626. Labors Performed Publicly

Shabbos 6:5

Let’s say that non-Jews made a coffin, dug a grave or brought flutes to play dirges for a person who died. If this activity was carried out discreetly, one must wait until after Shabbos, long enough that the activity could have been performed on Saturday night, then the deceased may be buried using the product of the non-Jew’s labor. If the grave was in a public space and the coffin was placed on it so that passersby would realize that the labor was being performed on Shabbos for the sake of a certain Jew, that Jew may never be buried using these things because the labor became common knowledge. Another Jew may be buried using these things as long as they wait long enough after Shabbos for these labors to have been performed. This is the case in all such situations.

Shabbos 6:6

If a non-Jew brings flutes on Shabbos to play dirges for a deceased person, even if he brought them from just outside the city wall, we must wait after Shabbos the amount of time it would take to bring them from a nearby place; after that, they may be used. This is because we are concerned that he may have brought them from another place at night and then brought them into the city in the morning. If we know for a fact that they were brought from another place on Shabbos, we must wait after Shabbos long enough to bring them from that place. All this is only a case where things were not done in public, as discussed above.