Amira L'Akum on Shabbos: Writing a Shtar for Acquiring Eretz Yisrael

This shiur analyzes Gittin 8b, which permits telling a non-Jew on Shabbos (שבת) to write a shtar (legal document) for acquiring land in Eretz Yisrael. Rabbi Zweig begins by noting the Gemara (גמרא)'s peculiar language: "lo gazar bei rabanan" (the Rabbis did not decree). The formulation is puzzling—did the Sages really sit down and enumerate specific exceptions to amira l'akum (asking a non-Jew to perform a forbidden act on Shabbos)? Such an unusual case seems unlikely to have been explicitly considered when the gezeira was made. The Gemara should have said it's permitted despite being a shevus because of the importance of settling Eretz Yisrael, yet instead it uses the language of "lo gazar." The shiur presents a fundamental disagreement between the Rosh and Rivash versus the Shulchan Aruch regarding whether one may make a kinyan (act of acquisition) on Shabbos itself. According to the Magen Avrohom, the Rosh and Rivash hold that while amira l'akum for writing is permitted, the kinyan itself must occur either before or after Shabbos, not on Shabbos. The distinction rests on the difference between a shevus she'ein bo ma'aseh (a rabbinic prohibition without a physical action, like amira l'akum) and one with a ma'aseh (like performing a kinyan). The Shulchan Aruch, however, permits even making the kinyan on Shabbos.