The Jewish Law Corner

We'll look at a few Jewish laws regarding muktzeh on Shabbat.

Many people ask whether they can touch a hammer or money on Shabbat.

They say, "I'm not buying anything. I just want to move my wallet from one place to another."

And in general there is confusion surrounding what we're allowed to touch on Shabbat

and what we're not allowed to touch on Shabbat (muktzeh).

So we need to clarify the issue. First of all, we're allowed to touch anything on Shabbat.

As long as we don't move it, there's no problem. You can touch a car, money, with your finger,

as long as you don't move the coin--just touching muktzeh is not prohibited.

The Shabbat prohibition only concerns moving something from one place to another.

There are several different categories of laws regarding muktzeh--several categories of objects.

Each category has its own laws. We must preface this by explaining that there are Shabbat prohibitions

that are from the Torah (d'Oraita), such as the prohibition of igniting a flame or plucking a leaf

or writing or drawing or sewing something, tearing something. All of these are Torah prohibitions.

A person who turns the key of his car ignition on Shabbat, he is igniting a flame.

Or turning on lights, or lighting a cigarette--all of these are equally severe:

They are Torah prohibitions.

Other prohibitions were added by our Sages, as part of the authority the Torah grants them.

"You shall safeguard My charge" [Lev.18:30]. Our Sages were given guidelines on how to

decree certain restrictions, as the Mishna says, "make a fence for the Torah" [Avot 1:1].

They must make a fence, a protective border. But they can't just decree whatever they want.

There are rules in the Torah about what they're allowed to decree, what they must not decree,

and we, the nation of Israel, are commanded:

"you shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left" [Deut.17:11].

Meaning, once our Sages--not from this generation, but in those generations,

once the Talmud was completed, and a spiritual decline was apparent, our Sages saw

that they no longer had the knowledge of how spiritual worlds are structured

in order to make rulings according to the necessary guidelines.

So they took upon themselves to refrain from making further rulings. But until the Talmud was completed,

they had the authority to make rulings, such as lighting Chanuka candles--which our Sages ruled--

but we make the blessing of:

"Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the Chanuka light"

Our Sages ask in the Talmud, "where is this commandment?"

After all, this is a ruling of our Sages. And the response is: we were commanded by

"you shall not deviate"--the Torah says:

"you shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left"--

so once we are so commanded not do deviate, it's as if a king commands me, "follow this man,

he'll show you what to do". It's an order from on high--whatever he says, you must do.

If he tells you to build a house, you're building it on my tab, I'll give you what's needed for it

according to the guidelines and instructions. So of course if a king commands this of you,

we are commanded by the king to listen to this man. So our Sages have their guidelines,

about how to make protective fences, and we are commanded not to deviate from their rulings.

And we're talking about our Sages from those generations.

One of their rulings was this concept of muktzeh--objects we are prohibited from moving on Shabbat.

This means that even though you're not igniting a flame, you're not tearing anything,

you haven't created anything, and all you did was move something from one place to another

not everything can be moved on Shabbat. Our Sages made this ruling for several reasons:

Someone fiddling with a hammer might happen to, meaning, if he were allowed to move a hammer

on Shabbat, could by-the-by happen to fix something with it, which means he'd transgress

a Torah prohibition.

Another reason for this ruling: the special Shabbat atmosphere.

Part of the special feeling of Shabbat comes when a person enters a spiritual atmosphere,

But if he's handling money, walking around with a wallet in his pocket,

moves all kinds of things around, he doesn't sufficiently enter the spiritual realm

of Shabbat. He's got 24 hours to disconnect himself from the radio, phone, TV, flame,

and he also doesn't handle money, tools, sewing implements, etc.

he is on a different spiritual plane, his whole Shabbat has a different feel to it,

he is elevated. Maimonides (Rambam) lists other reasons as well.

When we look at all the objects we own, they can be divided into several categories:

Our Sages determined rules for each category, for what is allowed & what is prohibited.

One category is called Utensils Whose Purpose is Permitted (kli shemelachto leheter).

With a Utensil Whose Purpose is Permitted, you can move it for any reason you want.

What are some examples of a Utensil Whose Purpose is Permitted? Silverware, for example.

Or furniture, or clothes. These are items meant for permitted use--to wear them,

to eat with them. Moving them on Shabbat is permitted, for any purpose.

The next category, in terms of severity, is

Utensils Whose Purpose is Prohibited (kli shemelachto leissur).

Utensils Whose Purpose is Prohibited, meaning any object that is a utensil,

meaning it's not just some stone in the street--stones are not a utensil--

branches, dirt, animals are not called utensils. But something that is a utensil,

meaning it has a specified purpose, such as sewing implements, writing utensils, tools--

these are utensils, but their use is prohibited. Unlike silverware, or plates and so on, whose use is allowed.

Their purpose is a prohibited act. A needle's purpose is sewing. A hammer, and so on--

Utensils Whose Purpose is Prohibited--must not be moved on Shabbat for a purpose other than

for Shabbat. If it's for Shabbat, for example, he has a coconut, and he wants to use a hammer

in order to crack it open. That is permitted on Shabbat. One is allowed to use a hammer

to crack open a coconut or any other nut. He doesn't have a nutcracker, and he wants to use a hammer.

It's permitted. But this is a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited.

True, but even a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited can be moved in order to use it

for an act permissible on Shabbat--such as using a hammer to crack open nuts.

Or it can be moved because one needs the place where the object lies. You want to sit on a chair,

and you see there is a saw on the seat. You need the seat. Or you sit by the table and you see

sewing implements on the table. One is allowed to pick them up by hand and put them in place.

You don't have to just toss them. Once you've lifted it for a permitted reason, because you need its place,

you can take it to wherever it belongs and put it in place.

This is called a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited--it can be moved in order to use it

for a purpose permitted on Shabbat, or for the place upon which it lay.

But if it is not for a purpose permitted on Shabbat or for the place upon which it lay,

but just to move it out of the sun--he's worried the sun will ruin it--

and it's a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited--he's concerned that, if it stays out in the yard,

rather than bringing it in to the house, it will get lost. Moving a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited

on Shabbat is not permitted, unless it's to use it for Shabbat, or you need the place where it lay.

A Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited cannot be moved out of the sun. What he can do, for example,

if there's a hammer in the yard and he's afraid it will get stolen--and one is not allowed

to move the utensil to avoid theft, but he's worried someone will come into the yard

and steal his hammer. So he can, even though he didn't intend to eat nuts, he can decide to eat nuts.

He takes the nuts and then takes the hammer in order to crack them open. After using it

in the permissible way, he can put the hammer in place. And this is not considered

Prohibited Slyness (Ha'arama Asura). There are schemes that are prohibited, where we say,

"who are you trying to fool? What are you trying to pull?" But there are schemes that are

within permitted limits. It's not called slyness. So he decided now to eat nuts. He'll enjoy these nuts.

But in order to crack them open, he'll need the hammer. In this manner, it's permitted.

The next category up in terms of severity, is called in Jewish Law, Items That Have No Specific Purpose

(muktzeh mechamat gufo). As we said, the first category is Utensils Whose Purpose is Permitted--

anything intended for a permitted use on Shabbat--can be moved for any reason,

even if it's out in the yard. There's silverware out in the yard, and you're afraid it will get stolen.

You're allowed to bring them inside. A leather couch that the sun is beating down on--

you're worried the sun will ruin it--you're allowed to bring it in to the house, because it's a

Utensil Whose Purpose is Permitted. We saw that the category of Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited

is more severe. You can move it to use it for a permitted purpose or for its place

to use the place where it lay, but not to take it out of the sun. The next level in terms of severity

is called Items With No Specific Purpose. This kind of item is not considered a utensil.

It's not even a utensil. For example, stones, dirt, branches, animals--you have no use for an animal

on Shabbat. Someone raising different animals in his home--beavers, rabbits, chickens and chicks

and so on--all animals are considered Items With No Specific Purpose. You're allowed to pet it.

You're allowed to pet an animal, but you're not allowed to pick it up. Just like you're not allowed

to pick up stones on Shabbat. And someone who picks up stones on Shabbat is desecrating Shabbat.

Meaning, those who throw stones on cars driving past on Shabbat in the course of protests for Shabbat,

stones should be thrown on them, since THEY are actually desecrating Shabbat!

The stone itself is muktzeh--you're not allowed to move a stone on Shabbat.

Here we should note that, the truth is, that those who throw stones on Shabbat are people who don't have

even an ounce of Fear of Heaven. Anyone familiar with this issue knows that most great rabbis

oppose these protests. There are a few who support protesting in the streets where people

are desecrating Shabbat, others say that "his gain is offset by his loss" [Avos 5:14]--

nothing is gained from these protests. But even those who do call for protests always emphasize

in their announcements that violence must be avoided. And really, most of the protest,

as those present can attest, involves people standing around singing Shabbat songs,

walking around among their group. A cheeky young guy might show up and throw a stone

because he wants to see some commotion, and then policemen might ride up on horses,

and of course the nightly news won't show the three hours of peaceful protest,

but rather the few minutes of commotion. And then Israelis get the impression that,

what do haredi people do all day? They've got nothing better to do than throw stones.

It's a fact--we saw it on TV. Because that's their exposure to haredim.

Whereas, the truth is, the stone itself is muktzeh on Shabbat,

and someone who throws stones on Shabbat is himself desecrating Shabbat.

It's completely prohibited to move a stone on Shabbat. So stones, animals, branches, dirt--

as well as coins, bills--are not utensils, are not like tools, sewing implements.

They are classified as Items With No Specific Purpose.

Items With No Specific Purpose cannot be moved on Shabbat,

even for a use permitted on Shabbat, or for the place upon which they lie.

It's more severe than a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited. Meaning, someone who wants

to crack open nuts on Shabbat is not allowed to take a stone and use it to crack open nuts.

A hammer can be used, because it is a utensil. But a stone--no. Unless, he took a rock

and made it into a utensil. How does he do this? Even if he changed nothing about the rock.

If he designates it for regular use--he found some rock he really likes--

and he wants to use it regularly as a nutcracker. Or, he took a rock and set it permanently by the door

in order to keep it open. There's a special item that does that. But he wants to save money,

so he didn't buy that item. He took a rock from the street, but it's permanently placed there,

to prevent the door from closing. So this rock itself has become a utensil. Once it has been thus defined,

because it is used regularly, the rock itself has become a utensil that is permitted on Shabbat.

Such a rock can be used as a nutcracker, etc. It's rare that a person uses a rock on a regular basis,

thereby turning it into a utensil. But, if he did so, it is now defined as a utensil.

There are of course many more details to these laws, and it's important to learn them.

In our Shabbat Laws cassette tape series, we went into greater detail about all these laws:

If it must be designated for eternity, or if it can be designated for a period of time,

but those are details and right now we're just going through the basic rules.

There is one more category of muktzeh, known as

Expensive Objects Used Only for a Specific Purpose (muktzeh mechamat chesron kis).

Meaning, a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited on Shabbat, such as we discussed earlier

with the hammer, saw, etc.--these are Utensils Whose Purpose is Prohibited--

can be moved for a permitted use or for their place, but cannot be brought into the shade.

But, if the Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited is an item with which we take great care,

not to use it for anything other than its specific purpose, such as a mohel's knife--

used for brit milah. The mohel is very careful with this knife, and would never use it for anything else.

If he should ever want to cut paper, for example, he wouldn't use the brit milah knife.

It's an expensive knife. If, on Shabbat, he realizes he has nothing else, and

he wants to use the brit milah knife in order to cut something permitted,

he would not be allowed to use the brit milah knife. But why? We saw earlier

that a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited can be moved in order to use it for a permitted purpose,

or for its place? The answer is, something you are careful not to use for anything other

than its intended purpose because of its great value, is defined as

an Expensive Object Used Only for a Specific Purpose. It rises to the next level of severity.

This is known as an Expensive Object Used Only for a Specific Purpose--

something we are careful not to use for anything other than its intended use.

An Expensive Object Used Only for a Specific Purpose cannot be used even

for a purpose permitted on Shabbat, and cannot be moved even if we need the place where it lies.

In summary, today we reviewed the four categories of muktzeh--objects that cannot be moved on Shabbat:

a Utensil Whose Purpose is Permitted, which can be moved on Shabbat for any reason,

including to bring it in to the shade, a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited,

which is defined as a utensil, but whose intended purpose involves a Shabbat prohibition,

such as tools, sewing implements, etc.--can be moved in order to use it for a purpose permitted on Shabbat,

such as cracking nuts open, but cannot be brought into the shade. We also saw that

we can move it if we need its spot. The next level up was Items With No Specific Purpose--

which are not even defined as utensils--such as stones, animals, and so on.

Of course, the chicken on my plate can be moved, because it's food. But a live chicken

wandering around my yard--animals are defined as muktzeh, so I am allowed to pet them,

but I can't pick him up and move him. At home, too, I can't move him. The fourth category:

Expensive Objects Used Only for a Specific Purpose--an object that is intended for a prohibited use,

so it seems we could have moved it for a permitted use or for its spot, but since we are careful

not to use it for any other purpose, it is defined as something we are prohibited from moving altogether.

The word "muktzeh" comes from the root meaning "to designate".

Meaning, a person designates it out of his mind, takes his mind off it,

because he knows this is an object he will not be using on Shabbat.

We started this lecture by listing a few reasons for prohibiting the movement

of certain objects on Shabbat, and the manner in which it is prohibited. There are other reasons, too,

as listed by the Rambam (Maimonides) in his section on the Laws of Muktzeh.

translated by Onkelus Translations www.onkelus.com