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Thought for the Day: Muktzeh -- It's a Spectrum

Let's do a quick rundown on מוקצה. The word מוקצה, of course, basically mean "set aside". There are things we set aside on Shabbos (and Yom Tov) because Shabbos is really, really important and violations are really, really bad. (That is my high level, executive summary of the Mishna Brura's introduction to siman 308.) Doing melacha on Shabbos is really bad. Also, Shabbos should be really, really special. (Yikes... talk about ירידת הדורות!) Since every Jew knows that, things that would bring one to violate the Shabbos or cheapen it's sanctity, are not at the forefront of our minds. There are, to one level or another, מוקצה.

Because over our history, there have been times when Klal Yisrael is not as careful with Shabbos as they should be, Chazal have baked some basic principles into practical halacha. There are essentially four levels of מוקצה:

  1. Holy Writ and food -- Not set aside at all, you can move them just cuz.
  2. Utensils whose main use is permitted on Shabbos; spoons, forks, and knives, for example. Toys that are not electric and don't make noise. You can move those if you have some reason -- even to save them from getting ruined. But not for no reason; not just cuz.
  3. Utensils whose main use is for something that is forbidden on Shabbos. Hammers, pens, scissors, etc. You can move those if you need the place they are occupying or if you need to use them for some permitted purpose (crack nuts with a hammer, open a bag of food with scissors, and the like).
  4. Non-utensils -- rocks, money, credit cards, etc. You are spending Shabbos with them right where they are; they have ultimate squatters rights.

Those are the basic categories. Surrounding that you have all sorts of fun stuff -- one object supporting another, muktzeh throughout twilight, dangerous muktzeh, all with oodles and gobs of cool details. Some of which I hope to discuss in another TftD. Also, these are not hard and fast boundaries; especially between (2) and (3). Imagine a nutcracker shaped like a little hammer; you could use it for tapping in small nails, but you probably wouldn't. Imagine a small hammer that you only use occasionally, but that you keep in a kitchen "junk drawer"; you might actually use that to crack nuts or help with stuck jar lids on a not infrequent basis. What if one family member uses it exclusively one way (that is permitted) and another uses it exclusively another (that is forbidden on Shabbos)? Is it used for lots of permitted tasks that take a few seconds each, but the forbidden tasks would take hours? So it really is a spectrum.

What about if a tool/utensil broke on or before Shabbos and it cannot no longer execute its designated/main purpose? For example, your hammer broke and the business end no longer has a handle? It could be used to crack nuts or to stop a door, but it is broken and it certainly was not a doorstop nor a nutcracker before it broke. Now what?

Don't worry... there will be more, בעזרת השם!
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