Hi
I was making a multiple choice quiz for my kollel boker, and i decided to use one of your questions
>>2. On Shabbos Reuven may not say to Shimon 'Come to me at night so I can hire you'.
a) True.
b) False.
c) Safek.
d) Machlokes A&B.
e) Machlokes A&C.
correct answer-(d)<<
I was bombarded by tynos that mentioning "hire" is not what the gemara says...and even though Ein Hachi Nami theres no mention of melacha, it still may be Asur l'Kulei Alma, not a machlokess...
moshe white, United States
Hi R' Moshe,
I was 'hired' to be the Kollels' lawyer!
I must say that the bombardiers are probably right. It is very hard to find a Shita that if you actually mention the reason Shimon should come, it is still Mutar even according to R' Yehoshua Ben Karcha. It is pretty clear in the Poskim that if he says 'ha'Niree she'Tavo Imi la'Erev le'Sochrecha', it is Ossur. I will just add two points.
A. It seems to be a Machlokes Rishonim (Rashi and the Ritva Shabbas 150a), if the Heter of R' Yehoshua is because he is using a hint without mentioning the Meleches Issur as Rashi says. I should add, that if so, the source of the Issur is from the Posuk "ve'Daber Davar". On the other hand, it seems from other Rishonim that the Heter here is because 'ha'Niree' is said in a form of a question, and not as a definite exclamation. If so, the source for the Issur is from "mi'Mtzo Cheftzecha" because when said in a definite way and not as a question, it is like closing a deal and is Ossur as Masa u'Matan ׀ doing business on Shabbas. There is a Sevara to say that according to the Ritva, if he asks, Can I hire you tonight? It might not be Ossur as far as doing business on Shabbas, but there is no basis to say that the Ritva disagrees with Rashi about the second issue of 've'Daber Davar'.
B. I must say that there is a 'Shitas Yachid' - the Tosfos Rid, who says the in the specific case of our question, it is still Mutar. He explains that since actually Hiring a Poel on Shabbas is only a Issur of Dibur, meaning that the reason it is Ossur to hire someone on Shabbas is a Issur performed by speech without no action, in a case that he wants to hire someone after Shabbas, it is Mutar to be Medaber about doing a Dibur Ossur after Shabbas. According to this shita (but not any other Shita and of course not Halacha le'Maase), only in the specific case of the question, it might be still a Machlokes between Tana Kama and R' Yehoshua.
I want to Melamed Zchus that the Talmid Chacham (no Machlokes about that!!) who wrote this question is an ancestor of the Tosfos Rid!
Kol Tuv,
Aharon Steiner