In a business partnership with a goy is the following allowed and if not how would one make it be permissible:-
1. An event run for Non-Jews for 31st December which turns out on a Friday night this year, (the location is owned by Jews but not in a Jewish area), where the profits for the event are meant to be split between the person providing the location (Jewish) and the Goy who is the individual running the event.
Is one able to rent premises to a goy for an amount that will only be determined later by how much the event makes if it occurs on shabbos?
2. To what degree does one need to be overly forthcoming with information that may effect a negotiation between a Jew and a goy – obviously assuming dina d’mulchusa is not involved.
Any guidance would be appreciated.
Answer:
1. It would be permitted to take the ‘rent’ provided that you the rental agreement includes time before or after Shabbos (in the case of the question, this would be time on Friday to set up, etc.), so that the payment is not for Shabbos alone. It should be made clear that the partnership is a simple rental agreement, for which the price is contingent on the income made by the event.
2. One should be forthcoming to the regular degree accepted in the ethics of business dealings. According to many authorities, the concept of not lehatoso applies only when one is already in possession of a loan or other moneys, and not in the negotiation stages.
Sources: See Mishnah Berurah 246:3; Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah Berurah 306:4. The arrangement, certainly when made explicit, would not be considered a partnership with the non-Jew (proof of this is the fact that if the non-Jew incurs a loss, the loss would not be shared by the owner of the property), but rather a regular rental of land, whose price is left to be determined by a future factor.
