Cruise on Shabbat
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Question
Shalom Rabbi,
Is it permitted to participate in a cruise that:
- departs and returns not on Shabbat,
- but during the trip there is sailing on Shabbat,
- the operators/crew of the ship are non‑Jews,
- but the passengers on the ship are all, or mostly, Jews?
Thank you.
Is it permitted to participate in a cruise that:
- departs and returns not on Shabbat,
- but during the trip there is sailing on Shabbat,
- the operators/crew of the ship are non‑Jews,
- but the passengers on the ship are all, or mostly, Jews?
Thank you.
Answer
Shalom u’vracha.
If the company is owned by a non‑Jew and operated by non‑Jews,
then if the cruise takes place regularly, irrespective of the number of passengers, it is permitted to participate in it when the boarding and disembarking are on weekdays, and one boards the cruise three days or more before the onset of Shabbat.
However, a cruise whose departure depends on the number of passengers is forbidden for a Jew to participate in when the majority of passengers are Jews.
Source
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 248.
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