Trash on Shabbat

Hi,

Useful implements which were put in the trash before Shabbat are not muktzeh, even though the owner has declared that he is not planning to use them. They do not enter the category of muktzeh machmat gufo [useless items], because they are available for others to use.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:41)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Broken implements

Hi,

Implements which break on Shabbat are in the category of muktzeh machmat gufo, since they have no use. However, if they have a use - even one which was not their originally intended use when they were complete - then they are not muktzeh.

(Shemirat Shabbat K'Hilchatah 20:41)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Coins on Shabbat

Hi,

We have described the category of "muktzeh machmat gufo," items that have no Shabbat-permissible use and therefore may not be handled on Shabbat.

Coins are an example of this type of muktzeh. However, coins which are designated for jewelry are no longer muktzeh in this way; they have been assigned a Shabbat-permissible function.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:38)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Non-usable food items

Hi,

We have defined a category called "muktzeh machmat gufo," items which have no use on Shabbat and which are therefore muktzeh.

This category includes shells, seeds and bones which have no food on them, and which would not be edible themselves for people or for local animals.

This category also includes food ingredients which cannot be processed on Shabbat - flour, raw potato and raw meat, for example.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:26-29)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Muktzeh Machmat Gufo

Hi,

We have described two categories of Muktzeh already; a third is Muktzeh Machmat Gufo ("set aside because of its inherent nature"). This category includes items which have no use at all, and therefore one does not intend to use them at the start of Shabbat.

This category includes stones and sand, and anything that has no function. However: One who decides (even mentally) before Shabbat that he will use such an item for a specific permitted purpose may then handle it on Shabbat.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:25, 44)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Stamp collections

Hi,

We have said that expensive items which one does not normally handle are "muktzeh machmat chisaron kis" and may not be handled on Shabbat.

However: One who has previously designated such an item for a use which is permitted on Shabbat may handle it on Shabbat. For example: Stamps kept in a stamp collection may be viewed in their album on Shabbat, assuming one normally looks through the album without concern for damaging its contents. [The stamp is also not viewed as potential 'currency' because its placement in the album identifies it as not-for-circulation.]

(Shemirat Shabbat K'Hilchatah 20:23)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Merchandise

Hi,

All merchandise is included in the category of "muktzeh machmat chisaron kis" if the owner does not normally handle it. The actual worth and function of the merchandise are irrelevant; when Shabbat started, he had no intent to handle it.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:21)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Financial instruments

Hi,

We have defined a category of "muktzeh machmat chisaron kis," items which one may not handle on Shabbat, because their worth leads people to avoid handling them in general.

Financial instruments - account books, letters on business matters, checks, appraisals, bonds and scrip of all kinds - are included in this category.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:20)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Muktzeh Machmat Chisaron Kis

Hi,

One of the categories we have defined is "muktzeh machmat chisaron kis - מוקצה מחמת חסרון כיס", meaning something which people do not handle because of potential loss.

This category includes items which people use only for dedicated non-Shabbat tasks because of their fragility or worth. Because one does not intend to use them on Shabbat, one may not move them at all, even if one needs their space or one suddenly decides he wants to handle or use them.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:19)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Kitchen scissors and telephone books

Hi,

Continuing our discussion of "kli shemelachto l'issur":

Kitchen scissors (aka poultry shears) are not in this category, because their primary use is for food preparation. They are not muktzeh.

Telephone books are assumed to be used primarily for looking up telephone numbers, and so they are considered kli shemelachto l'issur (unless one were to specifically identify his telephone book as a resource for addresses).

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:16-17)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Pots and pans

Hi,

Cooking utensils which are dedicated for the cooking process fit into the kli shemelachto l'issur category we have described, and may not be moved on Shabbat other than for the permitted purposes we have listed - to use them for a permitted purpose where permitted utensils are unavailable, or to use the space in which they are located.

Therefore: Pots which contain usable food may be moved for the sake of serving or transferring their food.

Pots which are also used for serving food are not called "kli shemelachto l'issur."

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:15)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Moving tefillin on Shabbat

Hi,

Tefillin fit into the category we have defined as Kli sheMelachto l'Issur, since their primary function is prohibited on Shabbat.

However, the status of tefillin is more lenient than that of other "kli shemelachto l'issur" cases, because the act of donning tefillin is not actually a prohibited melachah. It is only that donning tefillin, for the sake of the mitzvah, denies the special character of Shabbat.

Therefore, we are lenient and we permit people to move tefillin if they are left in a degrading position. Also, if tefillin are accidentally left in a tallit bag, such that one cannot access the tallit, one may remove the tefillin in order to reach the tallit.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:14)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Kli sheMelachto l'Issur, Part IV

Hi,

We have now defined two purposes for which one may move a kli shemelachto l'issur on Shabbat: (1) Use of the implement for a permitted function, and (2) Use of its location.

Once one picks up the kli in a permitted way, he may move it wherever he wishes, without limitation on time or space.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Kli sheMelachto l'Issur, Part III

Hi,

We have already defined a "kli shem'lachto l'issur," an implement primarily used for purposes which are prohibited on Shabbat.

One may move such an implement on Shabbat for the sake of use of the space in which it is located ("l'tzorech mekomo"). This must be an actual use, though; one may not move it simply because one is disturbed by its presence in that site.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:10)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Kli sheMelachto l'Issur, Part II

Hi,

We have defined a kli shem'lachto l'issur, an implement which is normally used for purposes prohibited on Shabbat.

Such an implement may be used for a permitted purpose on Shabbat, if one does not have the option of using an implement that is more permissible [ie that is not normally used for prohibited purposes]. This is called moving the item "l'tzorech gufo" - for its own sake.

For example: A hammer is normally used for purposes which are prohibited on Shabbat. One who lacks a nutcracker may use a hammer to crack nuts on Shabbat.

One may also move such an implement in order to give to another person who will be using it permissibly.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 20:8-9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Kli sheMelachto l'Issur

Hi,

Yesterday we explained that one of the four major categories of Muktzeh items is a kli shem'lachto l'issur, a tool which is used to perform tasks one may not perform on Shabbat. This includes pens, pencils and scissors, writing paper and pots and pans.

This category also includes items normally used for activities which are prohibited rabbinically on Shabbat, such as musical instruments. However, it only includes implements which are mostly used for prohibited purposes. Implements which are used equally for permitted and prohibited purposes have a separate status, as kli shemelachto l'issur ul'heter, and will be discussed on their own, Gd-willing.

(Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchitah 20:5-6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Muktzeh

Hi,

Today we begin a new topic: The Laws of Muktzeh.

In a strict sense, "Muktzeh" means "set aside" - something which is set aside from use on Shabbat.

There are various ways to break down the categories of Muktzeh, but R' Yehoshua Neuwirth, in his Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah (Vol 1, Chapter 20 in the newer editions), defines four basic categories:

1. Muktzeh Machmat Gufo ["muktzeh because of itself"] - An item which has no use for that Shabbat.

2. Muktzeh Machmat Chisaron Kis ["muktzeh because of loss"] - An item which is not normally handled, because it is fragile, or because it is for sale, or because its nature demands that it be assigned a location and never moved.

3. Kli sheMelachto l'Issur ["an implement used for prohibited purposes"] - An item which is normally used for purposes which are prohibited on Shabbat.

4. Basis l'Davar ha'Assur ["a base for a prohibited item"] - An item which would not be muktzeh in itself, but which has a muktzeh item before Shabbat begins, with intent that it should remain there throughout the dusk time when Shabbat starts.

Gd-willing, in the next several emails we will examine the rules which apply to each category.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Signatures on the ketubah

Hi,

The ketubah document records testimony as to the marriage transaction between husband and wife, and is signed by the witnesses. There is no need for husband and wife to sign.

Historically, there were communities in which the husband signed, to confirm that his financial obligations recorded therein would be collectible in court without further procedural validation of the ketubah.

The husband and/or wife may sign on the document if they wish, but the format must make clear that they are not signing as witnesses, and that the witnesses are signing to the body of the document and not simply validating their signatures.

(Nachalat Shivah 12:73)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

k'dat Moshe v'Yisrael

Hi,

When a man and woman wed, the man says to the woman that he wishes to marry her, "k'dat Moshe v'Yisrael," "according to the laws of Moses and Israel." We also include this language in the ketubah.

Some explain that this clause adds her obligations; the ketubah records the man's obligations to his wife, and this clause notes that those obligations depend upon her own compliance with the laws of Moshe and Yisrael.

Others suggest that this clause defines the acceptable modes of completing the marriage transaction. The man is declaring that he wishes to wed her, using transactions provided for in the laws of Moshe and Yisrael.

(Nachalat Shivah 12:18)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Placement of the witnesses' signatures

Hi,

We are careful not to leave too much blank space between the body of the ketubah and the signatures of the witnesses below, lest someone cut off the ketubah and insert other text above the signatures of the witnesses.

We avoid having a space sufficient for two written lines and three interstices.

(Nachalat Shivah 2:1-3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Ketubah for a person whose name has been changed

Hi,

Because of the need for a husband and wife to have a valid ketubah, authorities rule that if the halachic name of a married person is changed, such as during a serious illness, then a corrected ketubah should be written.

(Minchat Yitzchak 10:132)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Dating a Ketubah on Rosh Chodesh

Hi,

A Ketubah written on the first day of the month should be dated באחד לחדש. On the thirtieth of the month, it should be dated [using Nisan as an example] as ביום שלשים לחדש ניסן שהוא ראש חדש אייר.

Technically, "Rosh Chodesh" does not appear in the Torah as a date, but it is an accepted colloquialism.

(Mordechai Gittin 454; Rama Even haEzer 126:4 and 126:6; Nachlat Shivah 6:2; Aruch haShulchan Even haEzer 126:22)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Listing days of the week in a ketubah

Hi,

When we put dates in a legal document, like a ketubah, we spell the day of the week using the numbers listed in Bereishit, and the spelling used there. For example, we write חמישי with two yuds.

In Bereishit, the first day of the week is called יום אחד, Day One, rather than יום ראשון, First Day. This is odd, given that the rest of the numbers are ordinal [שני, שלישי, רביעי, second, third, fourth] rather than cardinal [שנים, שלש, ארבע, two, three, four].

For a legal document we also use the cardinal number of יום אחד, because that's the Torah's language.

(Nachalat Shivah 5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Margins

Hi,

Legal documents should not have large margins, lest this enable inappropriate additions to the document after the witnesses have signed. However, one might justify having margins which are large in order to protect the text when the document is handled.

(Nachlat Shivah 3:14)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The end of the line

Hi,

One should be careful, when writing a legal document, to ensure that the last word of the line is not one which could have its meaning altered with the addition of a letter or two. For example, the word עשר ["ten"] should not conclude a line, lest someone make it עשרים ["twenty"].

(Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 42:4; Nachlat Shivah 3:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Writing a shtar [legal document]

Hi,

One should be careful in writing a ketubah, or any other legal document, to use a uniform font and uniform spacing. This ensures that any alteration of the text will be noticeable.

(Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 42:3; Nachlat Shivah 3:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai