If a person purchases a new pair of shoes, is it permissible for him to lace them – meaning, to bring the laces through the strings of the shoes – on Shabbat? For that matter, if a person has an old shoe and wants to put new laces in the shoes, may he string the new laces on Shabbat?
Hacham Ben Sion Abba Shaul (Israel, 1923-1998) addresses this question in his work Or Le’sion, where he cites a comment from the Mishna Berura (commentary by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, 1839-1933) forbidding lacing shoes on Shabbat. (The Mishna Berura cites this ruling from the Elya Rabba.) The Mishna Berura classifies lacing shoes as "Metaken" ("fixing," or rendering something usable), which is included among the activities forbidden on Shabbat. It is not entirely clear whether this means that one "fixes" the shoes in that they now become usable, or that one "fixes" the laces in the sense of transforming them into functional items. In any event, Hacham Ben Sion accepts this ruling of the Mishna Berura and maintains that one may not lace shoes on Shabbat.
Hacham Ovadia Yosef, however, in his work Yabia Omer (vol. 9), cites the Be’er Moshe (work of responsa by Rabbi Moshe Stern of Debereczyn) as claiming that this ruling does not apply nowadays, when lacing shoes is a simple task. Shoes today are purchased with the holes for laces already in place, thus reducing the effort involved in lacing shoes to a minimum. Since this is such a simple task that requires so little effort, it cannot be considered "Metaken" with respect to the Shabbat prohibitions. As such, according to the view of the Be’er Moshe, it is entirely permissible to lace shoes on Shabbat. This applies to both new and old shoes. Hacham Ovadia accepts this opinion, and this is indeed the final Halacha.
Summary: One may lace shoes on Shabbat, meaning, he may place the laces through the holes of his shoes. This applies to both old and new shoes.
