hestitation, provided the service is permissible according to the rules of
halakhah. ³ Such permission, however, depended upon the fulfillment
of numerous conditions. The problem halakhic experts confronted was
how to define the boundaries of the permitted and the prohibited and
how to ensure that the Jewish public would indeed remain within the
realm of the permitted and not stray into that which is forbidden.

Regarding various questions arising in everyday life, there was al-
ways a certain tension between basic halakhic teachings and the ability
and readiness of the public to adapt its behavior. It seems, however, that
in no area was such tension more apparent than in questions of a Gentile
doing the work of a Jew on Jewish Sabbaths and festival days. Our re-
search is studded with examples of this phenomenon, a fact that invites
thorough consideration, for its historical evaluation is twofold. The
problems dealt with by halakhic authorities in this field indicate that
Jews were involved in the economic life of their non-Jewish environ-
ment, for the use of the Sabbath Gentile is not limited to having a
Gentile light the oven of a Jew on a cold winter day and the like. The
Sabbath Gentile fulfills an important function resulting from the in-
terdependence of Jew and non-Jew in various economic fields. For ex-
ample, Gentile servants and laborers work in Jewish households; Jews
enter into partnerships with non-Jews in the business world; they rent
fields and factories to non-Jews and lease them from non-Jews; they set
sail in their ships and journey in caravans led by non-Jews. Even if the
Jew himself refrains from doing anything on the Sabbath, he is still liable
to benefit from work performed by the Gentile. And so the question
arises: Is this benefit permitted or prohibited?

From the types of questions dealt with by halakhic experts in every
generation we can gain insight into contemporary sources of Jewish live-
lihood, which vary from place to place and from one period to another.
Jewish involvement in economics was sometimes limited, a fact dem-
onstrated by a small number of questions put to authorities for their
consideration. Nevertheless, a large number of questions, especially if
original in nature and unprecedented in halakhic tradition, indicates the

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