Can I ride a bicycle to synagogue on Shabbat?

Question:

Can I ride a bicycle to synagogue on Shabbat? It's a long walk to and my knees aren't what they used to be...

Answer:

Allow me to preface my response with a short introduction:

Firstly, I'd like to express my profound admiration. Your desire to attend synagogue services every Shabbat, coupled with your commitment to meticulous Shabbat observance is truly inspiring.

Shabbat is primarily a day of rest. We desist from all creative and mundane activities and spend our day immersed in holiness and rest. The word "Shabbat" itself expresses this idea; its literal translation being "rest."

Spending time in the synagogue on the holiest day of the week is beautiful. We connect with the souls of our friends and neighbors, which lends intensity to the prayers and the spiritual experience which is Shabbat. In the synagogue we also can hear the public Torah Reading and usually hear words of Torah from the rabbi.

Nonetheless, this all is "icing on the cake," all intended to augment and enhance our Day of Rest. It is clear that violating the day of rest in order to go to the synagogue would be quite incongruous.

See our articles on Prohibition of Work on Shabbat for more on this topic.

Now to answer your question:

Riding a bike on Shabbat poses several problems:

1) It is prohibited to carry objects in a public domain on Shabbat. Transporting an object by riding it is tantamount to carrying it.

2) Fixing a device on Shabbat is prohibited. If the bicycle breaks down, for example if the chain falls off, there is concern that the rider may fix it.

3) Riding a bike is considered a mundane weekday activity, one that we refrain from on Shabbat.

Click here for more on Shabbat rest.

Rabbi Dovid Zaklikowski,
Chabad.org

By Dovid Zaklikowski

Dovid Zaklikowski is a freelance journalist living in Brooklyn. Dovid and his wife Chana Raizel are the proud parents of four: Motti, Meir, Shaina & Moshe Binyomin.

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54 Comments

Scooter Dee Doo September 14, 2023

But scooters are kosher? Reply

Ellen Tennessee January 19, 2022

In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, they have solved the problem by making the entire city eruv. Possibly a solution for other cities in the USA. Reply

Dina Chana Mckinleyville ca April 3, 2022

in response to Ellen:

Its discouraging. My choice is stay home alone all Shabbos feeling isolated which is harmful to my emotional health, or get a ride to the Chabad in the next town. If a non Jew drives me is this ok? Every week I face this dilemma Reply

Brent South Africa July 17, 2021

It is ok to ride your bicycle to the synagogue on Shabbat. Reply

Izzy Maine September 11, 2020

What about bike riding on yontif? Reply

Eliezer Zalmanov for Chabad.org September 13, 2020

in response to Izzy:

Reasons 2 and 3 would apply to holidays as well, but not #1. Reply

Anonymous Sacramento February 26, 2020

Wish the rabbonim would come up with a way for us to use the bus on Shabbat. I have been disabled and so unable to attend shul on Shabbat for almost 20 years now. And, no, I cannot move to a different location.

Now, there is a city bus that runs right down the street to shul. The distance is only about 1 mile.

There is a way, folks. There must be! Staying home alone on Shabbos week after week, year after year - and on holidays, too! - is sheer Hell on Earth. Reply

Eliezer Zalmanov for Chabad.org February 27, 2020

in response to Anonymous:

I understand your frustration and the need. But until there is a halachic solution to this, please remember that there are 6 days of the week that riding the bus poses no problem whatsoever and you can attend shul and other events with the community then without any halachic concerns. Reply

Luna June 22, 2020

in response to Anonymous:

There are many Rabbinic decisors who conclude (sometimes begrudgingly) that it is permissible to ride public transit on Shabbath (as long as it's within certain parameters). As with any other subject, it's important to read these teshuvoth within the context of the time and place they were written, and understand how that context informs the author's decision (whether pro or against). A few examples include: H' Yosef Messas, Ovadia Yosef, Abdallah Somekh, R' Mordekhai Halevi Horowitz, Chaim Weiner, Haim Ovadia.

If you look up "Is it permissible to travel from Brooklyn to Manhattan on a subway on Shabbat?" on Quora (or just type into Google), you can view my answer with links and quotations those individuals*.

Hope it helps!

*I am unable to paste the link here, due to the Chabad website's comment limitations Reply

Dina Chana Mckinleyville April 3, 2022

in response to Anonymous:

I understand. I'm in similar position. Staying totally isolated at home is very harmful to my emotional health. People say to move. It's not so easy to do. Easy to say Reply

Mark Pacifico Charleston, SC November 22, 2023

in response to Anonymous:

I'm sorry to hear you feel so isolated on Shabbat. It sounds so frustrating.

Most shuls daven throughout the week. Usually, they have no problem making a minyan on a Saturday morning, but it can be challenging on weekday mornings. The smaller crowds and the greater need for your attendance can make for tight camaraderie among worshipers.

Give it a try; you might find you prefer it.

For shabbat itself, have you asked around the shul? There may be someone within a distance of the shul you can manage who'll welcome you as an overnight guest in their home on holidays and the occasional shabbat.

Flip side of that would be to welcome guests in your home. Ask the Rabbi, President, or Rebbetzin if they know of any members within walking distance of your home. You could host neighbors for a Shabbat meal or just a drop-in visit with light snacks. If there's an eruv and nice weather, a picnic in the park might work.

Who knows? You might even wind up with a neighborhood minyan! Reply

Avraham Johannesburg SA February 28, 2020

in response to Eliezer Zalmanov:

Add a comment...Me thinks the reply about the "6" days is not a well thought answer. The problem is that the person can not attend Shabbat services for the rest of the persons life. For a sick person one can lite a fire , cook etc on Shabbat. Surly there must be a way for a disabled person to use a bus or even be a passenger in a car.
I myself cannot attend Shabbat or the feasts because I am shomre and live 12 kilometers from the Shull. My bycicle's wheels are solid but no, I cannot cycle because what will I do if I have to do "repair " work. Does anybody feel for us who are in this position, no, because if you did you whould have done something to allow us to do so. I am sure Hashem will understand. Reply

Math March 6, 2020

in response to Eliezer Zalmanov:

Try spending every Shabbos and holiday totally alone for twenty years, and then come back to give me your halachic opinion.

Better to go frei than suffer like this! At least I could go out to Starbucks for coffee and be around people on Shabbos. Reply

Ben May 20, 2020

in response to Eliezer Zalmanov:

Perhaps now that most of us have experienced at least a month of home isolation, the rabbonim will begin to understand that staying home totally alone every Shabbat and Yom Tov for the rest of a person's life is clearly unhealthy, if not outright dangerous.

Psychiatrists are writing about suicidality now, after just a month or two of isolation. Clearly, someone who must isolate every single Shabbat and Yom Tov for decades is endangered.

Pikuach nefesh, people. Major Depression is a clear and present danger. Halacha states one must preserve life over Shabbat. Reply

Shlomo Petah Tikva March 27, 2020

in response to Avraham:

The solution in your case would be moving to a different house near a Beit HaKnesset or to do Aliyah. I had the same problem in Italy, I was living 70 km from the closest Synagogue, now in Israel I have got 4 and I repeat 4, 100 meters from my house. I know it's not easy but sometime we also need to make an effort and sacrifice something. Reply

Ben Sacramento June 28, 2020

in response to Shlomo:

Not always possible, quite literally. The rabbonim need to take this fact into account. Reply

Ellen USA May 10, 2022

in response to Shlomo:

Shlomo, there are thousands of people here who would lobe to make Aliya, including myself. Often it is not financially feasible once you reach a certain age. 66 years old now and the Israeli’s are not renowned for hiring the elderly. Reply

Yehoshua Los Angeles May 10, 2022

in response to Math :

Starbucks isn’t kosher my friend Reply

Ben Sacramento June 28, 2020

in response to Luna:

Agreed. However, the vast majority of rabbonim will not yield. The general overriding answer for any of us who are yeshiva-trained is, "Yes, but a Ben Torah should not do such a thing."

If one's rav will not yield, then one's standing in the community is greatly diminished by following the mentioned deciders. For those of us who teach in the community, such an outcome is devastating. Reply

Moishe November 28, 2019

It would have been nice if rabbi Zaklikowsky had mentioned that the great Ben Ish Chai allowed bicycles on Shabbos, but that he disagrees. Reply

Edgar February 12, 2019

Well I found out that in bicycling I use (on a flat plane, where we have lots of where I come from) 20 calories per kilometer while walking cost me 60 calories per kilometer which is 3 times as much. Now work is defined in physics as "using energy". The more I work the more energy I consume. And since rest (shabbat) means using as low as possible energy; bicycling to the synagoge is making me more rested then walking, energy wise speaking. Now in the carrying aspect; the bike is carrying me, I am not carrying the bike. So on both levels I have my doubts about these arguments. Please can you give me insight in how this should be treated. Reply

Moshe Haifa February 12, 2019

in response to Edgar:

Hi Edgar,

I am not a rabbi, so my answer is not to be taken as binding. The problem is that we translate the Hebrew 'Melacha' as work, when I think that constructive work would be a better fit. For most of the melachot (except carrying) we are generally changing the state of a matter. As such, cycling or walking are neither melachot in the classical sense.

As far as the issue of carrying, the bike does not move without our input, as such, whilst we are not literally carrying, we are causing the bike to move. This is what the halacha considers 'carrying' Reply

Rabbi EK for Chabad.org February 13, 2019

in response to Edgar:

While you may be burning more calories by walking, it is an ordinary function which is permissible to do on Shabbat, one may walk an entire city even if it is the size of Nineveh. Whereas cycling is a de-facto activity for a long distance trip and is done as a sport, hence it is a weekday activity which is prohibited to do on Shabbat. See also Shulchan Aruch Siman 301

As for clothing, the Talmud differentiates between something worn as a garment or as a load, the former is permissible on Shabbat while the latter is prohibited. A bicycle is clearly not a garment.

Our sages have also noted that the laws of Shabbat are vast and many and there are many subtleties that need to be studied. Maybe visit a Judaica store and see the section on the laws of Shabbat and begin studying. Reply

Edgar February 12, 2019

in response to Moshe:

well for the same token, I, my legs carry my body, I carry clothes, next to the fact that I use 40 calories less in bicycling compared to walking per kilometer, so bicycling saves me energy and thus gives me more rest which is the essence of shabbat, to rest. no matter how one puts it moving means performing work physically spoken and as one commented correctly; one better remains at home in bed doing nothing if one truely wants to rest on shabbat. and that is what i do as much as i can on shabbat in reality; do nothing...that is realy so good... doing absolutely nothing on shabbat, there is no easier way to serve haShem ! Reply

Avraham gauteng October 31, 2017

So the answer to the question is : Stay at home Reply

Benyamin Israel October 19, 2017

Why not mention that there are poskim (I believe the Ben Ish Chai) who seem to think that riding a bike in the Eruv would be ok? Reply

Mark VA July 23, 2017

Sorry, but this is all quite unpersuasive to me.

"Riding a bike is considered a mundane weekday activity" - So is walking, but no objection there!

"there is concern that the rider may fix it." Hardly the only temptation to violate! And we don't appreciate that Big Government nanny state kind of condescension.

"riding it is tantamount to carrying it." A real stretch. A worse disgrace than carrying my keys? [not that I justify either] Reply

Anonymous June 24, 2015

comments (2) Some of these comments illustrate why the amateurs should stay out of the poskening business. (Including me!)

I have heard that there was a widespread cherem that applied to bicycles on shabbos but I've never seen it. Is this correct? I'm not talking about decrees issues for certain chassidic groups or local communities. Reply

Anonymous df December 21, 2018

in response to Anonymous:

Never heard of a cherem and highly doubt it exists. I know the Ben Ish Chai says it is permitted Reply

Anonymous June 24, 2015

comments >>It seems that in the 19th century bikes were very prone to having their chains fall off. Thus, it was inevitable that a bike rider would end up fixing it.<<

The modern bicycle with a drive chain was not invented until near the end of the 19th century, so you may have been misinformed. Reply

Anonymous Den Haag May 11, 2014

Isn't the bike carrying me in stead of the other way around? My bike never breaks and if it would I would walk the rest and pick it up after Shabbat. Or maybe I'd walk with the bike, I won't carry it. You can walk your grandma in her wheel chair on Shabbat, no? I think that's the same idea...

Isn't walking a week activity? Therefore we shouldn't walk to shul either... I walk every day... Reply

david chicago May 9, 2014

@Martin Levine It's not common for a person to walk and fall and break a bone. If it is for you then you should be in a wheelchair or with a walker. As Jews we are required to keep the torah laws and to make personal fences in order to prevent ourselves from committing sins. Not riding a bike will prevent the possibility of fixing the bike which is a common occurrence while riding. It's not like you are going to leave the bike and continue walking...
If you are a doctor and need your cellphone to save lives then once you explain this to your local orthodox rabbi I am sure you will be permitted to carry it with you. What use do you have of your wallet when walking to Synagogue on the Sabbath? If you care about the rules then it isn't something you should carry as you aren't going to be purchasing anything anyway. G-d obviously determines what is in your heart but if you kill someone who you care about to ease their suffering you are still a murderer even if you had the best intentions. Reply

Indian India September 13, 2013

Times have changed... Times have changed..... rules may prop up so many questions.... which means it is about time some rules need amendment

For the religion to be progressive it should take up meaningful amendments with times. Reply

medfriend October 19, 2017

in response to Indian:

Torah and Torah Laws have no expiration date and do not change to suit the "progressive" Reform or Conservative assimilated Jews who care nothing about proper Torah observance. Reply

Ellen USA May 10, 2022

in response to medfriend:

Some jewish people do and some don’t. Please do not generalize. I know plenty of conservatives and even reform Jews who are observant. And plenty of so-called orthodox who break every imaginable halachic law. Reply

Yisroel Cotlar Cary, NC August 7, 2013

Re: High Holidays I realize it's hard to live far from a Jewish community. One idea is to stay in a nearby hotel or motel for the High Holidays. Have you looked into this option?

The other possibility is staying as a guest in someone's home who lives nearby. There are options out there, I encourage you to reach out to the Rabbi and the community out there to see which solutions can be found. Reply

Steve August 6, 2013

Any suggestions? Is there one authority out there who can advise what one should do if the walk round trip to the closest shul would be upwards to 12 miles and the Days of Awe are fast approaching? No shofar makes for an extremely incomplete Rosh Hashana. If all you can offer is a boiler plate response please don't reply. If you have a real suggestion or solution I'd appreciate hearing it. In a 21st century world what percentage of Jews does anyone realistically think live within walking distance of their shul? The standard rejection response is seriously separating Jews from their fellows not just on Shabbat but on the Days of Awe, Passover and much more. Reply

Gershon McGreevey Wichita, KS January 22, 2012

To sorro(w) Here are some other things to keep in mind:
* It seems that in the 19th century bikes were very prone to having their chains fall off. Thus, it was inevitable that a bike rider would end up fixing it.
* The sages specify what is uvdin dechol, weekday work, and one such thing is running. This is because the verse from which we learn the concept of uvdin dechol specifically mentions not walking in a non-Shabbat-like manner. If running is not Shabbatl-ike, biking is certainly not either.
* Code of Jewish law tells us that a ball is muktzeh, something which may not be moved or handled on Shabbat, since it has no function. This may have changed since the ball has become a standard plaything in the past few hundred years. Ask your local rabbi.
* I once asked a respected rabbi about roller-skating. He told me that you are considered to be *carrying* the blades. Reply

sorro Montreal, Canada January 19, 2012

1. HOTZAAH (CARRYING): An eruv certainly solves this issue

2. SHEMA ITAKEN (MAYBE WILL NEED TO BE FIXED) -- What about shoes that can break? What about clothes? What about

3. UVDIN DE'CHOL (MUNDANE ACTIVITY) -- It's only considered "mundane" because people don't do it on Shabbat. If it would be incorporated into the "atmosphere of Shabbat" (i.e. people will start riding bikes on Shabbat) it would be a Shabbat activity. Besides, there are plenty of activities we do during the week that are also done on Shabbat: eating, walking, talking, getting dressed, washing hands etc. Should we ban them also on Shabbat as uvdin de'chol?

A few questions on the same topic (and probably generating the same discussions):

1. Can we play ball on Shabbat (within an eruv)?
2. Can we roller-skate to shul (the roller blades are worn, not carried)?
3. Can we play frisby (within an eruv)? Reply

Marc COe Mancherster UK Manchester, England December 18, 2011

Being disabled and cannot walk at all I cannot not walk at all. So I'm either in a non motorised wheelchair for local day to day life, or drive a car to go greater distances, Is it better that I neither go to Shul or should I pray at home in order that I do not break the Shabbat,
Or can I drive the 30 plus miles and pray to G_D and ask his forgiveness and understanding or is in doing so being presumptuous... At the moment My family life is being torn as some family say I observe from home others say G-D knows I have only him in my mind and heart and I make the effort to attend Shul... Reply

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