Q&A: Gas Station on the Sabbath — What Is the Law?
Gas Station on the Sabbath — What Is the Law?
Question
A gas station on the Sabbath:
people will come to fill up, which is Sabbath desecration.
But presumably ambulances, police, the army, special units, reservists on their way or on their way back, midwives, nurses, doctors, or transportation for them, as well as other needs that are permitted and required to be operated on the Sabbath, will also come.
If gas stations are closed, there is a high probability that it will lead to people’s deaths.
It will certainly lead to deaths, if not on this Sabbath then on later ones, and if not at this gas station then at another one that is closed.
Is it permitted to close a gas station on the Sabbath?
The question is about ordinary times, all the more so in wartime.
Answer
Not only is it permitted — it is required. If someone is driving on the Sabbath with permission, fuel should be arranged for him. There is no reason whatsoever to open all the gas stations for that.
Discussion on Answer
It really doesn’t look like you’re trying. If someone is injured, let him call an ambulance. There is absolutely no justification for permitting mass, general Sabbath desecration because of one or two cases that haven’t even happened yet. Ambulances and emergency vehicles should fill up before the Sabbath, and that’s it. It doesn’t take a whole day of study to understand this. By your logic, the Sabbath should become a weekday, because there is always a possibility that someone may need something. Maybe we should permit supermarkets to open too, in case some woman in labor suddenly gets a craving for pickles. This is childish thinking.
I’m distinguishing between access to food, which exists in every home, hospital, or army base,
and fuel, which doesn’t.
Between food, where every person knows he’ll need it and has enough for several days ahead, and fuel, which comes as a surprise.
And there have been, are, and will be sudden trips that are not required for survival, security, and medicine —
it seems more like operating a hospital, body and soul, maintaining the army at the borders, active police, and so on.
Isn’t that so?
* And required for survival
I wrote that it is not so, and I explained. I have nothing to add.
The reality is that suddenly someone gets injured at home, or a woman goes into labor — trips that are unknown in advance and unplanned — and if there are no gas stations, many people will definitely be put at risk.
And with regular emergency vehicles too, clearly in the end it will cause deaths.
What does “arrange fuel” mean?
Open gas stations — that’s “arrange fuel”…
Trying to understand the Rabbi.