4584 —קידוש, יין, ושימוש בחשמל באניה בשבת

Shalom u'Vrachah! [Menachem Av 5717?]

Regarding what you wrote about the journey on the aforementioned ship and that on Shabbos you had the ability to make Kiddush over wine, etc. I am astonished—does this permit public desecration of Shabbos?!

Furthermore, you made Kiddush over wine belonging to the owners of the ship who were publicly desecrating Shabbos, which makes the wine forbidden (and supervision in this case is a mockery, for the prohibition of wine from one who publicly desecrates Shabbos is not due to contact with a non-Jew; this is well known). From this arose a doubt whether one should recite a blessing over it, as there is a known dispute regarding prohibitions of this kind.

This led to another doubt—if you ate that night without Kiddush, surely you read (or used in another way) electric light on the ship, where both passengers and crew are Jews; therefore all light produced for them is forbidden even for others, even regarding matters like "a candle for one is a candle for a hundred." This further leads to drinking water and washing hands with it. On modern ships, during travel they take seawater and boil it to make it fresh; thus it is understood that water used at night comes from boiling done during the previous day. Similarly, water used during the day comes from boiling done several hours earlier. That means that fresh water on the ship in the middle of the day was boiled at night or in the morning of Shabbos itself. In this case, the rule of "a candle for one is a candle for a hundred" does not apply.

Summary

This letter explores complex halachic issues surrounding using items or utilities provided through public Shabbos desecration by Jews—including wine for Kiddush, electricity, and water—emphasizing caution and awareness of these prohibitions while traveling.