Q: Are there any reasons to Permit Amirah LeNochri?
A: It is permissible to ask a non Jew to perform any Melacha, even one which is forbidden Deoraisah for a ill person which includes someone in the hospital, someone confined to a bed, someone who has a flu, severe toothache, severe earache, or migraine headaches.
Similarly, on a very cold day, it’s permissible to ask a non-Jew to turn on the heat as everyone is considered ill in the cold.
For someone who is ill to the extent that he is suffering discomfort or irritation one may ask a non-Jew to only perform Melacha which is forbidden derabbonon.
It is permissible to tell a non-Jew to do a forbidden activity on Shabbos for the health of a sick person even if it’s not a sickness that is life threatening.
One may tell a non Jew to turn on the light so the sick person can see what he’s doing, or to turn off the light to go to sleep, or to go buy medicine.
In places where it is cold and one is in pain because of the cold it is permissible to ask a non Jew to turn the heating on. If there are children or older people who are bothered by the cold one may ask a non Jew to turn on the heat even if it is not freezing.
If one set the air conditioning to stay on for Shabbos and then the weather or the settings changed so that it’s now freezing and there’s no other way to prevent the cold, such as opening a window, one may ask a non Jew to turn off the air conditioning.
In places where there is a heat wave one may ask a non Jew to turn on a fan or air conditioning for someone who is suffering from the extreme weather.
For the purpose of a mitzvah, it is permissible to ask a non Jew to perform a Melacha only if it is only forbidden derabbonon. Similarly, to serve unexpected guests it is permitted to ask a non Jew to do a derabbonon.
For the need of a mitzvah of a congregation of people, we rely on the opinion who says that it is permitted to ask a non Jew to do melocha for the purpose of a mitzvah.
Some say that this leniency of permitting Amirah LeNochri for the mitzvah of a congregation only applies to a mitzvah that is to occur on Shabbos, but not for a mitzvah that is to happen after Shabbos. Others disagree.
Some say that it is forbidden to ask a non-Jew to violate Shabbos in order to allow a congregation of people to learn Torah since learning Torah is supposed to lead to the practical fulfillment of Torah and not its desecration. Others, however, argue that in this regard learning Torah is no different than any other mitzvah and it is permitted to ask a non-Jew to violate Shabbos in order to allow a congregation of people to learn Torah on Shabbos.
If it is necessary, in order to buy a land of Israel from non Jews on Shabbos, it is permissible to have a non Jew write the document confirming the sale on Shabbos.
In order to prevent widespread aveirah it’s permissible to ask a non Jew to perform a Melacha Deoraisah if that is necessary. For example, it is permissible to ask a non-Jew to fix the eruv if it fell on Shabbos so that many people don’t carry on Shabbos unintentionally. If the eruv string fell and the non-Jew can retie it with a bow, he should do so. If he can’t tie it with a bow, the non-Jew should tie it with a double knot
In order to allow a many people to perform a mitzvah, some poskim permit asking a non-Jew to perform a Melacha Deoraisah.
It’s permissible to ask a non-Jew to remove an obstacle for many people even if it involves a Melacha Deoraisah if the non-Jew can’t do it with only a Derabbonon.
In general, it is forbidden to ask a non-Jew to a Derabbonon prohibition, however, it is permitted for a great need or big loss. If one is about to have a big loss it is permissible to hint (even a hint which uses a command) to a non Jew to do any forbidden activity on Shabbos to prevent that loss.
One may ask a non Jew to do a forbidden activity on Shabbos in order to save Sifrei Kodesh, such as asking a non-Jew to extinguish a fire if there are Seforim in the house.