Mr. Samson owned a business that relied heavily on call centers located in India.
Each morning he learned hilchos Shabbos by phone with a chavrusa, Mr. Mizrachi, who lived in Israel. They were currently learning the laws of amira l’nochri, instructing a non-Jew to do prohibited work on Shabbos.
“What happens when there is a difference in time zones?” Mr. Samson asked his chavrusa. “For example, I use call centers in India. When it’s Friday in America, it’s already Shabbos in India. Is that a violation of amira l’nochri?”
“This would seemingly depend on whether we focus on the place where the Jew is standing or the place where the work is being done by the non-Jew,” replied Mr. Mizrachi.
“I face the opposite question,” Mr. Mizrachi continued. “I own a store in America. After it is already Shabbos in Israel, can my non-Jewish workers continue to operate the store on Friday, even though it’s already Shabbos for me?”
“Presumably it depends on the same point – on whom do we focus?” said Mr. Samson. “If my case is allowed, yours should be prohibited, and vice versa.”
“I have an additional twist on that,” added Mr. Mizrachi. “If we follow the place where the Jew stands, then when it’s already Motzoei Shabbos in Israel, can non-Jewish workers operate my store in America on Shabbos afternoon?”
“It’s hard to believe that should be allowed!” said Mr. Samson. “Let’s ask Rabbi Dayan.” He asked:
“Is it permissible for a non-Jew to do work for a Jew on Shabbos when they are in different time zones?”
“Clearly, there is no inherent prohibition for a non-Jew to work on Shabbos,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “There are two primary reasons why the Sages prohibited instructing a non-Jew to do work for a Jew on Shabbos: First, the Jew is speaking prohibited talk of melacha, for which reason it is prohibited even to instruct him on Shabbos to do work after Shabbos. Second, the Sages considered the non-Jew as the agent of the Jew in doing the work, for which reason it is prohibited even to instruct him before Shabbos to do work on Shabbos (O.C. 307:2-3; Shemiras Shabbos K’hilchasa 30:2[2]).
“However, in Mr. Samson’s case of the call centers, neither reason applies. The Jew is not speaking any prohibited talk on his Shabbos, and we cannot consider the non-Jew as his agent in violating Shabbos, since for Mr. Samson it is not yet Shabbos when the non-Jew works (B’tzel Hachochma 3:125; Shevet Halevi 3:172:4; Shemiras Shabbos K’hilchasa 31:27).
“Following this logic, though, according to the second reason of agency it should be prohibited for Mr. Mizrachi to instruct a non-Jew to do work for him on Friday afternoon in America when it will already be Shabbos for him in Israel!
“B’tzel Hachochma writes, however, that the practice is to be lenient in this direction, as well, especially since he gave the instructions to the non-Jew before his Shabbos, since if Mr. Mizrachi were also in America, he would not be prohibited from working. He writes, though, that it is preferable in this case to make a partnership arrangement that allows the non-Jew to operate the business for him.
“Nonetheless, Chelkas Yaakov (O.C. #87) writes that a store in America known to belong to a Jew cannot operate on Saturday afternoon, even if the owner is in Israel and Shabbos is over for him, since this is blatantly public.
“Thus,” concluded Rabbi Dayan, “there is no prohibition is using a call center that has non-Jews working on their Saturday for a business where it is not Shabbos.”
Verdict: A Jew for whom it is not Shabbos can instruct a non-Jew in a different time zone to do work for him, if it is not publicly blatant at that locale that he is working for a Jew. The practice is to be lenient also to instruct a non-Jew to work on his Friday after it will be Shabbos for the Jew elsewhere.
