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...
Carrying on Shabbat: Rings and Pins
Is it Permissible to Exercise or Have a Massage on Shabbat?
The Custom to Read Shir Hashirim On Friday Night
Using Voice Activation Systems on Shabbat
The Time For Ending Shabbat
May One Violate Shabbat to Protect His Property From Looters?
Customs When Announcing Rosh Hodesh in the Synagogue on Shabbat
Is it Permissible to Repeat Sections of the Torah Reading to Add Aliyot?
Moving Candlesticks on Shabbat After the Flames Go Out
Which Prayers May Be Recited by the Light of the Shabbat Candles?
Tying Neckties and Garbage Bags on Shabbat
Tying and Untying Knots on Shabbat
Is It Permissible to Trap a Deer Inside a Home on Shabbat?
Is It Permissible to Trap a Bug on Shabbat?
Trapping Explained- One of the 39 Forbidden Melachot on Shabbat
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found