Question:
I am staying over Shabbat at a non-Jewish hotel. May I benefit from the hot-water urn in the bar?
Answer:
When a non-Jew lights a candle for himself, a Jew is allowed to benefit from that light, following the principle that “a lamp for one is a lamp for a hundred”, i.e. no extra melacha has been done for the benefit of the Jew. However, when a non-Jew boiled water ostensibly for himself there is the concern that he will boil more water to provide for the Jew who is present. Consequently, the Jew may not benefit from the remaining boiled water.
This would equally apply to the large hot-water urn in a hotel; if hot water is in low supply, the staff will replenish the volume of water.
The ruling would differ when the hot-water system is plumbed-in, i.e. when hot water is drawn, a similar amount of cold water flows in and is brought to boil. We ourselves may not draw hot water from this facility, but we may ask a non-Jew to draw hot water for us.
Rav Levi Yitzchok Raskin, Dayan of the Chabad community, London UK
