Question :
I was at a meal on Shabbos at our rabbis house and we were talking about different subjects. During the course of conversation, the rabbi mentioned that we cannot discuss all topics on shabbos. I would like to know what may and may we not discuss on shabbos?
Answer:
On Shabbos, it is forbidden to say that one is going to do a melacha after Shabbos is over For example, one shouldn’t say “After Shabbos, I’m going to drive a car” One may not plan specific details for soething that will take place after Shabbos such as discussing details of a family vacation such as which hotel or airline to book.
One may discuss things that will involve a melacha but do not explicitly refer to the melacha, for example one may say “I am going to meet friends at the park” even though he will be driving there and it is outside the techum, etc.
One may hint that his friend or a non-Jew should pick him up (in a car) after Shabbos even if it’s not for a mitzvah need. For example one may ask whether he is available to come after Shabbos or telling him that he’d be happy if he were able to come after Shabbos. One may not even say forbidden things to himself in private. When it comes to discussing prohibited content in regard to a mitzvah, the following applies. Even for the purpose of a mitzvah one should refrain of speaking about a Melacha. Therefore one shouldn’t say “Tomorrow I’m going to write a Sefer Torah” unless there is a fear that one will become lazy about the project in which case it’s permissible to motivate oneself according to the Mishah Brurah. One may discuss plans for a fundraiser for a Shul or Torah institution as this effort is a Mitzvah. One may speak for the purposes of a need for the community if that speech is necessary on Shabbos for example, one may speak about the issues of a community to the government on Shabbos. A father may look for a teacher for his son to teach him a trade and even pledge to him a salary as long as one doesn’t fix a price. One may not discuss or plan business agreements, transactions, deals, or strategies on Shabbos in any cases. Thinking about business on Shabbos is permissible, however, there’s a mitzvah of Oneg Shabbos not to think about such things so that one shouldn’t become distracted and worried about business matters on Shabbos. One shouldn’t speak about something which causes a person sadness or pain. Therefore, one shouldn’t tell over bad news which causes upset. One shouldn’t greet one’s friend the same way one does during the week (“good morning”, “hello”, “hi”) but rather “good Shabbos”. Mundane speech, which doesn’t include a plan to do a Melacha, business speech, degrading speech or upset, may be spoken on Shabbos but one may not speak too much of this type of speech. Moreover, the righteous practice is to avoid this type of speech e.g. talking about a funny experience at work. For tzedokah purposes it is permitted to make calculations orally. The minhag is to permit those who are called up for an Aliyah to pledge to donate money and to even mention the amount. In some places the practice is to auction the honors of performing certain mitzvahs in Shul on Shabbos. If there is an alternative it is preferable not to record the sums of the amounts donated even using cards or slips of papers indicating those amounts, however, those who do so have what to rely on. A person may not perform Hataras Nedarim – annulling of a vow – on Shabbos unless it’s needed for a mitzvah on Shabbos. In general one should be careful to only speak of things that are appropriate for such a holy day. |