Traveling Close to Shabbat (multiple questions)

Question

What does one do if s/he is riding an intercity bus and expects it to get back in plenty of time before Shabbat, but there is unexpected traffic and the bus does not reach its destination until after the start of Shabbat? Does s/he ask the driver to let him/her off wherever the bus happens to be when candlelighting arrives, or keep on riding the bus to its destination?

And if s/he has any possessions with him/her and the bus terminal has no eruv, what does s/he do about his/her possessions?

If the bus terminal is far from home, where does s/he spend Shabbat? What about if loitering at the bus terminal is prohibited by law and there is no suitable place nearby?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    The only thing that one can do is to ask the driver to let them off before Shabbat begins. If there is a Jewish community nearby at some point that would probably make the most sense as that way the person could try and make arrangements for Shabbat. Any articles need to be taken off of the bus (or given to a non-Jewish passenger to look after until Shabbat ends) and left in a safe place.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team

  2. colorknit
    April 10, 2019 at 5:40 am

    This situation actually happened to someone I know recently. The bus driver would not let him off because it was on a highway and therefore unsafe. The bus station was in a bad neighborhood and would not allow people to loiter. He had no time to ask a rabbi. He got a non-Jew on the bus who knew Orthodox Jews to have his own ride take him home and handle his luggage, opening the car doors for him and fastening his seatbelt. Was that the right thing to do?