Can a Person Who Desecrates Shabbat Perform Havdalah for His Wife?

Greetings, If you desecrate Shabbat publicly, it is proper to be stringent and not to perform Havdalah for your wife so as not to release her from the obligation through your action. However, if you are embarrassed to desecrate Shabbat in front of a great person (a prominent rabbi or the like), you may be lenient, provided that you believe in the mitzvah of Havdalah and intend to discharge her obligation. In any case, you must not recite the blessing over the spices during the Havdalah ceremony; rather, your wife should be the one to bless over them herself. Sources: It should be noted that even one who desecrates Shabbat is obligated in the mitzvah of Havdalah, as written by the Gaon Rabbi Eliezer Bloom, of blessed memory, in Shut Beit Shaarim (Orach Chaim section 278). This is also explained in the responsa Shalemet Chaim (section 217), and it appears in Shut Tzitz Eliezer, part 12 (section 38), as well as in Shut Minchat Shlomo, part 1 (section 35b), and Shut Teshuvot VeHanhagot, part 2 (section 161). However, it should be mentioned that Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, of blessed memory, and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky in Derech Sicha (part 1, page evening) hold that one who does not observe Shabbat has no obligation of Havdalah on Motzei Shabbat. See also Rabbi Shmuel Wosner, of blessed memory, in Kovez MiBeit Levi, Nissan 5750, page 27, and Rabbi Shmuel Zalman Auerbach in Tikkunim U'Miluim Leshmirat Shabbat Kehilchatah, chapter 59 note 27. Nevertheless, despite the obligation of one who desecrates Shabbat to perform Havdalah, if he desecrates Shabbat publicly, it can be said that he cannot discharge others from their obligation of Havdalah, since in the eyes of other people he is like a non-Jew. This is also written in Sefer Or LeTzion, part 2, chapter 20 responsum 5, stating that one who publicly desecrates Shabbat cannot discharge others from Kiddush. See also Shut Teshuvot VeHanhagot, part 2 (section 162), which asserts that it is proper to be stringent that one who desecrates Shabbat cannot discharge others from their Kiddush obligation. See there also regarding a "captured infant" and the concern of Yayin Nesech (idolatrous wine) from the touching of one who desecrates Shabbat. Also see Shut Avnei Yeshfe, parts 3 (section 36 branch 2) and 4 (section 42), which clearly hold that one who desecrates Shabbat is not able to discharge listeners from the obligation of the Kiddush blessing. Shut Yabia Omer, part 9 (Orach Chaim 160:119), writes that if one cannot perform Kiddush himself and is forced to fulfill his obligation through a Shabbat desecrator, he may rely on that and it is good to say the Kiddush of the day quietly with the one who recites it and to pour wine at the moment of Kiddush. See also Shut Divrei Sofer (section 8). However, if a person desecrating Shabbat publicly is embarrassed to desecrate Shabbat in front of a great person, leniency is allowed since it is not considered a public desecration, as written in Mishnah Berurah (siman 503 se'if katan 6). Likewise, see what is brought in Shut Yabia Omer, part 1 (Yoreh Deah 11:14). Nevertheless, Shut Minchat Yitzchak, part 3 (section 26 question 4) brings from Derech Teshuvah citing Taharat Hamayim that this leniency applies only to desecration of a rabbinic prohibition, but regarding a Torah prohibition of Shabbat, if ten know of it, it constitutes public desecration. Sefer Chochmat Halev (chapter 7 Derech Shalom 7) disagrees with this. Sefer Or LeTzion also states that if the public Shabbat desecrator is embarrassed to desecrate Shabbat in front of a great person, leniency is permitted so that one can hear Kiddush from him and fulfill their obligation. The same applies to Havdalah. In any case, it is clear that all this applies only when the desecrator believes in the mitzvah of Havdalah and intends to discharge others from the obligation. Since the reason for the blessing on spices during Havdalah is that the soul is pained by the departure of the extra soul (see Mishnah Berurah siman 276 se'if katan 2), a Shabbat desecrator, who apparently does not merit receiving this extra soul, should not bless on the spices in Havdalah for fear of interruption. This is also explained in Shut Be'er Moshe, part 8 (section 88). Instead, he should have the listeners bless on the spices themselves. 

With blessings, Hillel Meirs