DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 1.03 MB)
Public Transportation and Air Travel on Shabbat

Is it permissible to travel on a bus, subway or trolley in Shabbat if payment is rendered before Shabbat such that no handling of money is involved?

Rav Shemuel Pinhasi (contemporary), in his work "Daber Davar" (1:21; listen to audio recording for precise citation), rules that traveling on public transportation on Shabbat is strictly forbidden under all circumstances. If one travels outside his city, then the trip is certainly forbidden due to the prohibition of "Tehum Shabbat" – traveling a distance of two thousands cubits outside one's city. And even traveling within the city, Rav Pinhasi writes, entails several Shabbat prohibitions, including the prohibition of "Uvda De'hol" – performing weekday activity. Furthermore, one's mere presence on a bus or train may constitute a Shabbat violation in that it increases the activity of the vehicle's engine. The Hatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer, Hungary, 1762-1839) went so far as to classify those who travel by train on Shabbat under the category of "Mumar" (apostates). In any event, the consensus among all authorities is that one may not travel by public transportation on Shabbat, even for the purpose of a Misva such as attending the synagogue, and even if the conductor/driver and crew are all non-Jews. Rav Ovadia Yosef codifies this Halacha in his work Yehaveh Da'at (6:16).

Similarly, it is forbidden for a person to travel in an airplane during Shabbat, even if he boards before Shabbat and disembarks only after Shabbat. This often occurs on westbound flights from Los Angeles to the Far East that leave Los Angeles on Friday afternoon. The plane flies through time zones where it is currently Shabbat, and then lands in the Far East on Saturday night. Rav Pinhasi (Daber Davar 11:15) rules that it is forbidden to take such a flight even if the pilot and crew members are not Jewish, since one's mere presence on the airplane increases the engine's activity. Furthermore, it is all but impossible to avoid activating electricity while walking about the aircraft, not to mention that one will be unable to recite Kiddush and conduct a Shabbat meal as required by Halacha under such circumstances.

Summary: It is forbidden to travel on public transportation vehicles on Shabbat under any circumstance, even if one paid before Shabbat. It is likewise forbidden to fly in an airplane on Shabbat, even if one boards before Shabbat and disembarks after Shabbat.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
May a Woman Recite Minha After Lighting Shabbat Candles?
Is It Permissible To Squeeze Grapes and Other Similar Foods In One's Mouth on Shabbat
Weighing and Measuring on Shabbat
May a Woman Drink After Lighting the Shabbat Candles?
Lighting Shabbat Candles in an Illuminated Room
Allowing an Internet Business to Run on Shabbat; Requesting a Wakeup Call in a Hotel on Shabbat
Is a Husband or Wife Bound by the Other’s Acceptance of Shabbat?
Public Transportation and Air Travel on Shabbat
Allowing a Gentile to Voluntarily Perform a Melacha on Shabbat; Making an Indirect Request to a Gentile on Shabbat
Using Electric Lights as Shabbat Candles
Asking Somebody Who Has Yet to Accept Shabbat to Perform Melacha
If One Mistakenly Began Reciting "Ata Honen" During the Amida on Shabbat
One Who Comes Late to the Synagogue on Friday Night
Is It Permissible To Carry In An Apartment Building Hallway On Shabbat
Asking a Non-Jew to Perform an Action on Shabbat That Will Result in a Melacha
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found