THE SHABBAT LAWS

The Shabbat laws are quite complex, requiring careful study and a qualified teacher. At first, it’s often overwhelming and seems like an impossible number of restrictions. But spending shabbat with others who are shabbat observant will show you that eventually, you, too, will become comfortable with the Shabbat laws, as long as you realize that becoming shomer shabbat (shabbat observant) is a gradual process rather than an overnight transformation. You will also recognize that the wealth off details provides for a lifetime of scholarship–even those who have been keeping Shabbat for years find that there is always more to learn on this subject. Following is a brief summary of some of the Shabbat laws you are most likely to encounter. Let’s start with some basic activities from which we refrain on Shabbat: writing, erasing, and tearing; business transactions; driving or riding in cars or other vehicles; shopping; using the telephone; turning on or off anything which uses electricity, including lights, radios, television, computer, air-conditioners and alarm clocks; cooking, baking or kindling a fire; gardening and grass-mowing; doing laundry; Does all this mean that Shabbat is somewhat of a miserable affair, where we sit hungry in the dark? Not at all. It simply means that we have to prepare for Shabbat in advance, so that, on the contrary, we celebrate in luxury, without doing any of the actual work, on Shabbat. For example: Lights which will be needed on Shabbat are turned on before Shabbat. Automatic timers may be used for lights and some appliances as long as they have been set before Shabbat. The refrigerator may be used, but again, we have to ensure that it’s use does not engender any of the forbidden Shabbat activities. Thus, the fridge light should be disconnected before Shabbat by unscrewing the bulb slightly and a freezer whose fan is activated when the door is opened may not be used. Another example: We may not cook or light a fire, so we cook before Shabbat and keep the food warm through special methods that do not violate any Shabbat prohibitions. See Food Preparation on Shabbat for the laws and methods involved. In addition to those mentioned above, two other important categories which are not permitted are using or touching items that are considered muktzah and carrying outdoors. Muktzah Many objects have been designated by our sages as Muktzah–we are forbidden from moving them, in some cases, even for activities permitted on Shabbat. Muktzah may not be moved directly with one’s hand or even indirectly with an object (such as sweeping it away with a broom). However, Muktzah may be moved in a very awkward, unusual manner, with other parts of the body, e.g.: with one’s teeth or elbow, or by blowing on it. Some of the categories of Muktzah are: 1. Objects which have no designated use, e.g.: Stones, plants, flowers in a vase, raw food (inedible in its present state, such as beans); an object that has broken and become no longer useful such as a broken bowl, a button that falls off; 2. Valuable objects or those which would be used only for their designated task, for fear of damaging it, e.g.: Expensive items: camera, crystal decoration; Professional tools: scalpel, electric wiring; Important documents: passport, birth certificate; 3. Objects that are forbidden from use because of Torah prohibition, e.g.: Non-kosher food, dishes that have not yet been immersed in a mikvah (toiveled), chametz on Passover; also included are objects used for a mitzvah, such as tefillin, schach (rooftop greenery) that fell off a sukkah; 4. An object whose primary purpose is for an activity forbidden on Shabbat, e.g.: Hammer, stapler, pen. However, one is allowed to move these objects if a)they are needed for an activty permitted on Shabbat and nothing else can perform that task, e.g., a hammer to open a coconut or a telephone book as a booster seat or b) The place the object occupies is needed, e.g., if a pen is on a chair you want to sit on. Anything that a muktzah object rests upon is a basis–base for the muktzah and becomes muktzah itself if: A. The muktzah item was left on the spot intentionally, so that it remain there for at least part of Shabbat; B. The object was placed there by the owner or with the knowledge of the owner; C. At the start of Shabbat, the basis supported only the muktzah and no non-muktzah items. An example of basis encountered every Shabbat is the Shabbat candles on the table. The candlesticks are muktzah, and may not be removed from the table on Shabbat. The table holding the candlesticks may thus become a base for muktzah and muktzah itself, preventing it from being moved if necessary. To remedy this, we simply put another non-muktzah item required for Shabbat on the table while setting up the candles. Thus, although the candlesticks are muktzah, the table holds the challah or prayerbook as well and is therefore not muktzah. Carrying On Shabbat one may not carry or transfer objects between a "reshut ha-yachid" (private, enclosed domain, such as the house); and a "reshut ha-rabim" (public domain, such as the street). Examples of this prohibition include: carrying in one’s pocket; carrying anything in the hand; wheeling a baby carriage or shopping cart, going outside with gum or food in the mouth. This prohibition also includes carrying in public hallways or yards of multiple dwellings, unless an eiruv chatzeirot is made. An eiruv chatzeirot is an arrangement whereby carrying in some of the above situations is permitted. In addition, the area in which one wishes to carry must be enclosed. This enclosure, commonly referred to as an eiruv, can occur naturally or be man-made, and must be constructed before Shabbat. The Jewish community in some cities or neighborhoods constructs an eiruv which encloses several blocks. The area within the eiruv is then considered a private domain where carrying is permitted. If there is an eiruv, it is important to know its boundaries so as not to carry beyond them, and also to ensure before Shabbat that the eruv is up and not damaged.

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The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by our content partner, Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.   4 Comments Posted  |  Post A Comment Reader Comments Latest Comments: Posted: July 16, 2009 Response to T.N, melbourne, Australia I’m reminded of a conversation I overheard the other day before at my child’s swimming class. The instructor had just concluded his ten-minute introductory lecture on the joys and perils of swimming. "Any questions?" he asked. Ten-year-old Bobby raised his hand. "Can I play with my Gameboy while we’re swimming?" "No, Bobby," replied the instructor. "We shouldn’t have any electronic devices with us in the water…" "How about Scrabble then? Can I play Scrabble while I’m swimming — that’s not electronic." "No, Bobby, I don’t think that would be possible…. Read more: Why So Many Don’ts on Shabbat? By Yanki Tauber on the "Readings" section of this "Shabbat" sub-website Posted By Shaya, west hartford, ct via chabadhartford.com Posted: Jan 7, 2009 stop complaining if either of you naysayers would try shabbat out instead of complaining about it, you would see that it is a very enjoyable day and that the ‘restrictions’ are what make it so special. try it, and you will see! Posted By gershon Posted: Jan 6, 2009 "God said my sabbath should be a delight and enjoyable" fourth commandment but why do men impose their own law and say people should not switch on and off the light did not the scriptures say in Malachi 3:6-7 NIV 6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ so you see the scripture clearly said he does not change so why do men change Go’ds law isn’t that lawlessness? The 39 Melachot There are thirty-nine general categories of labor that are forbidden on shabbat. Each of these categories include a range of derivative laws and activities, some of which are described in "The Shabbat Laws." The melachot are generally divided into six groups, classified according to the Mishkan‘s activities with which they are associated. Field Work Sowing Plowing Reaping Binding Sheaves Threshing Winnowing Selecting Grinding Sifting Kneading Baking Making Material Curtains Shearing Wool Cleaning Combing Dyeing Spinning Stretching the Threads Making Loops Weaving Threads Separating the Threads Tying a Knot Untying a Knot Sewing Tearing Making Leather Curtains Trapping Slaughtering Skinning Salting Tanning Scraping Cutting Making the Beams of the Mishkan Writing Erasing The Putting up and Taking down of the Mishkan Building Breaking Down The Mishkan’s Final Touches Extinguishing a Fire Kindling a Fire Striking the Final Hammer Blow Carrying What is an Eruv? By Lorne Rozovsky Some may think that an eruv (pronounced ay-roov) has something to do with baby strollers—and to a certain extent they are right. Actually, an eruv, in modern terminology, is a technical boundary that allows Jews to carry in public areas on Shabbat. It is one of those traditions which has blossomed from a basic Torah principle into a highly complicated legal matter. It has resulted in a growing body of interest throughout the world, and the establishment of organizations to carry it out. Some of these corporations have their own websites. There are eruvs ("eruvim" in Hebrew) all the way from Richmond, Virginia to Gibraltar to Toronto to Melbourne, Australia to Tel Aviv. What is it? There are eruvs from Virginia to Gibraltar to Toronto to Australia to Tel AvivThe literal meaning of the word is blending or intermingling, but that really does not tell us much. The concept of an eruv goes back to the principle of Shabbat rest. According to Shabbat rules it is forbidden to carry any item – regardless of its weight, size or purpose – on the Shabbat. Under Jewish law on Shabbat, it is forbidden to carry anything from a "private" domain into a "public" one or vice versa, or more than four cubits (approximately 6 feet) within a public domain. Private and public do not refer to ownership, rather to the nature of the area. An enclosed area is considered a private domain, whereas an open area is considered public for the purposes of these laws. Practically, it is forbidden to carry something, such as a tallit bag or a prayer book from one’s home along the street and to a synagogue or to push a baby carriage from home to a synagogue, or to another home, on Shabbat. It became obvious even in ancient times, that on Shabbat, as on other days, there are certain things people wish to carry. People also want to get together with their friends after synagogue and take things with them—including their babies. They want to get together to learn, to socialize and to be a community. Given the design of many communities in the past, many neighborhoods or even cities were walled. As such, the whole area was regarded as "private," and carrying allowed. That, however, wasn’t always the case. And today, it is an obvious impracticality to build walls throughout portions of cities, crossing over or through streets and walkways, in order to place one’s home and synagogue within the same "private" domain. The Answer is the Eruv The answer is a technical enclosure which surrounds both private and hitherto public domains and thus creates a large private domain in which carrying is permitted on Shabbat. Colloquially this is known as an eruv.1 The eruv is usually large enough to include entire neighborhoods with homes, apartments and synagogues, making it possible to carry on Shabbat, since one is never leaving one’s domain. A wall can be a wall even if it has many doorways creating large open spacesIt is technical, because theoretically the eruv should be a wall. However, a wall can be a wall even if it has many doorways creating large open spaces. This means that a wall does not have to be solid. Therefore, the eruv enclosure may be created by telephone poles, for example, which act as the vertical part of a door post in a wall, with the existing cables strung between the poles acting as the lintel of the doorframe. As such, the entire "wall" is actually a series of "doorways." Added to that there may be existing natural boundaries and fences.2 What You Can Carry and What You Cannot An eruv does not give one a license to carry everything. It does not allow the carrying of objects whose use is forbidden on Shabbat (See The Shabbat Laws for more on this topic). For example, it is forbidden to carry an umbrella since opening or closing it is forbidden.3 Therefore, an umbrella cannot be carried anywhere on Shabbat regardless of whether it is within the eruv or not. Pens cannot be carried within the eruv, since pens cannot be carried on Shabbat at all. Finally, items which will only be used after Shabbat also cannot be carried on Shabbat, even within the eruv. The purpose of the eruv is to allow certain basic necessities to be carried, such as a tallit or a prayer book, house keys, clothing which is removed on warm days, and reading glasses. And it allows the pushing of a baby carriage along with food and diapers. The Eruv vs. the Law Part of the fascination in the erection and study of eruvs lies outside Talmudic and rabbinic literature. It lies in the secular world of law and lawsuits. Numerous lawsuits have arisen in various parts of the world involving eruvs. These cases usually involve municipal by-laws and regulations. The Washington D.C. eruv includes the White HouseIn the city of Outremont in the Canadian Province of Quebec, a number of Orthodox Jews asked their city council for permission to build an eruv. The city council lead by its Jewish mayor refused even though about one quarter of the city’s population was Jewish. A non-Jewish judge overruled the city, noting that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees that religion can be practiced openly. Cases have also arisen in the United States and other countries. Despite these problems, the construction of eruvs continues in many parts of the world. The Washington D.C. eruv includes the White House. The Strasbourg eruv includes the European Court of Human Rights. How to Use an Eruv Because the eruv must remain in good repair in order to effectively carry out its role, organizations that maintain an eruv usually have a telephone number or a website where anyone who wants to make use of the eruv may find out if the eruv is in working order, that there are no breaks in it and that it is operational. In most cases, the eruv operators inspect it every week to make certain that it is "operational." If any part of the eruv has come down, attempts must be made to make repairs before Shabbat. If this cannot be done, the effectiveness of the eruv is lost, since the area is no longer enclosed by a continuous boundary. Concerns about the Eruv While there are an increasing number of eruvs being established throughout the world in traditional Jewish communities, support for the practice is not universal. There is the concern that if there is an eruv in a community, those who rely on it may very easily forget when they travel to communities without an eruv, and carry on Shabbat. A second concern is that if the eruv breaks during Shabbat, no one will know. As a result, they will conduct themselves as if there still is a functioning eruv, this breaking the rules of Shabbat. It is imperative that an expert rabbi oversee the construction of any eruvThe final and perhaps the major concern is that because an eruv allows an exception to the prohibition against carrying on Shabbat, it is quite natural for anyone regularly using an eruv to forget that this is an exception; forgetting that there is a prohibition against carrying on Shabbat.4 Technical Notes Construction of an eruv is one of the most abstruse areas of Jewish law. An enormous amount of material has been written on the subject and the Talmud dedicates an entire tractate to it. Just because a particular area is enclosed by telephone poles and wires is not sufficient reason to allow carrying within that area. Many areas cannot be included in an eruv, and many telephone poles do not qualify—for reasons beyond the scope of this article. Furthermore, whenever an eruv includes multiple residences, in addition to the physical (or technical) enclosure encompassing the area, the inhabitants of the eruv must also be "conjoined" into one entity through the joint ownership of some food (See Eruv for more on this topic).5 For all these reasons, it is imperative that an expert rabbi oversee the construction of any eruv. 2 Comments Posted FOOTNOTES 1. Strictly technically speaking, the word eruv refers to the shared food of the eruv’s inhabitants (see further in article for more on this topic.) There are also other uses of the term "eruv," to achieve similar exceptions to Shabbat requirements, but they do not involve a boundary or a walled area. (See Eruv for more on this topic). 2. It should be noted that though a partition created by a series of doorframes is considered a full-fledged wall, the Sages instituted an additional stringency: in order to carry in a thoroughfare that meets the biblical requirements for a public domain, the thoroughfare must have actual doors at its both ends. (According to some halachic opinions, these doors must actually be shut at night. Others allow carrying as long as the doors are operational and can potentially be closed at night.) What further complicates this issue is that the requirements for a biblical public domain themselves are subject to debate between the halachic authorities. The majority of modern day eruvs rely on the lenient opinion, which maintains that in order to be a biblical public domain, a thoroughfare must have a daily flow of at least 600,000 people—something that is rarely found, and especially in residential areas. 3. Opening or closing an umbrella is akin to assembling or dismantling a tent—an act forbidden on Shabbat. 4. In addition, according to more stringent opinions, our streets meet the biblical requirements for a public domain, and as such carrying would only be permitted by means of actual doors (see above, footnote 2). 5. This is also an important consideration in hotels, condominium units, bungalow colonies, etc. Eruv There are three types of eruvs. These are: 1) Eruv Tavshilin–allows one to cook on Yom Tov for the sake of Shabbat. 2) Eruvei Techumin–allows a person to walk more than 2000 cubits outside of a city on Shabbat or Yom Tov (Only used in cases of pressing need) 3) Eruv Chatzeirot–the most commonly referred to, and the one most people mean when they say "eruv"; explained in this article. One of the 39 melachot forbidden on Shabbat is carrying from a private to a public domain or within a public domain. Private domains are residential areas, and originally referred to an individuals home or apartments that were surrounded by a "wall" and can be deemed to be "closed off" from the surrounding public domains. Public domains are non-residential areas like thoroughfares, highways, and open plazas. What’s if one lives in a small neighborhood that is primarily Jewish but not surrounded by a wall? Clearly, the area outside each private home counts as the "public domain" and carrying objects from one home to the next is forbidden. However, there is a way to make these larger areas and even whole cities one private domain: the circumvention of the whole domain by a wall or gate, which would permit carrying throughout the entire city. This wall or gate, the Eruv, is an enclosure that legally transforms a non-private public thoroughfare into a private domain. The sages, however, were concerned that people would entirely forget about the prohibition of carrying on Shabbat, so they established the concept of eruvei chatzairot. Everyone in the city (or area of the eruv) contributes food (or, as is usually done, one person in the city can supply the food for everyone) and this food is kept in one of the houses. [Today, eruvs are normally done with matzah, because it lasts a long time and doesn't have to be replenished very often.] This symbolizes that all the people who dwell within the eruv are now ‘sharing’ food, and are therefore one big happy family living in one "private" domain. In fact, the word eruv actually means, "mixing"– its purpose is to blend and mix the entire community together. This must, of course, go along with the physical enclosure of the eruv of the city (or area). According to Jewish law, the enclosure does not have to be actual walls, rather they can be continuous posts connected with string or wire according to very exact halachic specifications for height, distance between the posts, and method of attachment. Erecting these poles and running the cable is significantly more difficult than making the actual (food) eruv. in fact, the laws of eruv are from the most complicated laws in the Talmud and thus putting up an eruv requires expert assistance and input from a rabbi.

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