A Shabbos goy, Shabbat goy or Shabbes goy (Yiddish: שבת גוי, shabbos goy; Hebrew: גוי של שבת, goy shel shabbat; plural Shabbos goyim) is a non-Jew who is employed by Jews to perform certain types of work (melakha) that Jewish religious law (halakha) prohibits a Jew from doing on the Shabbat.
Car in Jerusalem with sign "goy shel shabbat" in window
The term is a combination of the words Shabbos (שבת), the term for Sabbath in Ashkenazi Jewish usage, and goy (גוי), a gentile or non-Jew.[1] The word goy, which translates literally as "nation" in Biblical Hebrew,[2] has over time acquired the meaning of someone who is not Jewish. According to Adi Ophir and Ishay Rosen-Zvi, this usage started to take place from the first and second century onwards. They argue that before this time, no crystallized dichotomy between Jew and non-Jew existed in Judaism.[3]
Descriptionedit
On Shabbat, there are numerous restrictions[4] and certain types of work are prohibited, such as construction work.[5] The rabbis ruled that asking a non-Jew to violate Shabbat for oneself is generally forbidden,[6] but under certain circumstances the rabbis allowed it, especially to heat the oven on winter days in northern countries.[7] A shabbos goy is not needed where life is at stake (pikuach nefesh) or in the case where there would be a reasonable chance of danger to life (safek pikuach nefesh).
Originally, the job of the shabbos goy was often given to a poor woman, and the compensation was in the form of challah; later, money was given,[7] although not on Shabbat or not directly given to the worker, due to halakhic restrictions on hiring workers on Shabbat.
According to Ronald J. Eisenberg, "Today the proliferation of electronic timers has virtually eliminated the need for the Shabbos goy, who once played an important role, especially in the shtetls of Eastern Europe."[8]
^"מילון מורפיקס | גוי באנגלית | פירוש גוי בעברית". www.morfix.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2021-10-19.
^Kaplan, Aryeh (1981). The Living Torah. New York/Jerusalem: Maznaim. p. 599. Leviticus 18:28; But [you should not cause] the land to vomit you out when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation (הגוי) that was there before you.
^Rosen-Zvi, Ishay (June 10, 2016). "What if We Got Rid of the Goy? Rereading Ancient Jewish Distinctions". Journal for the Study of Judaism. 47 (2). Brill: 149–182. doi:10.1163/15700631-12340458. ISSN 0047-2212. S2CID 163738717.
^Nancy Pelosi: My father was a Shabbos Goy, retrieved 2023-03-16
^Lewin, Rhoda (2001). Jewish Community of North Minneapolis. Arcadia Publishing. p. 28. ISBN9780738508177. Floyd B. Olson learned Yiddish from his playmates and became a shabbos goy for his Jewish neighbors and business owners on Sixth Avenue North, lighting their stoves and gas lights and tending their furnaces on Sabbath and the Jewish holidays.
^Carrier, Jerry (2015). Hard Right Turn: The History and the Assassination of the American Left. Algora Publishing. p. 88. ISBN9781628941791. Olsons' friendships with some of the local Jewish families led him to serve as a 'shabbos goy', which is a gentile assisting Jews on the Sabbath by performing household functions like starting fires for heat, cooking etc. that the Orthodox Jews were not permitted to do on their Sabbath.
^Devine, Michael J. (2009). Harry S. Truman, the State of Israel, and the Quest for Peace in the Middle East. Truman State University Press. p. 93. ISBN978-1-935503-80-4. ... the Jewish Viner family who lived next door to the Trumans... In an interview with Sarah Viner... she said that during Shabbat he was the 'Shabbas goy' for the family household chores.
^Schultz, Joseph P. (1982). Mid-America's Promise: A Profile of Kansas City Jewry. Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City. p. 113. ...with the Truman family in Independence and that 'Harry was our Shabbos goy.'
^"San Francisco Jewish Bulletin, Volume 129". Jewish Community Publications. 1979. p. v.
^ abcdChan, Sewell, "White Ethnic Politics: Irish and Italian Catholics and Jews, Oh, My!", The New York Times, October 25, 2007. "'I became the Shabbos goy at the synagogue,' he said. 'So every Saturday morning, I would go in, on my way to Holy Name Church, with my surplice on my arm and I would do whatever the rabbi would ask me to do — turn on the gas stove, whatever — and there would be a dime on the shelf at the front door, which he wouldn't touch, and off I’d go.' Mr. Hamill cited other 'Shabbos goys': Colin L. Powell, Martin Scorsese, even Elvis Presley."
^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. "...[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."
^ abFertig, Avi. "Glatt Kosher Adventure To The Land Down Under", The Jewish Press, November 21, 2007. "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."
^Prager, Joshua (August 14, 2011). "For Branca, an Asterisk of a Different Kind" – via NYTimes.com.
^"Episode 1219 - Tom Jones". WTF with Marc Maron Podcast. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
^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.
^Heilman, Uriel. "Obama, Elvis and 5 other famous 'Shabbos goys'". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
Further readingedit
Dundes, Alan. "The Shabbes Goy", in The Shabbat Elevator and other Sabbath Subterfuges: An Unorthodox Essay on Circumventing Custom and Jewish Character, Rowman & Littlefield, 2002, pp. 62–74. ISBN0-7425-1670-9
Velarde, Joe. "The Shabbos Goy – That Was Me", Aish.com, June 16, 2007.
January 01, 1970
shabbos, shabbat, shabbes, yiddish, שבת, גוי, shabbos, hebrew, גוי, של, שבת, shel, shabbat, plural, employed, jews, perform, certain, types, work, melakha, that, jewish, religious, halakha, prohibits, from, doing, shabbat, jerusalem, with, sign, shel, shabbat,. A Shabbos goy Shabbat goy or Shabbes goy Yiddish שבת גוי shabbos goy Hebrew גוי של שבת goy shel shabbat plural Shabbos goyim is a non Jew who is employed by Jews to perform certain types of work melakha that Jewish religious law halakha prohibits a Jew from doing on the Shabbat Car in Jerusalem with sign goy shel shabbat in window Contents 1 Etymology 2 Description 3 Notable examples 4 References 5 Further readingEtymology editThe term is a combination of the words Shabbos שבת the term for Sabbath in Ashkenazi Jewish usage and goy גוי a gentile or non Jew 1 The word goy which translates literally as nation in Biblical Hebrew 2 has over time acquired the meaning of someone who is not Jewish According to Adi Ophir and Ishay Rosen Zvi this usage started to take place from the first and second century onwards They argue that before this time no crystallized dichotomy between Jew and non Jew existed in Judaism 3 Description editOn Shabbat there are numerous restrictions 4 and certain types of work are prohibited such as construction work 5 The rabbis ruled that asking a non Jew to violate Shabbat for oneself is generally forbidden 6 but under certain circumstances the rabbis allowed it especially to heat the oven on winter days in northern countries 7 A shabbos goy is not needed where life is at stake pikuach nefesh or in the case where there would be a reasonable chance of danger to life safek pikuach nefesh Originally the job of the shabbos goy was often given to a poor woman and the compensation was in the form of challah later money was given 7 although not on Shabbat or not directly given to the worker due to halakhic restrictions on hiring workers on Shabbat According to Ronald J Eisenberg Today the proliferation of electronic timers has virtually eliminated the need for the Shabbos goy who once played an important role especially in the shtetls of Eastern Europe 8 Notable examples editNotable examples include Maxim Gorky 7 Thomas D Alesandro Jr 9 Floyd B Olson 10 11 Harry S Truman 12 13 14 Pete Hamill 15 Colin Powell 15 16 17 Mario Cuomo 17 Martin Scorsese 15 Ralph Branca who did not know at the time that he was Jewish 18 Tom Jones 19 and the adolescent Elvis Presley 15 20 all of whom assisted their Jewish neighbors in this way Barack Obama assisted his Jewish office neighbor while serving in the Illinois Senate 21 References edit מילון מורפיקס גוי באנגלית פירוש גוי בעברית www morfix co il in Hebrew Retrieved 2021 10 19 Kaplan Aryeh 1981 The Living Torah New York Jerusalem Maznaim p 599 Leviticus 18 28 But you should not cause the land to vomit you out when you defile it as it vomited out the nation הגוי that was there before you Rosen Zvi Ishay June 10 2016 What if We Got Rid of the Goy Rereading Ancient Jewish Distinctions Journal for the Study of Judaism 47 2 Brill 149 182 doi 10 1163 15700631 12340458 ISSN 0047 2212 S2CID 163738717 The Myth of the Shabbos Goy www chabad org May One Allow a Non Jewish Contractor to Build on Shabbat www dailyhalacha com Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 150a a b c nbsp Jacobs Joseph Eisenstein Judah David 1906 SHABBAT GOY In Singer Isidore et al eds The Jewish Encyclopedia New York Funk amp Wagnalls p 216 Retrieved 2019 08 12 Eisenberg Ronald L 2011 Dictionary of Jewish Terms A Guide to the Language of Judaism Taylor Trade Publications p 368 ISBN 9781589797291 Nancy Pelosi My father was a Shabbos Goy retrieved 2023 03 16 Lewin Rhoda 2001 Jewish Community of North Minneapolis Arcadia Publishing p 28 ISBN 9780738508177 Floyd B Olson learned Yiddish from his playmates and became a shabbos goy for his Jewish neighbors and business owners on Sixth Avenue North lighting their stoves and gas lights and tending their furnaces on Sabbath and the Jewish holidays Carrier Jerry 2015 Hard Right Turn The History and the Assassination of the American Left Algora Publishing p 88 ISBN 9781628941791 Olsons friendships with some of the local Jewish families led him to serve as a shabbos goy which is a gentile assisting Jews on the Sabbath by performing household functions like starting fires for heat cooking etc that the Orthodox Jews were not permitted to do on their Sabbath Devine Michael J 2009 Harry S Truman the State of Israel and the Quest for Peace in the Middle East Truman State University Press p 93 ISBN 978 1 935503 80 4 the Jewish Viner family who lived next door to the Trumans In an interview with Sarah Viner she said that during Shabbat he was the Shabbas goy for the family household chores Schultz Joseph P 1982 Mid America s Promise A Profile of Kansas City Jewry Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City p 113 with the Truman family in Independence and that Harry was our Shabbos goy San Francisco Jewish Bulletin Volume 129 Jewish Community Publications 1979 p v a b c d Chan Sewell White Ethnic Politics Irish and Italian Catholics and Jews Oh My The New York Times October 25 2007 I became the Shabbos goy at the synagogue he said So every Saturday morning I would go in on my way to Holy Name Church with my surplice on my arm and I would do whatever the rabbi would ask me to do turn on the gas stove whatever and there would be a dime on the shelf at the front door which he wouldn t touch and off I d go Mr Hamill cited other Shabbos goys Colin L Powell Martin Scorsese even Elvis Presley 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 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 a b Fertig Avi Glatt Kosher Adventure To The Land Down Under The Jewish Press November 21 2007 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 Prager Joshua August 14 2011 For Branca an Asterisk of a Different Kind via NYTimes com Episode 1219 Tom Jones WTF with Marc Maron Podcast Retrieved 2021 04 20 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 Heilman Uriel Obama Elvis and 5 other famous Shabbos goys www timesofisrael com Retrieved 2021 05 03 Further reading editDundes Alan The Shabbes Goy in The Shabbat Elevator and other Sabbath Subterfuges An Unorthodox Essay on Circumventing Custom and Jewish Character Rowman amp Littlefield 2002 pp 62 74 ISBN 0 7425 1670 9 Katz Jacob trans Yoel Lerner The Shabbes Goy A Study in Halakhic Flexibility Jewish Publication Society Philadelphia Jerusalem 1989 dead link Neuwirth Yehoshua Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah Shemirath Shabbath A guide to the practical observance of Shabbath Chapter 30 1 7 Milechet Nachri b Shabbat v b Yom Tov Feldheim Publishers 2002 ISBN 1 58330 494 0 Velarde Joe The Shabbos Goy That Was Me Aish com June 16 2007 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Shabbos goy amp oldid 1220406642, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
