Yichud- Can One Woman Be Secluded With More Than One Man Such As House Workers (Plumber)
*** This Halacha deals with topic of Yichud. Yichud is the concept that a man may not be secluded with a forbidden woman. Please read all the Halachot on this topic as there are conditions and exclusions that must be fully understood before accepting Lema’ase. ***
The question is asked in regards to the law of Yichud. As we know, Yichud refers to the prohibition of a man from being secluded with a forbidden woman. The question is whether or not one lady can be among many men, and if a lady can be at home when a male worker comes to make some repairs.
There’s a great Machloket between the Sephardim and Ashkenazim regarding the restrictions of Yichud for a lady. All agree that one lady may not be alone with one man. But according to Sephardim it is even forbidden for a lady to be alone when there are many men. This is based on the way Rambam learns the Gemara in Kidushin on Daf 80. And it’s the way the Ran (Rav Nissim ben Reuven born in Spain in the early part of the 14th century or late 13th) also learns. And that is the way Maran is Posek in Shulchan Aruch in siman 22, Eben HaEzer, the 5th Halacha. Ashkenazim are a little more lenient on this issue. Ashkenazim should ask their Rabbi for a ruling.
For Sephardim, this law applies whether it’s in the day or in the night. It applies whether it is in the city or on the road. According to Sephardim it’s only permissible if there are 3 ladies and 3 men. That is the magic number. But any combination less than that is forbidden.
So the question was asked about workmen who come to the house while the husband is at work. For example, can a male plumber come to a house to fix a sink if only the wife is at home? How about if there would be 2 male plumbers, or three? Didn’t we just say above that it is forbidden for one lady to be with men no matter how many there are?
Halacha answers this and says it is permissible for a male workman to be in the house so long as the husband is in town, whereby he has keys and he can come home at any time and walk in. The basis of this is that a married lady would not make a transgression if she is aware that her husband can walk in at any moment. So, again, according to Halacha, it’s OK for the plumber or workman to be in the house alone with a married woman.
For that matter if the lady is alone with a few men, but a wife of one of the men comes along, then such would be considered permissible. In this case, we rely on the married lady to protect the situation.
Let’s review the Halachot. We said above 1 stringency and 2 leniencies. The stringency is for Sephardim for whom it is forbidden to allow one lady to be secluded with even more than one man. (That’s not like the Ashkenazim who are lenient.) Leniency number one is regarding a workman who would be allowed to enter the house where there is a lone married woman so long as the husband is nearby in town. And leniency number two permits 2 women to be with many men so long as one of the women is the wife of one of the men.
