Package Deliveries on Shabbos

Q. I want to order a new cell phone and am not particular when it will arrive. Am I permitted to place an order online if the website indicates the package will arrive on Saturday?

A. The issue here is whether arranging a delivery for Shabbos constitutes Amirah li’akum (instructing a non-Jew to perform melacha on Shabbos), which is prohibited. One might assume that this is analogous to handing a letter to a non-Jew on Friday and asking that it be delivered, which the Shulchan Aruch (247:1) allows this even though the mailman might carry the letter and deliver it on Shabbos. However, the Shulchan Aruch stipulates that the mailman may not be instructed to make the delivery on Shabbos. The Mishnah Berurah (247:4) adds that one may not even instruct a mailman to deliver a letter on Monday if that can only be accomplished if the mailman travels with the letter on Shabbos. Thus, it would appear that in our original situation, one may not arrange a Shabbos delivery. Nonetheless, if the intention of the website is that the delivery will take place by Saturday at the latest, but it is possible that the delivery of the phone will happen beforehand, there is no problem placing the order. Even if the phone arrives on Shabbos there is no concern, as the delivery was made at the store’s convenience and not in response to the purchaser’s instructions.

One may not place an order if the delivery will definitely take place on Shabbos. For example, one cannot send a package with UPS or FedEx on Friday and select “next day delivery”. Similarly, one cannot order a refrigerator or washing machine from a store and arrange for a Saturday delivery.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.