what does it mean when someone accepts shabbos early, before maariv, and from when does it actually count? if one person accepted shabbos but a fellow jew did not, can the first ask the second to do a melacha, since for the second it is still chol, and does it matter if the second person simply keeps a different minhag of when to accept? and with a non jew, where exactly is the line: a one time request made before shabbos for work that will be done on shabbos day, a standing instruction set up in advance that runs every shabbos, hinting at something instead of asking outright, asking on shabbos for work that will only be done after shabbos, iwork the non jew does partly for his own benefit, and benefiting on shabbos from a melacha a non jew already did on his own?
accepting shabbos early, asking a fellow jew to do melacha, and asking a non jew
by moi613 | Sep 10, 2026 | Shabbat & Yom Tov | 2 comments
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thank you Rabbi, really appreciate the clear breakdown.
We recently discussed the basic rules of accepting Shabbat early, so I will not repeat all of that here.
The important point for this question is that when one person accepts Shabbat early, that acceptance is personal.
If Reuven accepted Shabbat and Shimon, another Jew, has not yet accepted Shabbat, then for Shimon it is still weekday. Reuven may therefore ask Shimon to do a melachah for him during that period.
If another Jew can do it because for him Shabbat has not yet begun, certainly a non-Jew can do it as well.
That is the easy part.
The much bigger question, “What may a non-Jew do for a Jew on Shabbat?” cannot honestly be answered in one paragraph.
There are entire simanim in Shulchan Aruch devoted to amirah l’akum and related issues, especially Orach Chaim 243 through 247, and then many additional applications elsewhere. There are distinctions involving whether the request was made before Shabbat or on Shabbat, whether the non-Jew is a contractor or employee, whether he is working for himself, whether the Jew benefits directly, whether the melachah is Torah-level or rabbinic, whether there is illness or another mitzvah need, and many other factors.
So if you have a specific situation, ask the specific question.
What I would warn against is the very common idea that “if you hint, it is permitted.”
That is simply not a general rule.
A non-Jew may not simply perform melachah for a Jew on Shabbat because the Jew phrased the request indirectly.
Sometimes hinting matters.
Sometimes it does not.
Sometimes the problem is the actual request.
Sometimes the problem is benefiting from the resulting melachah.
Sometimes both are problems.
So do not rely on a clever hint as though that magically makes everything permitted.
The same applies to the other examples in the question: instructions given before Shabbat, standing weekly arrangements, asking on Shabbat for something to be done after Shabbat, work the non-Jew is doing partly for himself, or benefiting from something he did on his own.
Each of those has its own rules and exceptions.
That is simply too much Halachah to squeeze into one answer without becoming misleading.
So the practical rule is:
If someone accepted Shabbat early while another Jew has not, the other Jew may do melachah for him because it is still weekday for that second person.
Beyond that, if you have a particular non-Jew-on-Shabbat situation, send me the facts and I will deal with that case specifically.
Do not assume “I hinted” means “it is permitted.”