Regulations: On Economic Activities and the Observance of Shabbat

I have seen the Lord’s nation, and behold they are dispersed, and have made breaches, despising the Almighty’s Torah [see Isaiah 1:4], when men were unrestrained in Israel [see Judges 5:2], when they became loose to the point of derision [see Exodus 32:25]. Their feet have faltered [see 2 Samuel 22:37] in the desecration of Sabbaths and festivals, and there has been silence. They said, “We have become ensnared, trapped in our business and commercial affairs.” They decided to permit gentiles to perform their work, and many have stumbled therein [see Isaiah 8:15], and the abandonment of Torah is great within the land [see Isaiah 6:12]. I have seen my people’s affliction [see Exodus 3:7] and been zealous for the Lord of Hosts [see 1 Kings 19:10] to repair the breaches. And I determined to deliver them from their pains [see Exodus 3:7–8], so that not even the whiff of evil repute might be found among them. I therefore made appropriate enactments in this regard, accompanied by the threat of fines and penalties, in the glorious community of Kraków, may its Rock protect and sustain it, which they undertook to heed, carry out, and fulfill. They were to appoint men to oversee the matter constantly, to exhort the people and restrain them from their aforesaid ways, so that they would not turn back to folly (Psalms 85:9).

1. First and foremost: regarding anyone who owns a beer house where he brews for himself and occasionally rents it out to others to brew there for the day—it is forbidden to rent it out to gentiles for brewing on Sabbaths and festivals, as he is thereby receiving remuneration for work done on the Sabbath. It is comparable to an oven or a bathhouse, which it is forbidden to rent out to gentiles on Sabbaths and festivals [see b. Avodah Zarah 21b]. Even where no hiring fee is charged, it remains prohibited, as the place bears the name of a Jew. Since it is well known in these regions that one cannot complete the brewing of beer in one day—whenever one begins brewing on any particular day, the labor will extend into the night—it is accordingly forbidden to rent it out to a gentile even on a Friday, as his labor will continue into the Sabbath, unless the gentile commences his work on Thursday, at least an hour before nightfall, in which case he will be able to complete it well before the Sabbath. If it is a Jew who is brewing, he must start his work no later than four hours before dusk on Thursday, so that he can finish his work long before twilight, lest he suffer some delay and his labor extends into the night. For it is stated in regard to a preventive enactment: “go round; go round, they say to a nazirite [and do not approach the vineyard [see, e.g., b. Shabbat 13a].” Anyone transgressing this order shall pay a fine of one thaler to the designated overseers forthwith, on pain of pronouncement of a ban.

2. Anyone owning a malthouse who carries out his work there by means of gentile laborers should be careful not to allow the gentile to do any work on the Sabbath, besides such labors that are performed automatically, e.g., soaking—where one soaks grain before the Sabbath and the stalks drop off by themselves over the course of the Sabbath. However, it is prohibited to dry them by the fire on the Sabbath, or to pour water over them, and the like. Even if there is a contractual arrangement [between Jew and gentile] it is prohibited, as the malthouse bears the name of a Jew.

We have therefore enacted that, before the Sabbath and a festival, he should take the key away from the gentile maltster, so that he can do no work there on the Sabbath or festival. The overseers who are appointed to prevent any Sabbath desecration shall be on guard before the Sabbath, and on the Sabbath itself—and the same applies to festivals—to ascertain whether or not the key is in the Jew’s possession and whether work is being performed in the malthouses on the Sabbath or festival. They are obliged to go personally and also to send agents to investigate and supervise this matter.

If a great financial loss would be incurred were they unable to complete the work performed in a malthouse satisfactorily during the week, the Jew should lease the malthouse to a gentile for three or four years with the stipulation that the gentile should do no work on Sabbaths or festivals. In such an instance, even if he breaches the condition, the Jew incurs no sin. Since he has leased it for many consecutive years, this will become well known and there will be no question of creating the false impression that a Jew has hired workmen to perform his labor on the Sabbath. This is especially the case when there is an operative ordinance in the town that anyone owning a malthouse should lease it to gentiles rather than hire gentile workers to do his work, as, again, there is no cause for suspicion or the possibility of creating a false impression. Upon expiry of this three- or four-year term granted to the gentile, he may then lease it to him for a further period without any stipulation whatsoever.

3. Likewise, liquor distillers must be careful to extinguish the fire beneath the kettles and boilers before the onset of the Sabbath or festival, and the overseers shall inspect the distillery before the Sabbath begins, at the time when the sexton calls out, “Boil fish!” at which point they must go and extinguish the fire. If someone violates this order and flames are discovered beneath his kettle or the boilers at the outset of the Sabbath, he must pay a fine of one thaler to the overseers forthwith on pain of the pronouncement of a ban. [ . . . ]

12. They must also be warned concerning their practice of rearing pigs, which they receive as part of their inventory, as this involves the prohibition against doing business with items prohibited by the Torah. Although it is permitted to sell the carcasses of animals that have not been ritually slaughtered, or animals with fatal internal physical defects, in a case where one happened to come by them, that leniency applies only if he sells them immediately, but one may not rear them and fatten them. Moreover, there is another problem that applies specifically to pigs, as one might fall into the category of “cursed be he who rears pigs!” [see b. Sotah 49b]. Consequently, the wise man will ensure that he makes the appropriate stipulations with the gentile at the start of the hiring term for the goods, so that he does not thereby stumble into sin, as anything he might gain in this world would be offset by his loss, heaven forbid, in the hereafter. [ . . . ]

16. Women must also be warned against secluding themselves alone with a male, and they should not frequent gentile thoroughfares and houses where Jews are not commonly found without a suitable, honest chaperone. A fortiori, they should not walk on the highway without a chaperone.

17. They further enacted that the communal sexton is obliged on every Sabbath eve to prepare himself an hour before he summons people to the synagogue for the afternoon service. He should go from house to house to command and warn the people, and to proclaim that they should prepare themselves for the Sabbath and cease any work they are doing. This is a great enactment!

I have reproduced the above from the enactments of the illustrious authorities of the Three Lands attending the fair in Lublin, Adar 5350 (1590), and they were accepted by our aforesaid saintly teacher, R. Feibush. Leaseholders and villagers are to be supervised in order to ensure that gentiles will not perform any work on the Sabbath. Similarly, the head of the rabbinic court shall make enactments for those who collect taxes and duties on how to conduct themselves on the Sabbath. Likewise, people should not have gentiles go fishing for them on the Sabbath, and bakery owners may not brew malt on Sabbaths and festivals. They should make similar enactments for all sellers of liquor and other beverages regarding how they should conduct themselves on the Sabbath.