Can I travel with cash and credit cards on Shabbat, assuming there is an eruv also, is there an Isur to check into a hotel on Shabbat, assuming they require electronic payment, and you are in the Eruv
So, let me answer you clearly and honestly — both from a halachic basis and from a practical/social basis.
1. Halachic Perspective
• Carrying cash/credit cards:
If there’s an eruv, you can carry your wallet with cash and cards. Coins are traditionally muktzeh because of their use for commerce, but paper bills are different (they are more like a “shtar,” a document of debt, not coins). Even if we treat them as muktzeh, they’re a secondary item in your wallet, which you are carrying for other purposes, so this is permissible.
• Checking into a hotel on Shabbat:
The core prohibition on “business” on Shabbat is rabbinic and is based on a concern for writing (שמא יכתוב). But if you are not actually writing — for example, using a credit card, or even signing electronically (or having staff sign for you) — this is similar to what the Gemara permits when a person buys on credit. The Gemara explicitly allows buying on credit on Shabbat when the writing is for the seller’s own bookkeeping, not at your instruction.
Using a credit card (or debit card) is effectively a credit arrangement: you are not paying anything at that moment. The money transfer happens later.
In Israel, even Orthodox hotels routinely allow check-ins on Shabbat with billing handled afterward — this shows there’s precedent for this practice.
So halachically, you can travel with cash and credit cards in an eruv, and you can check into a hotel on Shabbat if needed.
2. Practical/Social Perspective
Now, a separate point: Orthodox culture often reacts strongly to actions like these — even when Halacha permits them.
As an example: wearing a kippah. Halachically, there’s almost no binding requirement to wear one at all times (the only real explicit source is a lone opinion by Maharit Tzahalon, which most poskim reject). Historically, thousands of fully observant Jews didn’t wear a kippah at work. But today, if you don’t wear one, you’ll be treated as if you’ve abandoned Judaism entirely.
The same distortion exists here.
If you walk around with your wallet on Shabbat or check into a hotel, people will see you as violating Shabbat — even though Halacha doesn’t prohibit it.
So my advice:
• If you’re traveling and away from the community, do what you need to do — it’s permissible.
• If you’re around other observant Jews, be aware of the cultural reaction, and consider if it’s worth the social fallout.
Bottom Line:
Halachically:
• You may carry cash and cards in an eruv.
• You may check into a hotel using a credit card on Shabbat.
Socially:
• Expect many in the Orthodox world to see this as a “huge sin,” despite the lack of a true halachic prohibition.
Do what you need to do — but be aware of the culture you’re navigating.
can I order car share or carry in a carmelit
I’m unclear as to your follow-up question.
So, let me answer you clearly and honestly — both from a halachic basis and from a practical/social basis.
1. Halachic Perspective
• Carrying cash/credit cards:
If there’s an eruv, you can carry your wallet with cash and cards. Coins are traditionally muktzeh because of their use for commerce, but paper bills are different (they are more like a “shtar,” a document of debt, not coins). Even if we treat them as muktzeh, they’re a secondary item in your wallet, which you are carrying for other purposes, so this is permissible.
• Checking into a hotel on Shabbat:
The core prohibition on “business” on Shabbat is rabbinic and is based on a concern for writing (שמא יכתוב). But if you are not actually writing — for example, using a credit card, or even signing electronically (or having staff sign for you) — this is similar to what the Gemara permits when a person buys on credit. The Gemara explicitly allows buying on credit on Shabbat when the writing is for the seller’s own bookkeeping, not at your instruction.
Using a credit card (or debit card) is effectively a credit arrangement: you are not paying anything at that moment. The money transfer happens later.
In Israel, even Orthodox hotels routinely allow check-ins on Shabbat with billing handled afterward — this shows there’s precedent for this practice.
So halachically, you can travel with cash and credit cards in an eruv, and you can check into a hotel on Shabbat if needed.
2. Practical/Social Perspective
Now, a separate point: Orthodox culture often reacts strongly to actions like these — even when Halacha permits them.
As an example: wearing a kippah. Halachically, there’s almost no binding requirement to wear one at all times (the only real explicit source is a lone opinion by Maharit Tzahalon, which most poskim reject). Historically, thousands of fully observant Jews didn’t wear a kippah at work. But today, if you don’t wear one, you’ll be treated as if you’ve abandoned Judaism entirely.
The same distortion exists here.
If you walk around with your wallet on Shabbat or check into a hotel, people will see you as violating Shabbat — even though Halacha doesn’t prohibit it.
So my advice:
• If you’re traveling and away from the community, do what you need to do — it’s permissible.
• If you’re around other observant Jews, be aware of the cultural reaction, and consider if it’s worth the social fallout.
Bottom Line:
Halachically:
• You may carry cash and cards in an eruv.
• You may check into a hotel using a credit card on Shabbat.
Socially:
• Expect many in the Orthodox world to see this as a “huge sin,” despite the lack of a true halachic prohibition.
Do what you need to do — but be aware of the culture you’re navigating.