Chapter 73:2
Employing Gentiles on the Sabbath
2. If the instructions for a task [prohibited for a Jew to perform] were
given to the Gentile before the Sabbath, then it is permissible for him to
perform the task on the Sabbath, provided the following conditions (among
others which we will cover over the next few days) are met:
(a) The Gentile must remove the article from the Jew's home before the
commencement of the Sabbath, and not on the Sabbath itself.
(b) A fixed wage must be established. Thus, the Gentile is working for
himself, to earn his wage, [and not for the Jew].
Accordingly, a person who has hired a Gentile servant (for a variety of
duties) for a set amount of time is forbidden to allow him to work on the
Sabbath, because the work is performed for the benefit of the Jew alone.
If a Gentile is travelling to certain place, and a Jew wants to give him a
letter to deliver, if the Gentile might travel on the Sabbath, the Jew must
pay him a fee. [If a fee is paid,] the Gentile is considered to be carrying
the letter to earn the fee and not as a favor (1).
FOOTNOTES:
(1) One is permitted to put mail into a public mailbox on Friday.
