Ethics

For the week ending 30 June 2012 / 9 Tammuz 5772

Giving a Lift

by Rabbi Mendel Weinbach zt'l
Become a Supporter Library Library

Question: Is there an obligation when I am driving to give a lift to someone who is going my way?

Answer: Giving a lift is a fulfillment of the mitzvah of gemilut chassidim. Some even characterize it as an act of hachnassat orchim hospitality.

There may, of course, be situations in which giving a lift cannot be expected of you. If you are in a very great hurry and stopping to pick someone up will seriously delay you, or you are interested in carrying on a private conversation with someone already in your car or on the other end of a phone (when you can talk without letting go of the steering wheel), you have a right to pass up the potential passenger.

The story is told of the founder of the great Lakewood Yeshiva, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, who once hired a taxi to take him from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. He made a condition with the driver that he must pick up any passengers going their way.

(The rising price of gas may be used by some drivers as an excuse for not giving a lift in order to save on gas but such a negligible expense should hardly stand in the way of doing a mitzvah.)

© 1995-2024 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.

Articles may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue or school newsletters. Hardcopy or electronic. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission in advance at ohr@ohr.edu and credit for the source as Ohr Somayach Institutions www.ohr.edu

« Back to Ethics

Ohr Somayach International is a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation (letter on file) EIN 13-3503155 and your donation is tax deductable.