Answer: The Mishna (Shabbos 121a) teaches that one
mustn’t ask a non-Jewish person to perform melacha on their behalf on
Shabbos. While the Levush (OC 243:1) and Elya Rabba (243:1) write that this
prohibition, amira leakum, is mideoraisa, the consensus of poskim
(Beis Yosef OC 244; Mishna Berura 243:5) is that it is miderabanan
(See Gemara Gittin 8b).
The Taz (OC 276:5)
writes that one may instruct a non-Jewish person to wash dishes on Friday night
even though they will have to switch the light on to do so. As they are doing
so for themselves, that isn’t considered to be amira leakum (See Mishna
Berura 276:27). R’ Yehoshua Neuwirth (Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasa 30:23)
explains that while one may ask them to do something that inevitably means they
will be doing a melacha, that only applies if one isn’t going to benefit
directly from this melacha. Thus, one may ask them to wash the dishes
even though they will switch the hot water on, though one shouldn’t do so if
they’re planning on washing up with them and using that water. If they choose
to use the dishwasher, they may do so, too.
The Rema (OC
252:5) writes that one mustn’t have machinery operate on Shabbos if it creates
a noise (avsha milsa). While some argue that one mustn’t
have a dishwasher running in one’s house because of avsha milsa (See Shulchan Shlomo 252:14), R’ Moshe
Feinstein (Igros Moshe OC 4:70:6) writes that one may set an alarm clock for
Shabbos providing it can’t be heard outside of the room. As modern dishwashers
are typically very quiet when they run, it would seem that even according to
these poskim¸ they would pose no such problem.
In conclusion, one
may ask a non-Jewish person to wash the dishes, even if one knows that they will
most probably do so by performing a melacha, providing that they don’t
ask them directly to perform it in that manner.
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