SAJR RELIGIOUS PANEL

QUESTION:

What should farmers do on Shabbos?

“I am a farmer in the Free State. I try to keep as many of the mitzvoth as possible and I even keep a kosher home on my farm. On Shabbos my family and I am torn between keeping Shabbos and not driving or breaking Shabbos and driving to participate in our closest minyan which is about 80 km away. I know this is a difficult choice but what should we do – what is more important, being part of a community and participating in the minyan, or keeping the non-driving requirement of Shabbos?”

Rabbi Ramon Widmonte replies:

“What a question within the month of Comrades! Surely the answer is to jog to shul, it’s only 80 km? It would be great training.

“With less flippancy, though, as Achad Ha’am put it, more than the Jews have kept Shabbat; Shabbat has kept the Jews. Sometimes we mistake what we will achieve from bypassing halacha for a ‘greater’ goal, but halacha always has the longer view.

“Here the answer is clear. The two principles at odds are: participating in the community vs keeping the laws of Shabbat; but by keeping Shabbat, one is participating in the broader community of Jews throughout the world and throughout all time!

“Something else to consider is where one lives, and thriving on a daily basis in the proximity of a community and shul is also something to consider – community is not just on Shabbat.”

Rabbi Ari Kievman of Chabad House responds:

I commend your desire to be at shul and part of the minyan on Shabbos. Shul really is the centre of Jewish communal and spiritual life. Prayer with a minyan is considered especially propitious. 

However as significant as prayer in shul is, as it was instituted by our great sages, it is not biblically mandatory.

The Torah says: “You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwelling places on Shabbos.” Considering that cars run on combustion engines which the dictionary describes as “an act or instance of burning”, driving on Shabbos is actually in violation of a biblical command except in case of emergency. 

It is disappointing because who doesn’t want to be in shul on Shabbos? 

If you want to keep Shabbos properly, then it would be necessary to take some proactive steps to do so. Either you can arrange to stay within walking distance of the shul (a hotel, B&B, flat, shul room, another congregant, etc) or pray by yourself at home with your family which may be very beautiful and meaningful too. 

You’re always welcome to join our shul and there’s no shortage of hotels in the Sandton central area. Oh and the Rebbetzen offers the best gastronomic delights!

Rabbi Yehuda Stern replies:

Shabbos is symbol of the relationship between the Jewish people and G-d. It testifies that G-d created the world and rested from all work on the seventh day and so we do the same. By desecrating the Shabbos we are, G-d forbid, doing the opposite.

Driving is prohibited on Shabbos, even if it is in order to perform a mitzvah. Hence, one who aims to be ‘Shabbos observant’ should not drive to shul. We are therefore encouraged to purchase a home that is in walking distance from a shul.

However, our sages have also said: “Desecrate one Shabbos so that you may be able to observe more Shabboses.”

For one who is not properly observing Shabbos, the inspiration of the Shabbos shul services may indeed bring to his full observance of Shabbos in the future. In this context, many halachic authorities will justify one’s driving to shul on Shabbos.

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