WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.000 The Jewish Law Corner 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:11.000 We'll look at a few Jewish laws regarding muktzeh on Shabbat. 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:17.000 Many people ask whether they can touch a hammer or money on Shabbat. 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:21.000 They say, "I'm not buying anything. I just want to move my wallet from one place to another." 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:23.000 And in general there is confusion surrounding what we're allowed to touch on Shabbat 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:24.000 and what we're not allowed to touch on Shabbat (muktzeh). 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:30.000 So we need to clarify the issue. First of all, we're allowed to touch anything on Shabbat. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.000 As long as we don't move it, there's no problem. You can touch a car, money, with your finger, 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:41.000 as long as you don't move the coin--just touching muktzeh is not prohibited. 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:45.000 The Shabbat prohibition only concerns moving something from one place to another. 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:49.000 There are several different categories of laws regarding muktzeh--several categories of objects. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:54.000 Each category has its own laws. We must preface this by explaining that there are Shabbat prohibitions 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:01.000 that are from the Torah (d'Oraita), such as the prohibition of igniting a flame or plucking a leaf 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:09.000 or writing or drawing or sewing something, tearing something. All of these are Torah prohibitions. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:14.000 A person who turns the key of his car ignition on Shabbat, he is igniting a flame. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:19.000 Or turning on lights, or lighting a cigarette--all of these are equally severe: 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:22.000 They are Torah prohibitions. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:29.000 Other prohibitions were added by our Sages, as part of the authority the Torah grants them. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:34.000 "You shall safeguard My charge" [Lev.18:30]. Our Sages were given guidelines on how to 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:40.000 decree certain restrictions, as the Mishna says, "make a fence for the Torah" [Avot 1:1]. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.000 They must make a fence, a protective border. But they can't just decree whatever they want. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.000 There are rules in the Torah about what they're allowed to decree, what they must not decree, 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.000 and we, the nation of Israel, are commanded: 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:53.000 "you shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left" [Deut.17:11]. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:57.000 Meaning, once our Sages--not from this generation, but in those generations, 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:01.000 once the Talmud was completed, and a spiritual decline was apparent, our Sages saw 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:05.000 that they no longer had the knowledge of how spiritual worlds are structured 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.000 in order to make rulings according to the necessary guidelines. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:11.000 So they took upon themselves to refrain from making further rulings. But until the Talmud was completed, 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:18.000 they had the authority to make rulings, such as lighting Chanuka candles--which our Sages ruled-- 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:19.000 but we make the blessing of: 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:23.000 "Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the Chanuka light" 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:25.000 Our Sages ask in the Talmud, "where is this commandment?" 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:27.000 After all, this is a ruling of our Sages. And the response is: we were commanded by 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:28.000 "you shall not deviate"--the Torah says: 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:31.000 "you shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left"-- 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:36.000 so once we are so commanded not do deviate, it's as if a king commands me, "follow this man, 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 he'll show you what to do". It's an order from on high--whatever he says, you must do. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.000 If he tells you to build a house, you're building it on my tab, I'll give you what's needed for it 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.000 according to the guidelines and instructions. So of course if a king commands this of you, 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:52.000 we are commanded by the king to listen to this man. So our Sages have their guidelines, 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:57.000 about how to make protective fences, and we are commanded not to deviate from their rulings. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:59.000 And we're talking about our Sages from those generations. 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:05.000 One of their rulings was this concept of muktzeh--objects we are prohibited from moving on Shabbat. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.000 This means that even though you're not igniting a flame, you're not tearing anything, 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:13.000 you haven't created anything, and all you did was move something from one place to another 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.000 not everything can be moved on Shabbat. Our Sages made this ruling for several reasons: 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.000 Someone fiddling with a hammer might happen to, meaning, if he were allowed to move a hammer 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.000 on Shabbat, could by-the-by happen to fix something with it, which means he'd transgress 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:25.000 a Torah prohibition. 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:29.000 Another reason for this ruling: the special Shabbat atmosphere. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:34.000 Part of the special feeling of Shabbat comes when a person enters a spiritual atmosphere, 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.000 But if he's handling money, walking around with a wallet in his pocket, 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:40.000 moves all kinds of things around, he doesn't sufficiently enter the spiritual realm 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:45.000 of Shabbat. He's got 24 hours to disconnect himself from the radio, phone, TV, flame, 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.000 and he also doesn't handle money, tools, sewing implements, etc. 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:54.000 he is on a different spiritual plane, his whole Shabbat has a different feel to it, 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.000 he is elevated. Maimonides (Rambam) lists other reasons as well. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:04.000 When we look at all the objects we own, they can be divided into several categories: 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:10.000 Our Sages determined rules for each category, for what is allowed & what is prohibited. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.000 One category is called Utensils Whose Purpose is Permitted (kli shemelachto leheter). 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:17.000 With a Utensil Whose Purpose is Permitted, you can move it for any reason you want. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:20.000 What are some examples of a Utensil Whose Purpose is Permitted? Silverware, for example. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:28.000 Or furniture, or clothes. These are items meant for permitted use--to wear them, 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:34.000 to eat with them. Moving them on Shabbat is permitted, for any purpose. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:41.000 The next category, in terms of severity, is 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:43.000 Utensils Whose Purpose is Prohibited (kli shemelachto leissur). 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:47.000 Utensils Whose Purpose is Prohibited, meaning any object that is a utensil, 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.000 meaning it's not just some stone in the street--stones are not a utensil-- 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:56.000 branches, dirt, animals are not called utensils. But something that is a utensil, 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:01.000 meaning it has a specified purpose, such as sewing implements, writing utensils, tools-- 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:09.000 these are utensils, but their use is prohibited. Unlike silverware, or plates and so on, whose use is allowed. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:14.000 Their purpose is a prohibited act. A needle's purpose is sewing. A hammer, and so on-- 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:19.000 Utensils Whose Purpose is Prohibited--must not be moved on Shabbat for a purpose other than 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:27.000 for Shabbat. If it's for Shabbat, for example, he has a coconut, and he wants to use a hammer 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:30.000 in order to crack it open. That is permitted on Shabbat. One is allowed to use a hammer 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:36.000 to crack open a coconut or any other nut. He doesn't have a nutcracker, and he wants to use a hammer. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:40.000 It's permitted. But this is a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:45.000 True, but even a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited can be moved in order to use it 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.000 for an act permissible on Shabbat--such as using a hammer to crack open nuts. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.000 Or it can be moved because one needs the place where the object lies. You want to sit on a chair, 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:55.000 and you see there is a saw on the seat. You need the seat. Or you sit by the table and you see 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:01.000 sewing implements on the table. One is allowed to pick them up by hand and put them in place. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:08.000 You don't have to just toss them. Once you've lifted it for a permitted reason, because you need its place, 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.000 you can take it to wherever it belongs and put it in place. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.000 This is called a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited--it can be moved in order to use it 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.000 for a purpose permitted on Shabbat, or for the place upon which it lay. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:22.000 But if it is not for a purpose permitted on Shabbat or for the place upon which it lay, 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:27.000 but just to move it out of the sun--he's worried the sun will ruin it-- 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:31.000 and it's a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited--he's concerned that, if it stays out in the yard, 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:38.000 rather than bringing it in to the house, it will get lost. Moving a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:45.000 on Shabbat is not permitted, unless it's to use it for Shabbat, or you need the place where it lay. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:51.000 A Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited cannot be moved out of the sun. What he can do, for example, 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:56.000 if there's a hammer in the yard and he's afraid it will get stolen--and one is not allowed 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.000 to move the utensil to avoid theft, but he's worried someone will come into the yard 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:06.000 and steal his hammer. So he can, even though he didn't intend to eat nuts, he can decide to eat nuts. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:12.000 He takes the nuts and then takes the hammer in order to crack them open. After using it 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:17.000 in the permissible way, he can put the hammer in place. And this is not considered 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:21.000 Prohibited Slyness (Ha'arama Asura). There are schemes that are prohibited, where we say, 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:26.000 "who are you trying to fool? What are you trying to pull?" But there are schemes that are 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:31.000 within permitted limits. It's not called slyness. So he decided now to eat nuts. He'll enjoy these nuts. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:35.000 But in order to crack them open, he'll need the hammer. In this manner, it's permitted. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:44.000 The next category up in terms of severity, is called in Jewish Law, Items That Have No Specific Purpose 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.000 (muktzeh mechamat gufo). As we said, the first category is Utensils Whose Purpose is Permitted-- 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:51.000 anything intended for a permitted use on Shabbat--can be moved for any reason, 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:56.000 even if it's out in the yard. There's silverware out in the yard, and you're afraid it will get stolen. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:59.000 You're allowed to bring them inside. A leather couch that the sun is beating down on-- 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.000 you're worried the sun will ruin it--you're allowed to bring it in to the house, because it's a 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:05.000 Utensil Whose Purpose is Permitted. We saw that the category of Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:10.000 is more severe. You can move it to use it for a permitted purpose or for its place 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:17.000 to use the place where it lay, but not to take it out of the sun. The next level in terms of severity 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:24.000 is called Items With No Specific Purpose. This kind of item is not considered a utensil. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:34.000 It's not even a utensil. For example, stones, dirt, branches, animals--you have no use for an animal 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:42.000 on Shabbat. Someone raising different animals in his home--beavers, rabbits, chickens and chicks 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:49.000 and so on--all animals are considered Items With No Specific Purpose. You're allowed to pet it. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:53.000 You're allowed to pet an animal, but you're not allowed to pick it up. Just like you're not allowed 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.000 to pick up stones on Shabbat. And someone who picks up stones on Shabbat is desecrating Shabbat. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:03.000 Meaning, those who throw stones on cars driving past on Shabbat in the course of protests for Shabbat, 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:06.000 stones should be thrown on them, since THEY are actually desecrating Shabbat! 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:10.000 The stone itself is muktzeh--you're not allowed to move a stone on Shabbat. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:16.000 Here we should note that, the truth is, that those who throw stones on Shabbat are people who don't have 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:22.000 even an ounce of Fear of Heaven. Anyone familiar with this issue knows that most great rabbis 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:27.000 oppose these protests. There are a few who support protesting in the streets where people 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:30.000 are desecrating Shabbat, others say that "his gain is offset by his loss" [Avos 5:14]-- 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:37.000 nothing is gained from these protests. But even those who do call for protests always emphasize 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:43.000 in their announcements that violence must be avoided. And really, most of the protest, 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:47.000 as those present can attest, involves people standing around singing Shabbat songs, 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:51.000 walking around among their group. A cheeky young guy might show up and throw a stone 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:56.000 because he wants to see some commotion, and then policemen might ride up on horses, 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:00.000 and of course the nightly news won't show the three hours of peaceful protest, 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:06.000 but rather the few minutes of commotion. And then Israelis get the impression that, 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:10.000 what do haredi people do all day? They've got nothing better to do than throw stones. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:13.000 It's a fact--we saw it on TV. Because that's their exposure to haredim. 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:16.000 Whereas, the truth is, the stone itself is muktzeh on Shabbat, 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.000 and someone who throws stones on Shabbat is himself desecrating Shabbat. 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:27.000 It's completely prohibited to move a stone on Shabbat. So stones, animals, branches, dirt-- 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:32.000 as well as coins, bills--are not utensils, are not like tools, sewing implements. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:35.000 They are classified as Items With No Specific Purpose. 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:39.000 Items With No Specific Purpose cannot be moved on Shabbat, 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:41.000 even for a use permitted on Shabbat, or for the place upon which they lie. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:46.000 It's more severe than a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited. Meaning, someone who wants 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:51.000 to crack open nuts on Shabbat is not allowed to take a stone and use it to crack open nuts. 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:57.000 A hammer can be used, because it is a utensil. But a stone--no. Unless, he took a rock 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:01.000 and made it into a utensil. How does he do this? Even if he changed nothing about the rock. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:06.000 If he designates it for regular use--he found some rock he really likes-- 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:14.000 and he wants to use it regularly as a nutcracker. Or, he took a rock and set it permanently by the door 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:21.000 in order to keep it open. There's a special item that does that. But he wants to save money, 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:27.000 so he didn't buy that item. He took a rock from the street, but it's permanently placed there, 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:34.000 to prevent the door from closing. So this rock itself has become a utensil. Once it has been thus defined, 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:40.000 because it is used regularly, the rock itself has become a utensil that is permitted on Shabbat. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:49.000 Such a rock can be used as a nutcracker, etc. It's rare that a person uses a rock on a regular basis, 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:54.000 thereby turning it into a utensil. But, if he did so, it is now defined as a utensil. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:59.000 There are of course many more details to these laws, and it's important to learn them. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:05.000 In our Shabbat Laws cassette tape series, we went into greater detail about all these laws: 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.000 If it must be designated for eternity, or if it can be designated for a period of time, 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:13.000 but those are details and right now we're just going through the basic rules. 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:17.000 There is one more category of muktzeh, known as 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:20.000 Expensive Objects Used Only for a Specific Purpose (muktzeh mechamat chesron kis). 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:23.000 Meaning, a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited on Shabbat, such as we discussed earlier 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:27.000 with the hammer, saw, etc.--these are Utensils Whose Purpose is Prohibited-- 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:36.000 can be moved for a permitted use or for their place, but cannot be brought into the shade. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:43.000 But, if the Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited is an item with which we take great care, 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:49.000 not to use it for anything other than its specific purpose, such as a mohel's knife-- 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:54.000 used for brit milah. The mohel is very careful with this knife, and would never use it for anything else. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:59.000 If he should ever want to cut paper, for example, he wouldn't use the brit milah knife. 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:06.000 It's an expensive knife. If, on Shabbat, he realizes he has nothing else, and 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:10.000 he wants to use the brit milah knife in order to cut something permitted, 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:16.000 he would not be allowed to use the brit milah knife. But why? We saw earlier 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.000 that a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited can be moved in order to use it for a permitted purpose, 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.000 or for its place? The answer is, something you are careful not to use for anything other 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:27.000 than its intended purpose because of its great value, is defined as 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:30.000 an Expensive Object Used Only for a Specific Purpose. It rises to the next level of severity. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.000 This is known as an Expensive Object Used Only for a Specific Purpose-- 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:38.000 something we are careful not to use for anything other than its intended use. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:42.000 An Expensive Object Used Only for a Specific Purpose cannot be used even 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.000 for a purpose permitted on Shabbat, and cannot be moved even if we need the place where it lies. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:51.000 In summary, today we reviewed the four categories of muktzeh--objects that cannot be moved on Shabbat: 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:56.000 a Utensil Whose Purpose is Permitted, which can be moved on Shabbat for any reason, 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:59.000 including to bring it in to the shade, a Utensil Whose Purpose is Prohibited, 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:02.000 which is defined as a utensil, but whose intended purpose involves a Shabbat prohibition, 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:08.000 such as tools, sewing implements, etc.--can be moved in order to use it for a purpose permitted on Shabbat, 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:14.000 such as cracking nuts open, but cannot be brought into the shade. We also saw that 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:23.000 we can move it if we need its spot. The next level up was Items With No Specific Purpose-- 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:26.000 which are not even defined as utensils--such as stones, animals, and so on. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:32.000 Of course, the chicken on my plate can be moved, because it's food. But a live chicken 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:35.000 wandering around my yard--animals are defined as muktzeh, so I am allowed to pet them, 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:45.000 but I can't pick him up and move him. At home, too, I can't move him. The fourth category: 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:50.000 Expensive Objects Used Only for a Specific Purpose--an object that is intended for a prohibited use, 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.000 so it seems we could have moved it for a permitted use or for its spot, but since we are careful 00:14:54.000 --> 00:15:02.000 not to use it for any other purpose, it is defined as something we are prohibited from moving altogether. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.000 The word "muktzeh" comes from the root meaning "to designate". 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:07.000 Meaning, a person designates it out of his mind, takes his mind off it, 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.000 because he knows this is an object he will not be using on Shabbat. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:15.000 We started this lecture by listing a few reasons for prohibiting the movement 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:22.000 of certain objects on Shabbat, and the manner in which it is prohibited. There are other reasons, too, 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.000 as listed by the Rambam (Maimonides) in his section on the Laws of Muktzeh. 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:32.240 translated by Onkelus Translations www.onkelus.com