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...
The Severity Of Transgressing Shabbat In Public
Is It Permissible To Create A Private Domain Using A Wall of People
How To Remove A Garment Stain On Shabbat
Is A Shofar Considered Muktze On Shabbat, and On Yom Tov- The Concepts of Keli SheMilachto LeIsur, LiTzorech Gufo, and LiTzorech Mikomo
Shaking The Water Out & Drying A Rain Coat On Shabbat
Is It Permissible To Put Raw Mint Leaves Into A Keli Sheni on Shabbat
Is It Permissible To Use A Crock Pot On Shabbat
Is It Permissible To Water Flowers or Open A Window Near A Plant On Shabbat
Is It Permissible To Add Hot Water From An Urn on Shabbat To A Pot Of Hamin On The Blech
Is It Permissible To Put Water Into A Warming Urn Right Before Shabbat Begins
Does Placing A Hot Pot On To A Wet Counter Bring A Transgression Of Cooking on Shabbat
Oil Versus Candle For Shabbat Lighting
Placing Rock Salt on Shabbat
Is It Permissible To Dip Vessels In A Mikveh on Shabbat
Is It Permissible To Use Insect Killing Spray on Shabbat
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found