Question:
I accidentally left the oven on with the food in on Friday night. Is it ok to hint to a non-Jew to turn it off so that I can take the food out?
Thank you very much
Answer:
Telling this to the non-Jew is not so simple, because you can’t tell him the action of melacha, nor that he should do something for you. Even if you will say it correctly, it is controversial if it is permitted. A better way to deal with the situation is that you can ask him specifically to take the food out of the oven. The reason is because when he opens the oven door, in the worst event he will be turning on the thermostat, which is a psik reisha (an action that will inevitably cause a different action to happen). It is permitted to tell a gentile to do an action that is not a melacha, even though it will cause a melacha to get done. The reason is because you didn’t tell him to do melacha.
Sources:
Rema 253-5, M:B 253-98.
