Hi,
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply my question at, https://dinonline.org/2014/10/30/owning-store-that-sells-non-kosher-food/
With respect to meats that are Torah prohibited, would a Jewish store owner be allowed to shift ownership and control of such items by making an agreement with a non-Jew?
Or can the jewish store owner carry/sell such items if the person’s income depends on it?
Additionally, how could a jewish store owner handle an issue of the business having to be kept open on shabbos?
Thanks so much again for your kind help and assistance!
Answer:
If the non-Kosher food is owned by a non-Jew, and you are only selling it on their behalf, there is certainly room for leniency. Please see the sources cited in the previous response, which discuss this question in detail.
For opening on Shabbos, if workers are non-Jews the simplest solution will be the formation of a partnership with a non-Jew. If the partner is not one of the workers (on Shabbos), it follows that profits can be shared without further stipulations.
If it is convenient that one of the workers is the partner, this is also fine, provided that you don’t work on a specific day of the week corresponding to the work of the non-Jewish partner on Shabbos. This ruling is based on the Rema, and those from Ashkenaz background can rely on this ruling.
If you prefer to avoid a partnership, and it is not public knowledge that the store is under Jewish ownership, an arrangement can also be made whereby Shabbos profits are given to the non-Jewish workers. The workers can pay the Jewish owner in exchange for this right, but only if the “rental” of the service station extends beyond the day of Shabbos alone (based on Mishnah Berurah 245:8).
See also below.
Where non-Jewish workers other than the partner work on Shabbos, the matter of a partnership is lighter: see Magen Avraham 245:1 and Mishnah Berurah (1), and see Aruch Ha-Shulchan 245:11.
Where there are no non-Jewish workers, the Shulchan Aruch (245) requires a stipulation with the non-Jewish partner whereby the income for Shabbos goes to the non-Jew, and the corresponding income from another day is given to the Jewish partner. If the stipulation is made, it is permitted to eventually share the income evenly.
The Rema, however, is more lenient, and cites from the Ran (21a) who rules that where the Jewish partner does not take on a specific day of the week corresponding to Shabbos, it is permitted to share the income of Shabbos (from the non-Jew’s work).
This idea is ruled by the Sho’el U-Meishiv (1:3:55), and is relied on by a number of authorities (see Minchas Yitzchak 9:21; Shut Maharshag, Orach Chaim 45).
If the Jew is doing “extra work” in the weekdays, corresponding to his “taking Shabbos off,” the Rema is only lenient bedieved, and lechatchilah one must make the stipulation mentioned by the Shulchan Aruch.
