Of course we all know that you can't use an umbrella on Shabbos (even if you happen to live in a place with an kosher eruv) because opening an umbrella is considering making a אהל/tent/awning which is in the category of building, one of the 39 forbidden labors on Shabbos. Finished. Well...
What if you were to open the umbrella on a dark and stormy erev Shabbos before sundown? Could you not then use that umbrella on Shabbos? You wouldn't be making anything and you are certainly allowed to use an existing אהל. We do it all the time with our shlock on Sukkos and with our carriages that have an awning to protect our precious next generation from rain and heat and cold and whatever. Still... people seemed nervous about that, so I decided to check.
I asked the dayan and, as I am sure you figured out (or already knew), he said absolutely not. I asked why not and he told me because the umbrella is mobile, so moving it is considered like breaking one אהל and creating a new one. I thought about that for a few minutes and then asked, "Then how do you move a carriage?"
Before I tell you what the dayan said, let's think this through a bit. What is the difference between the canopy on a carriage and an umbrella? Perhaps it is because the canopy on the carriage covers a defined space that doesn't change. That is, the canopy is always covering the same carriage, so not destroying and building a new אהל with every step. The problem with that suggestion is that it means the canopy must not extend the slightest bit over the carriage. I have never heard such a requirement and I think plenty of carriages would violate that. So back to our question.
R' Fuerst said the difference is that the canopy is attached to the carriage. I asked, of course, does that mean if I strapped an umbrella to myself, then I could use it on Shabbos. Yes. (In fact, they make such things. Just search for "beanie umbrella"; you'll find lots of colors, styles, and options from a few dollars to thirty or so.)
That's not so practical, but here is something practical: One could attach an umbrella or canopy to a walker and stay dry and in the shade that way. Good to know as we get older.
I also asked about moving the umbrella in the house. Since the issue is creating and destroying a temporary אהל, what difference does it make inside or outside? It makes a difference, because the umbrella provides no practical advantage to just the existing ceiling.
One last thing... why does the attachment make the difference? It seems like a small thing and not really clear why it helps. See R' Ribiat's four volume set on The 39 Melochos, Vol 4, bottom of page 1079 to top of the next. (Note: the final emphasis is mine.)
Although an analogy between the use of an umbrella to that of an attached awning (which is permissible) is not without basis..., the preeminent Poskim of earlier periods nevertheless saw fit to extend the prohibition of אהל to umbrellas. One dare not trifle with this restriction.
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