DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 740 KB)
Handling a Megila on Shabbat

Under what circumstance is an object considered Mukse in one area, but entirely permissible for handling in other locations?

Such a situation, interestingly enough, arises when Purim – the fourteenth of Adar – occurs on Friday.

Generally speaking, it is entirely permissible to handle a Megila on Shabbat, just as Halacha permits handling Torah scrolls, Haftara scrolls and ordinary books on Shabbat. Since these articles are used for reading and studying, Halacha permits handling and using them on Shabbat.

The one exception to this rule is when the fifteenth of Adar falls on Shabbat. Normally, Jews in Jerusalem observe Purim on this date – the fifteenth of Adar (as opposed to other locales, where Purim is celebrated on the fourteenth). When the fifteenth falls on Shabbat, however, the Sages forbade reading the Megila, out of concern that somebody might mistakenly carry the Megila through a public domain, in violation of Shabbat. The Peri Hadash (commentary to the Shulhan Aruch by Rav Hizkiya Da Silva, 1659-1698) ruled that once the Sages forbade reading the Megila on Shabbat in such a case, the Megila becomes Mukse. Thus, in this particular instance, when the fifteenth of Adar falls on Shabbat, it is forbidden for the Jews in Jerusalem to handle the Megila. Elsewhere, however, one may handle the Megila, since they do not observe Purim on that day and there is thus no Rabbinic enactment forbidding Megila reading.

Summary: It is permissible to read, study from or move a Megilat Ester scroll on Shabbat, except when the fifteenth of Adar falls on Shabbat, in which case people in Jerusalem may not handle a Megila on this day.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Who Performs the Pidyon Haben for a Firstborn Who Has Already Grown Up?
How Much Must One Give a Kohen for the Misva of Pidyon Haben?
Do Parents Recite a Beracha on the Occasion of the Birth of a Son?
Determining When to Perform a Pidyon Haben
Standing at a Wedding Ceremony, Berit Mila and Pidyon Ha'ben
The Sephardic Customs for Choosing a Name for a Newborn Baby
Which Mitzvah To Perform First When Multiple Mitzvot Are at Hand, including; Should A Pidyon HaBen Be Delayed Until After A Delayed Brit Milah
The Obligations and Exemptions from Eating At A Seuda of A Brit Milah
The Miracle of Birth Praised at a Brit Milah
The Complication Of Scheduling A Brit Milah For A Baby Born Via Cesarean Section Right Before Yom Kippur
Metzitza At The Brit Milah On Shabbat and The Issue of Lash
Should The Parents Name Their Newborn Boy If The Brit Milah Is Delayed Due To Sickness, and Counting 7 Full Days Until The Milah Once A Sick Baby Boy Is Healed
The Issue of Metzitza At A Brit Milah
Laws and Customs of Lag Ba’omer
Lag Ba'omer: Haircuts, Reciting She'hecheyanu, Weddings, and Listening to Music
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found