Halachot and Customs
Is it permitted to ride in an elevator with a non-Jew on Shabbat?
Question
I understood that if a non-Jew does something forbidden on Shabbat for her own sake, it is permitted to benefit from it, such as reading a book because of a light she turned on for herself. The question is whether it is permitted to ride in an elevator, when I am a religious woman who follows the Beit Yosef and tries very hard, together with a non-Jewish woman who needs the floor that I happen to need as well... Am I permitted to? Of course, without telling her to press the buttons, etc.
Thank you very much, and may you be strengthened.
Answer
Hello,
In such a case, where the non-Jewish woman called the elevator for her own need and is not doing any special action for you, you may ride with her. Nevertheless, it is proper to be strict not to descend in the elevator, and this is true also regarding a Shabbat elevator that operates automatically.
Sources: see Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah, part 1 (chapter 23, subsection 59, second paragraph, and chapter 30, subsection 64), and Halichot Olam, part 4 (page 158).
With blessings,
Hillel Meirs
