[Avodah] Can One Order a Package Knowing It May Arrive on Shabbos

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Sep 02, 2020 at 08:00:31AM -0400, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
> Much of this discussion (such as R' Zev Sero's comments) seems to focus on
> the arrival and delivery. But isn't the other work also a factor?

Well, if there isn't a contracted delivery date of Shabbos, then it's
their choice whether to do melakhah for you on Shabbos, Friday or Sunday.
The package could sit around in a transfer facility for 25 hours while
they deal with more urgent packages if it's not the delivery date. The
choice is theirs.

But if it's next-day delivery and you place the order on Friday (or after
hours Thursday) you know you are asking them to do melakhah on Shabbos.

I guess in the case of (eg) 3 day delivery, since it wouldn't violate the
contract to get it there in 2, someone might argue that you aren't
asking them to do the delivery on Shabbos. But I don't know if mutar
alternatives matter even when they're implausible.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 A pious Jew is not one who worries about his fellow
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   man's soul and his own stomach; a pious Jew worries
Author: Widen Your Tent      about his own soul and his fellow man's stomach.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                     - Rav Yisrael Salanter