Q&A: Question
Question
Question
Hello Honorable Rabbi,
I have a secular friend who serves in the army and wants to keep the Sabbath.
However, he has been assigned guard duty on the Sabbath, which he is obligated to report for. My question is whether it would be considered Sabbath desecration if he drives from home to the base and back by car, even though theoretically he could stay there overnight. Staying there for the whole Sabbath is "not pleasant at all," in his words, and he claims it would make it harder for him to succeed in keeping the Sabbath (because of the boredom, that is), unlike the situation where he stays with us at home and we can observe the Sabbath properly together.
Thank you very much in advance.
Answer
This is Sabbath desecration. Even if there is room to permit traveling there (under pressing circumstances), there is no permission to travel back, except perhaps through rabbinic-level prohibitions, via a non-Jew, and the like.
The practical decision in his case is of course more complex. If this is difficult for him and will cause him to back away from the whole matter, there may be room to permit it. But that is from the perspective of whoever issues a halakhic ruling for him. From his own perspective, it is forbidden.