A ''Shabbos goy'', ''Shabbat goy'' or ''Shabbes goy'' ( yi, שבת גוי, ''shabbos goy''; he, 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 The 39 Melakhot ( he, ל״ט אבות מלאכה, '' lamed-tet avot melakhah'', "39 categories of work") are thirty-nine categories of activity which Jewish law identifies as prohibited by biblical law on Shabbat. Many of these activities are also ...

'') that Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') prohibits a Jew from doing on the

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

Etymology

The term is a combination of the words '' Shabbos'' (שבת), the term for

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

usage, and ''

goy In modern Hebrew and Yiddish (, he, גוי, regular plural , or ) is a term for a gentile, a non-Jew. Through Yiddish, the word has been adopted into English (pluralised as goys or goyim) also to mean gentile, sometimes with a pejorative se ...

'' (גוי), a gentile or non-Jew. The word ''goy'', which translates literally as "nation" in

Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...

, 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.

Description

On Shabbat, there are numerous restrictions and certain types of work are prohibited, such as contractor work. The rabbis ruled that asking a non-Jew to violate Shabbat for oneself is generally forbidden, but under certain circumstances the rabbis allowed it, especially to heat the oven on winter days in northern countries. 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, although not on Shabbat or not directly given to the worker, due to ''

halakhic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

'' 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."

Notable examples

Notable examples include Maxim Gorky, Floyd B. Olson,

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

Pete Hamill Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture th ...

,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."

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...

,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. "... aders 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."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." Mario Cuomo, Martin Scorsese, Ralph Branca (who did not know at the time that he was Jewish),

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

, and the adolescent Elvis Presley, all of whom assisted their Jewish neighbors in this way. Barack Obama assisted his Jewish office neighbor while serving in the Illinois senate.

Etymology

Description

Notable examples

References

Further reading