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benefitting from work done on Shabbat

Question:

B”H
Thank you for your help, it is sincerely appreciated.
If two Jewish people are roommates, and one is Shabbat observant and the other is not yet Shabbat observant, and the Shabbat observant person is expecting a delivery via USPS on Shabbat and they ask the not-yet observant roommate to please not sign for the delivery on Shabbat. If the not yet observant person does sign for the delivery (against the instructions of the Shabbat observant person), can the Shabbat observant person benefit from this item that was delivered?
Thank you. Shabbat Shalom

Answer:

You can still use the item, but you should wait an hour or two after Shabbos to use the item. The reason is not because the friend signed to receive the package, as you told her specifically not to, so her signing will not prohibit the itm for you to use. secondly, we only say that melacha done to an item prohibits its use if we are benefitting directly from the process that was done, however over here the signing didn’t create or give you the item, it only prevented the driver from not wanting to give it to you (besides many times the driver signs on his own, and you didn’t really need her signature). There is however another issue here, that the gentile brought you the item on Shabbos. If it was brought to you from outside the techum Shabbos, in order not to benefit from the work that the gentile did for us, we wait until the action could have been done after Shabbos. Therefore you should have to wait the amount of time that it would take for the package to be brought straight from the delivery station to your home. It is safe to assume that it isn’t more than an hour or two drive from the delivery station to your home.

Have a good Shabbos

Sources:

O:CH 225-8, MB: 515- 68, Shmiras Shabbos Khilchoso Introduction 1-34(7),

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