Q&A: Desecrating the Sabbath by a Secular Atheist
Desecrating the Sabbath by a Secular Atheist
Question
As is well known, atheists cannot fulfill commandments or commit transgressions.
Can one make use of such a Jew to do prohibited labor by hinting, like a Sabbath non-Jew?
Answer
First, even with a non-Jew, one may not make use of hinting. As for the comparison itself, there is a difference, because a Jew is obligated in the commandments, except that he cannot fulfill them or transgress them. That is, if he commits a transgression, then a transgression has taken place here, even though he is not a transgressor. Therefore, reasoning suggests that causing him to commit a transgression would be prohibited. Not under the rule of “do not place a stumbling block,” which is about causing the person to stumble, but because I caused the transgression itself. In that sense it is similar to a non-Jew, where even though he is not obligated, it is still forbidden to cause a transgression to take place.
Discussion on Answer
I’d be happy for a reading reference as to where this is well known. Or at least an article where the Rabbi addresses it.
If the prohibition is not מצד “do not place a stumbling block,” then what exactly is that causation? After all, there is no agency for a transgression.
I wrote that it is similar to a non-Jew. It is not a Torah-level prohibition but a rabbinic prohibition or a matter of principle ((not to increase transgressions in the world). It is no coincidence that some linked instructing a non-Jew to “work shall be done”—passively.
That may depend on the reasons for the prohibition of instructing a non-Jew, but why is this considered an increase of transgressions in the world if the non-Jew or the atheist is not committing a transgression?
In any case, is it permitted to ask an atheist to desecrate the Sabbath for the sake of a sick person who is not in danger, for the public, or in the context of a commandment (similar to the leniency of instructing a non-Jew in such cases)?
It is not an increase in transgressors but an increase in transgressions. If the act is caused by a Jew, then there is an act of transgression here.
I think this is lighter than a transgression by a believing Jew. As for permission, that is already a different question.
By the way, “as is well known” is of course a very great exaggeration.