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Enjoying groceries bought on Shabbat

שו”תEnjoying groceries bought on Shabbat
asked 6 months ago

peace. We are a group of 25 Israelis who are going on a cruise abroad, from Monday to Thursday, including 4 Sabbath-keepers. The secular ones want to do the joint shopping for the trip on Shabbat (food, cleaning products), that way it is much more convenient. We can do the shopping on Friday or Sunday. The question is whether we can use the products they buy (and share the cost), or do we have to buy separately and use them separately, so as not to benefit from a product bought on Shabbat.
I agree: The pleasure is not really that the products are bought on Shabbat (although there may be some pleasure in that it saves time and we can set sail on Sunday morning). The pleasure is mainly that the large group organizes all the products together, and we as a small group do not have to organize ourselves on the list of groceries.
If I may, I would love a reasoned and well-founded answer, so that I can convince the other guys.


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מיכי Staff answered 6 months ago
A difficult question. On the surface, it seems forbidden. Although what is done accidentally is permitted for everyone on Saturday, and intentionally is permitted for others on Saturday. But that is only if it is done randomly. But if it is done specifically for you, you are simply forbidden from doing it. Although here it is done for the entire group and not just for you, you are a partner and enjoy your share. What’s more, the entire group is Jewish. There may be room for leniency because a secular person is like a baby who was captured, and this is rape and not an accident. But it is urgent. In short, it simply seems that it is forbidden.

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ישראל replied 6 months ago

I was thinking of two more branches to permit, I would love to hear your opinion.
1. Halacha commentary (Shi”ch a’ d”a echat) – What they prohibited in the Moshe is only in the matter of making a change to the body of the object (but it concludes that the Torah prohibitions must be stricter. And here there is a rabbinical prohibition on buying, a rabbinical prohibition in our community, which is nothing but Carmelite, and a Torah prohibition if they use a vehicle to transport the groceries).
2. Permit based on ‘multiplicity in classes’ – They do not do any special work for us, because the purchase is made in one go (perhaps with one payment on a credit card), and so is the transportation.

אורן replied 6 months ago

I saw that a halakha was written in my case regarding enjoyment from an act that did not change the body of the thing as follows:

Some say that if the work did not change anything in the body of the object, such as transferring an object from public to private ownership, there is no prohibition on the object, and it is permissible to enjoy it on Shabbat in private ownership (Rabbi Yonah and Ritva). The same is true regarding foods brought in a vehicle on Shabbat, since no change was made to the foods, there is no prohibition on them. Some say (Tuss, Ramban and Rishba) that there is no difference between the types of work, and even if the work did not change anything in the foods, it is forbidden to enjoy the foods that were brought in with the prohibition. In fact, one should initially be strict, and in times of need one can rely on the lenient ones, especially when the matter is done by mistake.[6]
If another permissible action was performed through the work, it is permissible to enjoy it. For example, if you fix a hammer on Shabbat, it is forbidden to use it even for permitted purposes, such as cracking nuts. And if someone passes by and cracks nuts with it, it is permissible to enjoy the nuts, since the act of cracking itself is not forbidden.

If you open a door that is locked by a prohibition, such as using a magnetic card – some say that it is forbidden to enter through that opening, since it was opened by a prohibition. Some say that it is permissible, because opening the door did not create anything new, but only removed something that prevented entry. In retrospect, in times of need, it is permissible to ease up. If you open a refrigerator door and a light comes on there, it is permissible to take food out of the refrigerator (Ei’ above 17:9).

If a Jew who violates Shabbat approaches an electric door and thereby opens it, it is forbidden to enter through it. Only in times of need can this be eased up. If a Jew passes by and the door opens unintentionally, it is permissible to enter through it (Ei’ above 17:11).[7]

Would it also be correct here to say that buying groceries is an act that did not change the substance of the matter and that it would be possible to make concessions based on this?

מיכי Staff replied 6 months ago

It is possible, but this is a method that is too narrow for the law and has contradictions with some of my doctrines. In particular, on Shabbat, a bad work was performed, and yet it was forbidden. In other words, changing the place is like changing an object (and in my column on performing the work, I explained that it is a change in the world. Entropy).
Regarding the multiplication of the shiurim, this is an interesting comment, but for the law, it is not a matter for discussion. There, we are talking about a work that is done with permission (such as cooking for the sick, or harvesting for the Omer) that is multiplied. Here, it is entirely forbidden. And there, some Rishonim also hold that it is forbidden by the law.

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