GOING TO A PLACE IN PREPARATION FOR AFTER SHARBATH
11.a. One is allowed on Shabbath to walk to the farthest permissible point** and to wait there, so that as soon as Shabbath ends one will be able to go beyond this limit, with the object of
1) starting a hike,
2) fetching an object which is not muktzeh or
3) doing something which is allowed on Shabbath.
11.b.1) It is also permitted on Shabbath to go and see if animals which one is allowed to feed on Shabbath (as explained in Chapter 27, paragraphs 21 and 23) have enough to eat for the next day.
2) This is so, even if there is no eiruv and one would not be allowed to bring them the food on Shabbath.
11.c. 1) The fact that,
a) in a above, one may not on Shabbath walk as far as the place one needs to reach (because it is
beyond the permitted limit), and that,
b) in b above, one may not on Shabbath take the food to the animals (due to the absence of an eiruv)
is not a consideration.
2) If certain, not unusual prerequisites had been present, these acts could have been performed on Shabbath in a permissible manner. (See condition b in paragraph 7 above.)
a) It is sufficient that, if the town had been built up to within two thousand amoth of the place one wants to reach, one would have been able to go there on Shabbath, even though it is not in fact so built up.
b) It is likewise sufficient that, if the relevant areas had been surrounded by a suitable partition or if there had been any eiruv, one would have been permitted to fetch the object one needs or take food to the animals on Shabbath, even though there is in fact no partition or eiruv.
11.d. 1) It is essential that one’s main intention should be to do something which is allowed on Shabbath (or which would be permitted if certain prerequisites were present, as explained above).
2) It does not matter that, in the result, after one has walked beyond the permitted limit on the termination of Shabbath, one also does something there which is forbidden on Shabbath, such as
a) picking fruit off trees,
b) handling fruit which is muktzeh or
c) hiring workers.
11.e. 1) It is, however, prohibited to walk on Shabbath to the farthest permissible point and wait there, so that as soon as Shabbath expires one will be able to walk past this limit, with the sole object of
a) picking fruit off trees,
b) fetching fruit which is muktzeh or
c) hiring workers.
2) This is because no means exist whereby one would be allowed to perform these acts on Shabbath.
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**In general terms, the limit to which one may walk is two thousand amoth beyond the boundary of the eirav or, if there is no eiruv, two thousand amoth beyond the last house of the town.
