YL
I want to order a new cell phone and am not particular when it will arrive. Am I permitted to place an order online if the website indicates the package will arrive on Saturday? | OU Kosher Certification<https://oukosher.org/halacha-yomis/i-want-to-order-a-new-cell-phone-and-am-not-particular-when-it-will-arrive-am-i-permitted-to-place-an-order-online-if-the-website-indicates-the-package-will-arrive-on-saturday/?category&utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shsh%20Ki%20Teitzei%205780%20(1)&utm_content=&spMailingID=32470835&spUserID=MjM3MTAxNzY3NzIS1&spJobID=1764350018&spReportId=MTc2NDM1MDAxOAS2>
The issue here is whether arranging a delivery for Shabbos constitutes Amirah li’akum (instructing a non-Jew to perform melacha on Shabbos), which is prohibited. One might assume that this is analogous to handing a letter to a non-Jew on Friday and a...
oukosher.org
One may not place an order if the delivery will definitely take place
on Shabbos. For example, one cannot send a package with UPS or FedEx
on Friday and select next day delivery. Similarly, one cannot order
a refrigerator or washing machine from a store and arrange for a
Saturday delivery.
I disagree with the author on this. Since they could choose to deliver after Shabbos and still fulfil their obligation, you are not telling them to deliver on Shabbos. In the winter this could actually happen. But even in the summer, when you can be fairly sure they won't do that, that's their choice not yours; if they did arrive after Shabbos you would have no right to complain, so you are not asking them to work on Shabbos.
Only if they guarantee that "all deliveries will be made during business hours" or something similar would you not be allowed to order a Saturday delivery. And even then, if there's a space for delivery notes, and you write that late night delivery will be OK, that should be enough to permit it, even if you can be fairly sure it won't change anything.
.
Much of this discussion (such as R' Zev Sero's comments) seems to focus on
the arrival and delivery. But isn't the other work also a factor?
Suppose I order something on Friday from a location that is one day away. I
think it is assur to request Sunday delivery, because I know that it won't
be possible unless the package is in transit during Shabbos. In contrast,
if I request Monday delivery, that would be okay, even though I know that
they'll be working for me on Shabbos, because it was their choice to work
on Saturday rather than Sunday.
Akiva Miller
Well, if there isn't a contracted delivery date of Shabbos, then it's
their choice whether to do melakhah for you on Shabbos, Friday or Sunday.
The package could sit around in a transfer facility for 25 hours while
they deal with more urgent packages if it's not the delivery date. The
choice is theirs.
But if it's next-day delivery and you place the order on Friday (or after
hours Thursday) you know you are asking them to do melakhah on Shabbos.
I guess in the case of (eg) 3 day delivery, since it wouldn't violate the
contract to get it there in 2, someone might argue that you aren't
asking them to do the delivery on Shabbos. But I don't know if mutar
alternatives matter even when they're implausible.
Tir'u baTov!
-Micha
I agree, *if* you know where it's coming from, and that it's not bich'dei sheyei'asu without working on Shabbos. But in the general case you don't know that, and I don't see why you have to worry about it just on spec.
But if it's next-day delivery and you place the order on Friday (or after
hours Thursday) you know you are asking them to do melakhah on Shabbos.
That should be fine. It's their decision, not yours. You told them you don't mind if they deliver it on Sunday.
It's the same as dropping something off at the cleaners right before Shabbos and telling them you want it by 6 AM on Sunday. Since they could work on it all night Motzei Shabbos, you're fine, even though you know they will choose not to.
Can it depend on who makes the decision? What if I ask one set of people
to deliver my package, but another set of people make it impossible for
them to get into the warehouse / vehicle on Sunday? And if I could guess
as much that even if they wanted to deliver on Sunday it's not really
in their power to do so?
:-)BBii!
-Micha