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By Dayan Baruch Levin
Q: I own an apartment building which is managed by a non-Jewish manager. He oversees all maintenance work, such as landscaping, gutter cleaning, snow removal, etc. Although I do not dictate to him when these tasks should be done, I happen to know that he often has workers get them done on Shabbat or Yom Tov. Am I required to ensure that this does not happen?
A: Generally speaking, one is prohibited from having a non-Jewish employee work for him on Shabbat. Doing so falls under the prohibition of Amira L’Akum – asking a non-Jew to desecrate Shabbat on your behalf. In your case, although you are not hiring the landscapers or snow removers directly, they are still considered your workers since you are the one paying them, and their employment would be subject to this prohibition. Nevertheless, the answer to your question would primarily depend on the manner in which the manager hired these landscapers.
Halacha distinguishes between a S’chir Yom – a worker who is paid by the hour, such as an office worker – and a Kablan, one who is paid a set price for the job, such as a plumber.
Since a Kablan gets paid for the project, any Melacha that he performs on behalf of his employer on Shabbat is considered by Halacha as “his own doing”. Consequently, one is permitted to hire a gentile to work as a Kablan even if he is certain that the work will be done on Shabbos, as long as there is no stipulation that it be done specifically on Shabbat.
Conversely, a S’chir Yom, who gets paid based on his time and effort, is always considered by Hachamim as working on his employer’s behalf. One is therefore prohibited to have such an employee do any Melacha on Shabbat as part of their work, even when there was no stipulation that the work specifically be done on Shabbat[1].
Accordingly, if your manager is hiring Sechire Yom, such as day laborers, to do landscaping – even if neither you nor him instructed them to do the work specifically on Shabbat or Yom Tov – you are required to prevent this work from being done on these days[2]. If, however, the landscaping is being done by a Kablan, such as a lawn-maintenance service, then it would be permitted, as long as you did not instruct the manager to have it done on Shabbat. This would be permitted even if the landscaping service has day laborers do the work, since these day laborers would not be your employees but rather those of the landscaping service.
It must be pointed out that even when even when one hires a Kablan in a permitted fashion, Hachamim were still concerned with Mar’it ‘Ayin, the appearance of wrong doing. That is, a passerby may mistakenly assume that the worker is a S’chir Yom, which would in fact be forbidden[3].
Therefore, if the apartment building is located in an area where observant Jews may walk by on Shabbat, even if it is not public knowledge that the property belongs to a Jew[4], it would still be prohibited to have this work done. However, if the property is in an area where there are no observant Jews within the Tehum Shabbat (permissible walking distance), it would be permitted.
Footnotes:
[1] Sulhan Aruch HaRav 243:4 (and Kuntres Aharon 1) , see also Igrot Moshe 4:52. [2] The Heter of Amira L’Amira (not commanding the gentile directly, but rather directing a gentile to direct another gentile) however, may apply, since the Jew did not hire them directly. However, the Poskim only permit Amira L’Amira in extenuating circumstances. [3] Alternatively, they may assume that the Kablan was instructed to do the work on Shabbat. This concern is only when the work is being done in the Jew’s house (Mishna Berura 252:17) and not in his office. Additionally, if the nature of the work is such that the employer does not usually request for it to be done at a specific time, then this concern would not apply (Rav Moshe Feinsten ztz”l as quoted by Rav S.B. Cohen in his book, “The Sanctity of Shabbos”). [4] See Mishna Berura (244:18) who explains that we are still concerned with any neighbors or family members that may know that the employer is a Jew. Sha’ar HaTziyun quotes others as understanding this is a “Lo P’lug” – a blanket rule.