Noahide doing Melacha on Shabbat for a Jew
By Rabbi Elchanan Lewis
Question: In a previous post concerning asking a non Jew to do Melacha on Shabbat ( Rambam hilchot shabbat 20:14), you said the biblical prohibition only applies to slaves. However a reading of the end of the passage states it also applies to a Ger Toshav. Does that apply to current day Christians and Muslims in Israel or abroad? Will it apply to them once a majority of Jews live in Israel?
Answer: According to the Rambam (Shabbat 20; 14) a Ger Toshav can do Melacha for himself on Shabbat but not on behalf of a Jew. If you ask a non-Jew to do a prohibited Melacha for you on Shabbat: if he is a Ger Toshav it is a Torah prohibition; if a regular non Jew – a rabbinic prohibition. (Yevamot 48b; Rashba) Ger Toshav will only be accepted as such, when Yovel we be practiced. (Rambam ibid)
