2 Comments

1. 

   moi613 on September 11, 2026 at 1:11 am

   thank you Rabbi, very clear and much appreciated.

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2. 

   Aaron Abadi on September 10, 2026 at 10:24 pm

   There are really two separate questions here: driving on Yom Tov, and making early Shabbat or early Yom Tov.

   Driving on Yom Tov

   I do not think there is any general halachic prohibition called “driving a car.”

   You have to identify the actual melachah.

   According to my understanding, ordinary electricity is not one of the thirty-nine melachot, and I also do not consider the internal combustion engine to be halachic havarah in the normal Torah sense of a flame or glowing coal.

   So according to that approach, driving itself does not need the principle of מתוך at all.

   There is no prohibited fire that first has to be permitted.

   But even if someone disagrees with me and says that the combustion inside the engine is halachic havarah, I still do not understand why that automatically makes driving prohibited on Yom Tov.

   The Gemara in Beitzah 12a says:

   מתוך שהותרה לצורך הותרה נמי שלא לצורך

   Once a melachah such as havarah or hotzaah was permitted for ochel nefesh, it was also permitted beyond literal food preparation.

   That does not mean for absolutely no purpose.

   The normal understanding is that there still has to be some צורך היום, some legitimate Yom Tov need.

   But that can be a very modest need.

   We light candles on Yom Tov.

   We use fire for light.

   Historically, Poskim permitted lighting a cigarette for someone who smoked and regarded it as a normal pleasure.

   Those are not examples of cooking food.

   They are examples of מתוך.

   So if someone insists that a car engine contains halachic havarah, the next question still has to be:

   Why is transportation for a legitimate Yom Tov purpose worse?

   If someone is driving to family, to a Yom Tov meal, to shul, to visit someone, or for another real pu
   r צורך קצת.

   So according to my understanding there are two separate arguments:

   First, I do not think the electricity or the internal combustion engine creates the melachah problem people assume in the first place.

   Second, even if you classify the combustion as havarah, you still have to deal with מתוך שהותרה לצורך הותרה נמי שלא לצורך.

   You cannot simply import the Shabbat rules into Yom Tov and stop there.

   What about carrying?

   Hotzaah is itself one of the classic melachot to which מתוך applies on Yom Tov.

   And in a vehicle, you are also not personally carrying the car.

   If there is a diaper bag sitting in the car, you are not walking through reshut harabim holding the diaper bag in your hand. The object is sitting in the vehicle.

   That is not the same physical act as ordinary carrying.

   I would therefore not casually say that every object inside the car creates an independent hotzaah problem for the passenger.

   And even where hotzaah does apply, if the object is needed for Yom Tov, מתוך gives broad permission for a legitimate צורך היום.

   Techum

   Techum is a separate issue.

   Yom Tov still has techum rules.

   According to my understanding, if you are traveling in a sufficiently elevated vehicle, with the floor where your feet rest more than ten tefachim above the ground, then the sugya of למעלה מעשרה becomes relevant.

   Using the smaller shiur, ten tefachim is roughly thirty inches.

   So in a taller vehicle, such as certain pickup trucks, Suburbans, or other large vehicles, where the floor of the passenger compartment is above that height, there is a serious argument that you are traveling למעלה מעשרה.

   I would treat that as a separate techum discussion rather than mix it into the basic question of whether driving itself is prohibited.

   Early Shabbat

   The earliest time to accept Shabbat early is plag hamincha.

   The Rema, Orac
   h Chaim 261:2, says:

   ואם רוצה להקדים ולקבל עליו השבת מפלג המנחה ואילך הרשות בידו

   If a person wants to accept Shabbat early, he may do so from plag hamincha onward.

   Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 267:2, also says that from plag hamincha one may light, accept Shabbat with Maariv, and eat.

   The Gemara in Berachot 27b says:

   מתפלל אדם של שבת בערב שבת ואומר קדושה על הכוס

   A person may daven the Friday night Maariv while it is still daytime and make Kiddush.

   This is connected to the earlier discussion in Berachot about Rabbi Yehuda, who holds that the time of Mincha ends at plag hamincha.

   I would not say that plag hamincha is literally “night” for every area of Halachah.

   It is not.

   But it is clearly the halachic point from which the coming evening can begin for certain purposes, including Maariv and accepting Shabbat.

   So plag hamincha is not just a random custom.

   It is the actual earliest halachic boundary for early Shabbat.

   There is also the separate concept of תוספת שבת, adding from weekday time onto Shabbat, but that does not mean you can simply accept Shabbat at any time of the afternoon.

   Plag hamincha is the relevant earliest point.

   Early Yom Tov

   The same basic framework applies to accepting Yom Tov early.

   You can accept Yom Tov from plag hamincha onward.

   But that does not mean that every mitzvah of the night can necessarily be done before actual night.

   There are particular mitzvot where the Torah or Chazal require actual nighttime.

   The obvious example is the Pesach seder.

   There are also special discussions about Shavuot because of תמימות.

   So distinguish between:

   accepting the kedushah of Yom Tov early,

   and

   performing a particular mitzvah that requires actual night.

   Those are not always the same thing.

   Bottom line

   Driving on Yom Tov does not become prohibited simply because it is called “driving.”

   You have to identify the a
   ctual melachah.

   According to my understanding, ordinary electricity and a normal internal combustion engine do not create the standard melachah problems people assume.

   And even if you call combustion havarah, you still have to confront the rule of:

   מתוך שהותרה לצורך הותרה נמי שלא לצורך

   with some legitimate צורך היום.

   Hotzaah is also broadly permitted on Yom Tov for Yom Tov needs.

   Techum is a separate question.

   And early Shabbat or Yom Tov begins from plag hamincha, not from any arbitrary earlier time.

   The recurring problem in all of these areas is that people memorize slogans.

   “No driving.”

   “Only ochel nefesh.”

   “You need night.”

   Then they stop.

   Halachah requires identifying the actual category, opening the Gemara and Poskim, and asking what the rule really says.

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