Q&A: Your own affairs are forbidden; the affairs of Heaven are permitted
Your own affairs are forbidden; the affairs of Heaven are permitted
Question
In tractate Shabbat 150, the Talmud says, "Your own affairs are forbidden; the affairs of Heaven are permitted," and from this it would seem that, as is commonly done today, one may pledge money during an aliyah to the Torah.
My question is: if a person travels to a place where the custom is to pledge on the Sabbath, and he will have no other way to transfer the money after the Sabbath and has no ability to bring the money before the Sabbath, would it be permitted, in a place that has an eruv, to bring money on the Sabbath, or alternatively a check, to the synagogue, since this is for the sake of Heaven?
Answer
What are you talking about?! Is it permitted to do prohibited labor on the Sabbath for the sake of the affairs of Heaven? That's a misunderstanding. Whatever is forbidden is forbidden for any purpose whatsoever: the affairs of Heaven, the affairs of the stars, or the affairs of the clouds. There are actions that are not inherently prohibited, such as mundane speech, preparation, and the like. These were permitted when they are for the sake of Heaven, and not permitted when they are not. Money is muktzeh, and there is no permission to move it for the sake of the affairs of Heaven.
Discussion on Answer
I mean in a situation where there is a problem of preparation from sacred time to weekday. There is an exam or an important meeting on Sunday.
It's hard for me to answer that. At first glance it is permitted, because these are affairs of Heaven. But it's also his livelihood. When he has no choice, there may perhaps be room to be lenient. In the case of a public servant, I would be less lenient.
If a doctor (or student) studies medical matters in order to heal, or a public servant (a state employee or politician) studies the matters related to his work on the Sabbath — is that considered the affairs of Heaven, which are permitted?