Shabbos goy
A Shabbat goy, Shabbos goy or Shabbes goy (Yiddish: שבת גוי, Modern Hebrew: גוי של שבת goy shel shabat) is an individual who regularly assists a Jewish individual or organization by performing certain acts for them on the Jewish Sabbath which are forbidden to Jews within Jewish law. The phrase is a combination of the word "Shabbos" (שבת), referring to the Jewish Sabbath, and "goy" (גוי), meaning "foreigner" or "non-Jew."
Orthodox Judaism prohibits certain types of work on the Jewish Sabbath. Within certain guidelines (as dictated by the Shulchan Aruch, the most authoritative Jewish code of law), a non-Jewish individual can perform certain acts which are beneficial for Jews but would be forbidden for them to perform. In certain households and synagogues a particular non-Jewish person (invariably not a member of the home/synagogue) may be designated as the Shabbos goy for that place. This individual is usually one who would be present regardless of this role, such as a babysitter or a synagogue maintenance crew member, and is typically paid for the work. Before the 20th century Shabbos goys most commonly lit (or re-lit) stoves in Jewish homes in the winter. In the 20th century Colin Powell and Mario Cuomo both assisted their Jewish neighbors in this way.[1][2] The artists Martin Scorsese[3] and the adolescent Elvis Presley[4] similarly helped neighbors.
This practice is prohibited by the Torah. On Exodus 23, 12 it is stated that everyone in one's household should rest on Shabbat: [1] "Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed."
שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲשֶׂה מַעֲשֶׂיךָ, וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי תִּשְׁבֹּת--לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ, שׁוֹרְךָ וַחֲמֹרֶךָ, וְיִנָּפֵשׁ בֶּן-אֲמָתְךָ, וְהַגֵּר [2]
Notes
- ^ "Former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell and Mario Cuomo, former governor of New York State, each a former Shabbos goy, both share fond recollections of their youth, when they were uniquely qualified to lend a Jewish neighbor a hand." Fertig, Avi. "Glatt Kosher Adventure To The Land Down Under", The Jewish Press, November 21, 2007.
- ^ "...[R]eaders follow General Powell all the way back from Gulf War strategist to South Bronx Shabbos goy, the lad who earned a quarter on Friday nights turning on and off the synagogue lights for Orthodox Jews." Clines, Francis X. "The Co-Author of Gen. Powell's Book Is Given a Part as the Story Goes On", The New York Times, October 1, 1995.
- ^ Chan, Sewell, "White Ethnic Politics: Irish and Italian Catholics and Jews, Oh, My!", The New York Times, October 25, 2007
- ^ Sources give two different people for whom Elvis was a Shabbos goy. In Tugging at Jewish Weeds: An Interview with Steve Stern it was the Dubrovner family; to Alfred J. Kolatch, in his Inside Judaism: The Concepts, Customs, and Celebrations of the Jewish People (Pub. Jonathan David, 2006), p. 480, citing a secondary source, it is Rabbi Alfred Fruchter who is helped.
References
- Katz, Jacob (trans. Yoel Lerner). The "Shabbes Goy": A Study in Halakhic Flexibility, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia/Jerusalem, 1989.
- Velarde, Joe. The Shabbos Goy - That Was Me