Shabbos goy
A Shabbos goy, Shabbat goy or Shabbes goy (Yiddish: שבת גוי, shabbos goy Modern Hebrew: גוי של שבת goy shel shabat) is a non-Jew who performs certain types of work (melakha) which Jewish religious law (halakha) prohibits the Jew from doing on the Sabbath. The phrase is a combination of the word "Shabbos" (שבת) meaning the Sabbath, and goy, which literally means "a nation" but colloquially means a "non-Jew" (in Biblical Hebrew "goy" means simply "a nation", but in Mishnaic Hebrew it is used in the sense of "a non-national", i.e., "a non-Jew").
Judaism prohibits Jews from doing certain types of work, known as melakha, on the Sabbath. Within certain guidelines (see Shulkhan Arukh), a non-Jew may perform certain acts which are beneficial to Jews but which may not be performed by Jews on the Sabbath. There are numerous restrictions[1] and certain types of work are prohibited, such as contractor work.[2]
A "shabbat goy" is not needed where life is at stake (pikuach nefesh). Jewish physicians must work on the Sabbath if their work is needed to save lives.
Examples[edit]
In the 20th century, Colin Powell, Mario Cuomo, Martin Scorsese, Floyd B. Olson, Harry S. Truman, and the adolescent Elvis Presley assisted their Jewish neighbors in this way.[3][4][5][6]
Notes[edit]
- ^ "The Myth of the Shabbos Goy", [1]
- ^ "May One Allow a Non-Jewish Contractor to Build on Shabbat?" [2]
- ^ "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[permanent dead link] 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[edit]
- Katz, Jacob (trans. Yoel Lerner). The "Shabbes Goy": A Study in Halakhic Flexibility, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia/Jerusalem, 1989.[dead link]
- Velarde, Joe. The Shabbos Goy – That Was Me
- Shmirat Shabbat Kihilchata (Chapter 30: 1–7 Milechet Nachri b'Shabbat v'b Yom Tov)
