Search results for: ""Shabbat""

Jewish Festival: Hair Cuts/Shaving
You may not have your hair cut and you may not shave on Jewish festivals (and Shabbat).
 
Jewish Festivals: Business Ownership
A business whose sole or major owner is Jewish may not be operated on Jewish festivals (and Shabbat), even by non-Jewish employees. There may be possibilities to allow operation by relinquishing majority control, but the issues are complex and rabbinic guidance is essential.
Rosh Hashana: Tashlich: When To Say
Ideally, say tashlich on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashana (unless that is Shabbat, in which case say it on the second day of Rosh Hashana). You may say it until the end of the day of Hoshana Rabba.
Muktza by Hand
Muktza (“set aside” in one's mind) is an item that normally has no permissible use (or no use) on Shabbat. Muktza items may not usually be moved by hand on Shabbat—even if your hand is gloved—except for certain Shabbat needs, such as you need the space or the item. However, it is ALWAYS OK to move muktza items with any other part of your body.
 
ORIGIN
Chazal instituted muktza rules to make Shabbat special by requiring that actions be done differently on Shabbat than on weekdays. The basis for the idea of muktza was when Moses/Moshe instructed the Children of Israel in the wilderness to prepare the mun for Shabbat in order to eat it on Shabbat. Chazal extended the idea to prohibit moving by hand on Shabbat anything that was not prepared in one's mind before sunset on Friday.
CATEGORIES OF MUKTZA
The several categories of muktza vary according to their purpose and their permissibility to be moved.
 
Muktza Machmat Melachto L'Issur: Standard Use Forbidden on Shabbat
Purpose Item whose normal purpose is forbidden to be done on Shabbat.
Permissibility To Be Moved You may move this item by hand, without using a shinu'i:
  • If you need the space where it is resting, or
  • For a permissible use.
   Examples
  • Using a hammer to open a coconut.
  • Using pliers to crack open nuts.
  • Using a portable radiator to prop open a window.
No prior preparation or thought before Shabbat is required.
Note You may not move it just to protect the item.

Muktza Machmat Gufo: No Use
Purpose An item that has no use. This item is not normally ever designated for use; for example, a rock or stone. However, an item in this “no use” category is rendered non-muktza and usable on Shabbat as long as you had intended--before Shabbat or the festival began--to use it for a permitted purpose. As long as you intended that, you do not even need to use a shinu'i. If you did not intend, before sunset on Friday, to use this normally unusable item, then you may only move it using a shinu'i.
Permissibility To Be Moved Unless you prepared before Shabbat to use it for some permitted purpose on Shabbat, you may not move it by hand even for a permitted use and not even in order to use the space where it is resting.
Note You might need to use the item regularly for the non-standard purpose because for just a one-time use, it might not be permitted. Consult a rabbi.
Exception Garbage has no use. You may move garbage within your house (example: push the garbage across the room with your foot), but if you want to dump your garbage outside and you have a private domain or an eruv, you may pick it up and carry it outside.

Muktza Machmat Chisaron Kis
Purpose A valuable item that you are concerned may be damaged.
Examples Passport, porcelain china, or other expensive and fragile or difficult-to-replace objects.
Such an item may not be moved except for its designated purpose and you may not move it once you have finished using it. But once you are already holding it, you may take it to a place where you want to leave it and you do not need to drop it where it is when you finish with it.  

Basis L'Davar Ha'Asur

Purpose Muktza item resting on a normally permitted item makes the lower item muktza too.
Example A candlestick will render the table on which it stands muktza (unless there are one or more other items that are more valuable than the muktza item, in which case the table does not become muktza).
Situation There are multiple objects; some are permitted and some are not—for example, in a drawer.
What To Do If the permissible objects are more valuable than the non-permitted objects, you may open the drawer.

Non-Muktza on Top of Muktza
If you want a non-muktza item that was left on top of a muktza item from before Shabbat started, you may use it without restriction.

 
Situation
You discover you have coins in non-patch pockets of your pants that you will wear on Shabbat.
What To Do
You may empty coins out of non-patch pockets if you need to use the pants, but not by taking the coins out: you must dump them out of the pockets.
Note If you have coins in a patch pocket, the whole garment is muktza, unless you forgot that the coins were there or if you intended to remove the coins before Shabbat began but forgot to remove them (in which case you may shake the coins out of the pocket and the garment is not muktza).

Non-Patch Pockets
Situations
Pants with muktza items in the pockets are on your bed and you want to sleep on Shabbat afternoon.
What To Do
You may move the pants off your bed using any body part including your hands; no shinu'i needed.

Item that Becomes Muktza
If you are holding a permissible item and it becomes muktza, you may put it in safe place; you do not need to immediately drop it or put it down where you are.
Example You are holding a pot from which you dispense all of the food. The empty pot is now muktza, but you may take it to the kitchen to put it down.

For More Information about Muktza

To see the TorahTots article on muktza, click here.

Using Cane, Crutches, Wheelchair outside Eruv
You may use a cane, crutches, or a wheelchair if any of these are needed on Shabbat, even without an eruv.
 
What Is Challa
Challa refers to the two loaves of bread (or matza) over which we say the ha'motzi blessing at Shabbat and Jewish festival meals.
The loaves must be:
  • Whole, without significant parts missing.
  • Made out of one or more of the Five Grains.
Announcing the New Month
Each month (except before Rosh Hashana), we say the blessing over the new month (birkat ha'chodesh). On Shabbat morning preceding the new moon, at the end of Torah reading, we announce the coming of the new month (Rosh Chodesh), including:
  • The name of the month.
  • The day and time the new moon will appear in Jerusalem.
  • The day of the week that begins the new month (and sometimes the last day of the previous month).
We say some prayers that ask for good health, prosperity, and other good things.  
When No Wine Mashgiach Needed
No mashgiach is needed if:
  • The owner of wine production and all of the workers are shomer Shabbat, and
  • No non-Jews or non-shomer Shabbat Jews come in contact with the wine or grape juice.
 
Melave Malka Shir HaMa'alot until Midnight
Say shir ha'ma'alot until midnight (halachic chatzot) if you eat a meal with bread after Shabbat is over, but only if the meal is eaten as a melave malka.

Jewish Festivals: Cooking from an Existing Flame
You may cook food on all Jewish festivals (except Yom Kippur or when they coincide with Shabbat) as long as the fire, oven, or other cooking appliance:
  • Has been on since before the Jewish festival began, OR
  • Is lit during the Jewish festival from an existing flame, such as from a pilot light or yahrzeit candle lit before the Jewish festival began.
When You May Drink after Kiddush
You may drink your own beverage as long as:
  • The leader (mevareich) has said Jewish festival (or Shabbat) kiddush for other people, and
  • At least 2 fl. oz. (59 ml) of the wine (or other appropriate beverage) over which kiddush was made has been drunk.
Jewish Festival: Dateline Considerations
If unsure which day to start the Jewish festival because you are near the International Dateline, follow guidelines for Shabbat; see Introduction to Shabbat, IDL, and Region of Safek/Doubt.
Carrying Ticket within Eruv
If an eruv includes your house and a sports field, you may carry your ticket to a sporting event on Shabbat, but it is best if you leave the ticket at the entrance with a ticket-taker before Shabbat starts. Such activity is not in the spirit of Shabbat but is not forbidden.
 
Introduction to Separating Challa
Although challa refers to the two loaves of bread (or matza) over which we say the ha'motzi blessing at Shabbat and Jewish festival meals, challa also means the portion of dough or bread that we are obligated to give to the cohen/priests during Temple times.  Today, we burn a token portion (“challa”) of dough.
Note Burning the challa is not considered to violate bal tashchit (needless destruction), since the challa is separated and destroyed to fulfill a mitzva.
Distracting Work on Friday Afternoon
You may not do any work or get involved in any project that might distract you from preparing for Shabbat, beginning at twice the duration of plag ha'mincha.  So allow 2 1/2 halachic hours (sha'ot zmaniyot) before sunset to prepare for Shabbat.