What was the Rebbe’s halachic objection to Israeli ships traveling on Shabbos?
In the 1950s, ocean liners were the main link between Eretz Yisroel and America. The trip took over ten days, so every voyage met Shabbos at sea. The ships belonged to ZIM, the state-owned Israeli line, and its subsidiary Shoham. Their kitchens were kosher, yet they sailed on through Shabbos amid countless melachos. For close to a decade, the Rebbe campaigned against this public blatant chillul Shabbos by the newly formed "Jewish State."
To those who brought in the heterim for passengers traveling on Shabbos, the Rebbe pointed out that the discussion there was whether an individual may board a ship already sailing. But with a Jewish-run ship, the real question comes earlier and is far more serious.
At the time, the company claimed the ships ran automatically over Shabbos. The Rebbe countered that this was false, as no vessel was able to cross a full day without constant human work. The Rebbe listed about ten melachos that would be necessary even if the ship traveled on automation, and international law required constant logging. Anyone who denied this either didn’t understand how ships operate or meant to mislead the public.
Others argued pikuach nefesh: the fleet was vital to security, could not safely stop at sea, and halting it would cost money needed to defend Jewish lives. The Rebbe replied that the ships could safely stop at a port en route. Besides, other travel existed: non-Jewish liners or Israeli planes on weekdays. The argument that the funds were needed could be applied to permit working Eretz Yisroel’s fields and factories on Shabbos, a far greater loss. To the parnasa argument, he gave the Frierdiker Rebbe’s mashal: helping a Jew through an aveirah is like dousing a fire with gasoline.
When it came to the individual passenger, some rabbonim ruled that one who does no melacha himself may board, and that boarding more than three days before Shabbos would be permitted. The Rebbe countered that it was prohibited according to halacha. Since one can readily travel otherwise, the three-day allowance falls away. Moreover, the passenger benefits from melacha done b’issur, resulting in the issurim of lifnei iver and mesayea yedei ovrei aveira.
Some proposed running the ships by a "Shabbos Goy," or "selling the ships" for Shabbos to a non-Jew. However, the Rebbe explained the fallacy of the arguments: a handful of men could never operate a liner carrying hundreds; owners and nearly all passengers are Jews, for whom the melacha is done; and the sale is mere ha’aramah, with the work still done by the crew’s own hands. Moreover, these ships were identifiably Jewish, and in the Ramban’s view, such an open lack of shevisa is itself chillul Shabbos b’farhesya.
The Rebbe’s solution was straightforward: dock for Shabbos at a port along the way. Other poskim joined the Rebbe as well, agreeing to the prohibition.
