Parshas Chukas 5785
- Torah Tavlin
- Jul 4
- 2 min read
Monetary, Interpersonal Laws and Din Torah (37)
Cars and Automobiles: Erev Shabbos Traveling. If a traveler sees that he is not going to arrive at his destination before sunset, he should check to see if there is a hotel or motel that he can check into earlier. Even if he will have no Kiddush and/or Shabbos meals, he should still do so. If there is no such possibility, there are some complicated halachos that require the following introduction: When the sun sets (shkiah), there is a time-period called Bein Hashmoshos which lasts [regarding this set of halachos (Rav Moshe)] for 72 minutes. During this time-period, which has the status of “Safek (possible) Shabbos” and there is a great need, one may tell a gentile to do for him even a Torah issur of Shabbos, or do himself a Rabbinic issur (1). If no gentile is available, he may not keep driving since driving a car is a Torah-based issur of “Mavir”, creating a fire. He must park the car before sunset. Since one can perform Rabbinic issurim during Bein Hashmoshos, he can carry muktza valuable items and car keys, to a safe place. He could rely, in a case of loss, on what the Shulchan Aruch writes (2) that today we rarely have a Reshus Harabim (so it is muttar). One should park somewhere off the highway, which is much more safe and legal, and rely on the fact that he is in a “carmelis” with a Rabbinic issur of carrying. If he is in a place with any suspicion of life-threatening danger [seedy neighborhoods or freezing temperatures with young children, or even adults according to the circumstances], one should drive to a safe place and ask a gentile to turn off the car for him. If there is a gentile available as he gets close to sundown, he may ask him to drive him to a suitable place to stay, until 72 minutes after sunset. When arriving at the destination, he should ask the gentile to open the car door for him and carry his necessary or valuable items to a suitable place.
It is told that once when religious Israeli ambassadors were delayed on an Israeli flight and landed close to Shabbos, R’ Moshe permitted them to be driven to a hotel by a gentile till 72 minutes after sunset. Although this was heard from R’ Moshe Sherer zt”l, in Igros Moshe (3), he writes to only be lenient up to 50 minutes.
(1) או"ח רסא:א (2) עיין שו"ע שג:יח, ועוד כמה מקומות (3) אגרות משה או"ח ד:סב