DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Halacha is Leiluy Nishmat our Father
 Moises Kredi Hakohen Ben Zekiye

Dedicated By
Your Wife and Children and Grandchildren

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
      
(File size: 794 KB)
Succot- Are the Four Species Considered Muktzeh on Shabbat and the Night of Yom Tov?

The Arba Minim (four species) are not taken on the Shabbat of Sukkot. As such, since they serve no practical purpose on Shabbat, they have the status of Muktzeh and may therefore not be moved.

This Halacha, however, applies only to the Lulav, the Hadasim and the Aravot. With regard to the Etrog, Chacham Ovadia Yosef rules (in Chazon Ovadia, Hilchot Sukkot, p. 375) that it is not considered Muktzeh on Shabbat, since it emits a pleasant fragrance and can therefore be used for smelling. The Shulchan Aruch rules that one should not smell an Etrog that was designated for the Mitzva of Arba Minim, but, as Chacham Ovadia notes, smelling an Etrog is allowed if one first takes to smell a different fruit or an Etrog that was not designated for the Mitzva and recites the Beracha over its fragrance. He may then smell even the Etrog earmarked for the Mitzva on the basis of the Beracha recited over the other fruit. Therefore, since there is a manner whereby the Etrog serves a practical purpose on Shabbat, it does not become Muktzeh, and one may move it on Shabbat and smell it in the manner described.

Are the Arba Minim considered Muktzeh on the night of Yom Tov, given that the Mitzva can only be fulfilled during the daytime hours?

Chacham Ovadia Yosef rules (in Chazon Ovadia, Hilchot Sukkot, p. 372) that the four species are not considered Muktzeh at all on Yom Tov, even at night. It is therefore permissible to tie one's Hadasim and Aravot to the Lulav on the night of Sukkot, provided that he makes a permissible knot, such as a slipknot or if he wraps the material around the Hadasim and Aravot and then tucks it under. And although the obligation takes effect only in the morning, one may nevertheless prepare the species for the Mitzva during the night, since the morning will inevitably arrive at which point the obligation will take effect. Chacham Ovadia compares the Mitzva of Arba Minim in this regard with the Mitzva of Tzitzit: just as one may tie Tzitzit to a garment at nighttime, despite the fact that the Mitzva does not apply at night, so may one prepare the Arba Minim on the night of Yom Tov, regardless of the fact that the Mitzva takes effect only the next morning.

Summary: One's Lulav, Hadasim and Aravot are considered Muktzeh and hence forbidden to be moved on Shabbat of Sukkot. The Etrog, however, may be moved on Shabbat of Sukkot. One may smell the Etrog during Sukkot, including Shabbat, if he first recites the Beracha over smelling some other fruit or an Etrog that was not designated for the Mitzva of Arba Minim. On the night of Yom Tov, the Arba Minim are not Muktzeh, and one may tie the Hadasim and Aravot to the Lulav at night, provided that he uses a slipknot or the "wrap and tuck" method of tying.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Newspaper Delivery on Shabbat
The Status of Food Suitable Only for Animal Consumption With Respect to Muktzeh
If a Non-Jew Did Not Return a Rented Animal Before Shabbat
Renting Utensils to a Non-Jew before Shabbat
Asking a Gentile on Shabbat to Bring Something From One's Car
Eating After Sundown on Shabbat if One Began Se'uda Shelishit Before Sundown
Handling Mail Received on Shabbat
The Significance of the Word "Shabbat"
Ereb Shabbat: Haircutting, Nail Cutting, Bathing, and Immersing in a Mikveh
Cutting Vegetables for a Salad on Shabbat
Sitting or Leaning on a Car on Shabbat
Wearing a Handkerchief in a Public Domain on Shabbat
Is it permissible to use diapers with adhesive strips on Shabbat?
Home Construction on Shabbat
Hiring a Non-Jew to Perform a Task Which Might be Done on Shabbat
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found