DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 828 KB)
Paying For A Hotel Room Over Shabbat

The Halachic authorities addressed the question as to the permissibility of staying in a hotel on Shabbat. When one stays in a hotel on Shabbat, he pays for services rendered specifically on Shabbat, which would seemingly violate the prohibition of Sechar Shabbat (receiving payment for work done on Shabbat).

Rav Shelomo Kluger (Poland-Galicia, 1783-1869), in his work Ha’elef Lecha Shelomo (Orah Haim 125), addressed this question and writes that in truth, when one rents a hotel room for Shabbat he also uses it before and after Shabbat. Hotel guests who come for Shabbat generally check in on Friday afternoon and leave sometime on Mosa’eh Shabbat, well after the conclusion of Shabbat. Therefore, the payment for the hotel room is also for services provided before and after Shabbat. The Halachic principle of "Habla’a" allows one to receive payment for work that includes work done on Shabbat, as long as it also includes work done at other times. Therefore, it is permissible to pay for a hotel room for Shabbat, since the payment is also for use of the hotel room on Friday afternoon and Saturday night.

Hacham Bension Abba Shaul (Israel, 1923-1998) notes, however, that this solution would not be effective in a case where Yom Tob falls on Friday and Sunday, and one spends both days in the hotel.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Asking a Non-Jew to Turn the Lights on in a Synagogue; If a Non-Jew Turns on the Electricity in the Circuit Breaker
Situations in Which One May Benefit From Light Turned On by a Non-Jew on Shabbat
Shabbat – If a Non-Jew Turns a Light On For a Jew; Asking a Non-Jew to Turn On the Heat
Medications on Shabbat
Should One Fast on Shabbat if He Had a Bad Dream on Friday Night?
Is A Ladder Considered Mukse On Shabbat
Mukse-Stored Foods and Wines
Are Pets, Live Fish and Aquariums Mukse?
Are Balls and Games Mukse on Shabbat?
Is it Permitted to Hold a Child on Shabbat Who is Carrying Mukse?
Is It Permissible for Children to Build with Lego on Shabbat?
Grinding Spices on Shabbat
Grinding Cheeses on Shabbat
Grinding Cooked Meat on Shabbat
Grinding on Shabbat for Immediate Use
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found