that just as it is forbidden to instruct a non-Jew to do work on Shabbat, it is likewise forbidden to instruct a non-Jew before Shabbat to do work on Shabbat. The Rambam explains that this is a rabbinic decree so that one does not treat Shabbat lightly and eventually come to desecrate Shabbat by oneself.
Rabbeinu Meir of Rotenberg (in his responsa, Chapter 202) writes: “There are those who believe that the prohibition of instructing a non-Jew applies only on Shabbat but if it is done before Shabbat that it is permissible. This is a mistake, for the Gemara (Avodah Zarah 17b) states clearly that even instructing them before Shabbat is forbidden.” The Halachot Gedolot, Rav Saadia Gaon, and Maran Ha’Shulchan Aruch (Chapter 307) rule likewise.
Hiring Workers on Shabbat
It is therefore forbidden to instruct a non-Jew before Shabbat to hire workers on Shabbat although one only needs them on Motza’ei Shabbat, for hiring workers itself is a rabbinic prohibition. Since hiring workers is forbidden on Shabbat, it is likewise forbidden to instruct a non-Jew to do so on one’s behalf on Shabbat, even when the instruction is given before Shabbat (see Shulchan Aruch, Chapter 307, Section 2).
It is certainly forbidden to instruct a non-Jew before Shabbat to turn on the lights in a house or synagogue on Shabbat, for turning on lights may result in a Torah prohibition. It is therefore certainly forbidden to ask a non-Jew to do so on Shabbat (see Responsa Rav Pe’alim, Volume 2, Chapter 43).
Asking a Non-Jew to Purchase Something on Shabbat
It is likewise forbidden to give a non-Jew money, even on Sunday, and ask him to use it to purchase something on Shabbat. Only if the non-Jew purchases the object for himself and then may wish to sell it to the Jew may the Jew ask the non-Jew, “purchase this object for yourself on Shabbat and if I need it, I will buy it from you after Shabbat.” In this way, the non-Jew will be purchasing the item for himself on Shabbat and not on behalf of the Jew. (See Halichot Shabbat, Chapter 1)
The Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz will be observed this coming Sunday, the Eighteenth of Tammuz (since the Seventeenth of Tammuz falls out on Shabbat and is postponed until Sunday). We will therefore begin discussing some laws related to the Three Weeks in the coming Halachot and we will then return to our discussion of instructing non-Jews on Shabbat.
