Breishis: Shabbos Faxes and Phone Calls

Earlier Posts on Beresishis:

Spiritual/Emotional Divine Communion and Contemplating the Beauty of Nature

Beautification of Mitzvos and Conspicuous Virtue

The Nachash was First in a Series of Four

Parshas Bereishis includes the concept of Shabbos.  The onset and conclusion of Shabbos are local, and sweep across the globe from east to west along with the setting of the Sun on Friday and Saturday.  Similarly, the dates being different on the two sides of the international dateline means that if there were a north-south street in Anchorage, Alaska, when it would be Friday morning on the east side of the street, it would be Shabbos morning on the west side.  (Anchorage, and a mid-continental dateline, are cited here only for purpose of illustration, not as an assertion of normative halacha.)

One of my great Shabbos pleasures is hearing from my children in Israel. Sometimes we are lucky enough to be eating our seuda at the table, and sometimes I am preparing my shiur in the dining room, and the phone rings, the answering machine turns on, and we hear the voices of our beloved children in Yerushalayim, saying something like this: "Good Shabbos, Mommy and Daddy! I hope you're able to hear me. Shabbos was beautiful here, I spoke at the meal in the Yeshiva, I walked to the Kosel and didn't get arrested, we had a great Chumash shiur at Shalosh Seudos, and we're looking forward to hearing from you soon."

Obviously, my kids are calling from Yerushalayim long after their Shabbos is over, and we are hearing them while it is still Shabbos for us in America. Part of our oneg shabbos is watching the consternation on the faces of our guests, who begin to wonder that if this is how we keep Shabbos, who knows if the food in our house is kosher. So I let them wonder for a while, and then I explain why I hold this is muttar. But is it muttar? Are we allowed to hear the message on Shabbos?  Are my kids allowed to call us when it's after Shabbos for them but still Shabbos in America?

Basically, these are the issues: (Remember what I said about relying on anonymous halacha opinions you find on the Internet: see my profile in "About Me".)

1. Even though we do not require Shvisas Keilim, and so we are allowed to begin a melacha process before Shabbos that continues automatically on Shabbos, we are not allowed to do so in the case of Avsha Milsa, where the melacha creates a noise that is heard on Shabbos (OC 252:5, Rama). Would this not prohibit us from leaving the answering machine on where the entire purpose of leaving it on is so that calls will generate noise on Shabbos? Or may we do so because we are merely leaving the machines on; but it is not us who will be generating that noise-- it is no different than allowing a non-Jew to come on to my property and to use my keilim on Shabbos.

2. Obviously, the telephone call is for our benefit. If so, does this fall into the category of "Akum she'asa melacha bishvil Yisrael," in which case it is prohibited, (under the rubric of "amira le'akum," either because of  שליחות or   דבר דבר)  to benefit from the melacha until after Shabbos is over and bichdei she'ya'aseh (unless it was done by the akum for his own benefit and our benefit is secondary)? Or is amira le'akum limited to cases where someone or something is doing the melacha during Shabbos. Here, nobody is doing anything on Shabbos.

3. Is is muttar for a person for whom Shabbos is over to directly cause a melacha to be done in a part of the world where it is still Shabbos? Perhaps this is real chillul Shabbos, because he is actually doing melacha where it is still Shabbos-- he is being מחלל the אות of Shabbos, he is profaning the sign of Shabbos where the melacha is being done? Or is the idea of Shabbos a matter of personal conduct, and limited to the individual for whom it is Shabbos where he is?
This question can be much more serious than phone calls and faxes; what about the 'Shain Machine'?
The Shain Machine was invented by Rabbi Yehuda Shain to avoid Bishul Akum problems in factories. This is a mechanism which allows a mashgiach to call the factory and enter a code on the telephone which will ignite a fire at the factory, such that the fire cannot be turned on by anyone but the mashgiach, although workers at the factory can turn it off.
So, can a mashgiach, for whom it is Friday morning, turn on a fire in a factory in China when it is Shabbos in China? Can an Israeli, for whom it is long after Shabbat, turn on a fire in a (non-Jewish-owned) factory in Los Angeles, where they are holding by Mizmor Shir Leyom Hashabbos in pesukei dezimra?
The question also arises regarding sending email.  But it's hard to believe that rearranging a few electrons in the local server really raises any real chilul Shabbos issues.  אש שחורה על גבי אש לבנה on the screen may be kesiva, but not in the server.

There are exactly three approaches among the poskim.
1. It is absolutely 100% muttar lechatchila. (Rabbi Hershel Shachter, for all practical purposes, and Rabbi Yisroel Belsky- who says that Reb Akiva Eiger's teshuva 159 is irrelevant, and he's right- in Daf Kashrus volume 13 no. 9, June 2005, Rav Neuwirth in שמירת שבת כהלכתו 31:26 from Rav Scheinberg, and Me)
2. It is most likely assur Mi'Deoraysa. (I can't say until I verify his opinion and get his permission to quote him UPDATE OCTOBER 2011:  I had heard this in the name of Reb Dovid Feinstein.  I asked him last week, and he said that he holds it is muttar, period.  The person that quoted him to me was diametrically wrong.)
3. It is assur Mi'Derabanan, but only where the recipient is a Jew, based on Issue #2. (Rav Meir Bransdorfer of the Eida Chareidis in מבקשי תורה תשרי תשנ'ד כרך ב who brings the Radvaz in 1:76 to be mattir Issue #3 but assers on the basis of Issue #2 where the recipient is a Jew, citing the שו'ע הרב רס'ג בקונטרס אחרון אות ח. Lefi aniyus da'ati, the Radvaz is a very weak comparison, and the connection to the Shulchan Aruch Harav is very debatable.)

Now, this is not the only case where the opinions are diametrically opposed. (Another example is where you want to re-hang a picture that fell down on Shabbos, which the Mishna Berura is mattir, and the Chazon Ish holds it's assur mi'deoraysa. Also, the Tefilla Lishlom HaMedinah.) But here, the basic philosophy of Shabbos comes into play, which, to me, makes it more interesting. Furthermore, it is very hard to come up with a strong tzushtell in Shas, so the question is, in many cases, left to "יראה לי."

Another halacha that might involve some of the same issues:
What about Chametz in the US when you are in Israel, or vice versa? If you have Chametz in Israel, can you sell it when it's Pesach in Israel but not in the US where you are? What if you're in Israel: can you buy it back from the goy when it's after Pesach in Israel but still Pesach where the Chametz is? (I actually once had a shayla like this: someone from New York called erev Pesach and said he had forgotten to sell his chametz, and it was after noon already, when you can no longer sell the chametz. We told him he was up the creek, and he would have to pour all his expensive schnapps down the drain. He, being a Manhattan lawyer with a keen eye for a loophole, then asked whether he could still call a rov in Los Angeles, where it was still early morning, to sell his chametz. We (meaning me as interlocutor for Reb Dovid Feinstein) told him no. But that's not exactly what we're discussing here.)
If my use of the word might didn't make it clear, I know that it would be easy to propose possible distinctions between the issues of Chametz and Shabbos: if it's called issura bala before Pesach, if shelcha is a mi'ut, etc.  But without rayos, it's just speculation.
An interesting thing on this question is the tentativeness of the poskim: among the respectable authorities, almost nobody takes a firm stand on the issue of chametz.  See, e.g., Teshuvos Igros Moshe OC IV 95, last paragraph, where he says that you have to be machmir both ways-- mei'ikar hadin.  And see Oneg Yomtov 36, who brings "קצת ראיה" that the loaction of the Chametz is all that matters.  As Great Unknown points out in the comments, the Oneg Yomtov's raya is based on an assumption that Chazal would have mentioned the case of different time zones if it would yield any interesting halachic ramifications.  Rav Shternbuch, in his Mo'adim Uzemanim at the beginning of Mechiras Chametz, disagrees with the Oneg Yomtov, and holds that all that matters is the location of the owner.  As for the Oneg Yomtov's proof, he says that Chazal would not have proposed such a pshat as a legitimate interpretation of the intent of the author of the Mishnah, and so they ignored it, just as Great Unknown suggested.

Similar questions:
1.  Shevisas Be'hemto.  What if you and your animal are in different time zones-- it is Shabbos for you, but not where your animal is, or vice versa?
2. Oso ve'es Beno.  What if the two are shechted on the same day from your perspective, but they were in different days where they were shechted?  Reb Meir Simcha in Parshas Emor 22:28 says that your perspective doesn't matter.  If the mother was shechted where it was day, but it is already night where you are, you can shecht the offspring now, even though it is still the same day, from your perspective, as the shechitas ha'eim.  Then he says a most remarkable chiddush-- that in that case, since it is muttar to shecht the offspring that is in a different calendar day, one may even shecht another offspring that shares the calendar day with the mother.
3.  Chadash.  After the Churban Beis Hamikdash, it is not the offering of the Minchas Ha'omer that is mattir Chadash, it is the break of dawn on the sixteenth of Nissan that is mattir Chadash.  So, here's the question:  After Hei'ir Pnei Mizrach in Yerushalayim, which is mattir Chadash locally, what is the status of Chadash over in Los Angeles?  In some places, it's not even the sixteenth of Nissan yet, to say nothing of dawn on the sixteenth.  So is Chadash muttar or assur there?  Rav Tzvi Kaplan, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Kodshim in Yerushalayim, and son in law of Harav Michel Feinstein ztzl, says he asked this question to Reb Chaim Kanievsky.  Reb Chaim Kanievsky told him that as soon as it is Hei'ir Pnei Mizrach in Yerushalyim, all Chadash in the world becomes muttar.  Reb Tzvi was so shocked by this that he forgot the other questions he had prepared.  The reason he was shocked is because the Brisker Rov says that even Hakravas Ha'omer is not mattir Chadash in places where it's not daytime of the sixteenth yet, because hakravas ha'omer is only mattir on the day of the sixteenth.  This is diametrically opposed to what Reb Chaim Kanievsky said.
4.  Keilim that are koneh sh'visa.  Here's the case: we pasken (OC 397:8) that objects are limited to the techum of their owner.  If the owner of an object is outside the techum, you can't move the object daled amos, even in the house.  For example: My son is in Israel, I'm in the U.S., it's Shabbos, I can't borrow and wear his tie or sweater.  This is the factual Halacha.  But perhaps that is only true if it's Shabbos where the owner is.  If it's after Shabbos in Israel, maybe there's no din that his keilim are limited to any particular techum.



(to be continued. If you have an informed opinion or a makor, send it now.)

Eating Dairy Foods- Milchiks- on Shavu’os.

The Rama in Orach Chaim 494:3 says that the minhag to have a meal that begins milchik and ends fleishik is a commemoration of the Shtei Halechem, the korban brought on Shavu’os. Since that korban involved two loaves of bread, we have a dual type of meal, beginning with dairy food and ending with meat.

The Mishna Berura in 494:12 says that he heard that another explanation: when Klal Yisroel heard the Aseres Hadibros, they were given all 613 mitzvos, and so they became aware that neveila is assur. Their kitchens were all treif. When they came home, they had nothing kosher to eat other than milchiks, because making fleishik takes a long time, from the shechita through the cooking, and so they ate milchiks, and we make a zaicher for this.

Ovi Mori (shlita, may Hashem give him a speedy and complete recovery bi'soch sh'or cholei Yisroel) Zatzal, a talmid of Slabodkeh in Lithuania, asked a very interesting question. The Gemora in Shabbos 86b says that everyone agrees that the aseres hadibros were given on Shabbos. So what are they talking about when they say that shechita and all the melochos required long preparation— they couldn’t do any of that on that day at all! They couldn't even start to do anything involving fleishiks until after Yomtov, which was Shabbos that year, was over!

I said a teretz on this kashe in Summer, 2000: since bein hashmoshos, Friday night, it was still before matan Torah, and the tzivui of Shabbos only took place in the morning, the dinim of Shabbos could not be operative (chall) that day. For Shabbos Breishis to be chall, it has to be chall in the beginning of the day, at Tzais, not in the morning. That is why the Chazal were kovei’a that the dinim of Shabbos (such as shvisa for techumim and hachana regarding muktzah) are determined according to their status Bein Hashmoshos.  (See important update at end of post.)

Harav Dr. Avremi Isenberg immediately asked, but Shabbos was given in Marah, or at the latest with the mahn, long before Mattan Torah, so they knew of and kept Shabbos long before the Aseres Hadibros were given! I answered with the shittas haRambam in Pirush Hamishnayos in the end of the seventh perek of Chullin, that all the mitzvos we do today are only because of the commandment on Sinai, and not, e.g., in the case of eiver min hachai, because of the earlier tzivui to the bnei Noach, or, in the cases of Millah and Gid Hanasheh, because of the commandment to Avraham and Yaakov. (The Mishneh Limelech in Melochim 10:7, almost at the end, brings this Rambam, and mentions the Yefei Toar that explains that the Rambam just means that we should do them because of the tzivui of Sinai which is more choshuv, but not that the earlier tzivui is boteil, but he argues with the Yefai Toar, and holds that they are completely boteil.) And the Gur Aryeh in Beshalach (Shemos 15:25) says clearly that the mitzvos of Marah cannot be Torah, because it is not possible that Torah Shebal Peh should precede Torah Shebichsav, and that the mitzvos of Marah are exactly the same as "mila to Avrohom, and Gid Hanoshe to Yaakov, and the seven mitzvos of the bnei Noach". So, if the earlier tzivui was boteil at the time of Matan Torah, the mitzvos of Marah are also boteil. At the moment of Mattan Torah, the Shabbos of Marah was supplanted by the new mitzvah of Shabbos. This new Shabbos could not begin in middle of the day. So the dinim of Shabbos were not chal until the next week.

Furthermore, there is a great deal of discussion as to whether the mitzvah of Shabbos which they received at Marah was complete or binding even when they received it.

1. See Oneg Yomtov Introduction #22, who says that they only received the Mitzvoh of Zochor es yom hashabbos, not the din of Shomor, which means that none of the prohibitions were given until Mattan Torah.

2. The Netziv in his Teshuvos says that it would have been impossible for Hashem to just drop a bomb on the nation and command them to keep Shabbos without time to learn what keeping Shabbos entails. So the tzivui of Marah was only to learn the dinim.

3. There is a machlokes Rovo and Rav Acha bar Yakov in Maseches Shabbos 87 as to whether they were given the din of Techumim in Marah. Tosfos there says that according to Rovo they were also not given the law of carrying from one reshus to another. The Ritva adds that they were not given the law of mechameir achar b’hemto.

4. The only reason Hashem was angered when people went out to gather the Mahn on Shabbos in Marah was because it was a mitzvah connected to the rules of the Mahn, not necessarily because of the din of Shabbos.

5. Rashi avoids dealing with this issue by saying that the Shabbos commandment of Marah was "parshiyos le’his’aseik bohem," not necessarily that they were mandatory, rather that they were instructed to learn about Shabbos. As Harav Dovid Zupnik, a talmid of Mir in Europe, (a tzadik and a great talmid chacham, whose Levayah is, unfortunately, today, May 22, 2007- Erev Shavu'os '67-- Boruch Dayon Ho'emes), said, from Rashi in Shemos 16:22 it is clear that Moshe had only given them the most general idea of what Shabbos entailed. First of all, Rashi says they were given "parshiyos le'his'aseik bohem," not "Mitzvos le'his'aseik bohem," as Rashi had said in the context of Korbon Pesach in Mitzrayim. Second, if he had taught them more about the dinim, Dosson and Avirom could not have gone out to gather Mohn on Shabbos, because the grandparents of the people on Bar Ilan would have been there yelling "Shabbes! Shabbes!"

Thus, we are justified in saying that the Shabbos of Marah was qualitatively different from the Shabbos of Mattan Torah. And even if there was a complete tzivui of Shabbes in Marah, as indicated according to Rav Acha bar Yaakov, it was supplanted by the tzivui of Mattan Torah.

Update, Pesach 'ayin beis:

1.  It turns out that this question, whether Shabbos can begin after Shkiah/Tzeis have passed already, or it has to begin in the beginning or not at all, is a machlokes the Rosh and his rebbi, the Maharam mei'Ruttenberg.  See Rosh Moed Kattan perek 3 number 96, especially with the Bach's girsa there.  Amazing.  I also saw that Reb Elchonon talks about it at length in Beitza 17, and it's really worth seeing it inside.

2.  Another testament to the spread of Torah in our generation:  Rabbi Etan Schnall directed me to a sefer entirely devoted to the topic of Shabbos between Mara and Mattan Torah, called Mitzvas Hashabbos by Rabbi Elchonon Adler, 2008.  To save you time, the table of contents is located on page 13 of the Hebrewbooks pagination.

3,  Etan directed me to this paragraph, from the new Dirshu edition of the Mishna Berura:

It's annoying that it keeps appearing sideways, but I can't get it to sit straight.  The gist is that the Chafetz Chayim in his first print of Likutei Halachos, but not in the later editions, says that the reason for the minhag of milchiks on Shavuos being treif pots is not true if you hold it the Tora was given on Shabbos, so it must be going according to a PDR'E that it was given before Shabbos.