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- Shabbat and Holidays
- Actions and Appliances on Shabbat
- Muktze
Question
walking on shabbat near my house was a homeless man with a dog. I went back to my house and gave him water for his dog and himself and money to get some supplies for a few days. was this wrong
thank you
Answer
Shalom,
Thank you for your question. While your intentions were lofty and good – in practice, it is forbidden to handle money on Shabbat (if you are Jewish). Also, in many places it is forbidden to carry things outside the house into the street (this depends on if there is an eruv in your location – that is a technical “fence” established by an Orthodox community to allow carrying. It is likely that if you live in a neighborhood with a large Orthodox community, or almost anywhere in Israel, there will be an eruv. In other places there probably isn’t one).
You could have invited him to your home and given him food. Or even invited him to eat a Shabbat meal with you. You could also ask him to meet you after Shabat, or during the week, so you could do the great mitzvah of charity then.
Many blessings.
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