DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 954 KB)
Shabbat – Practicing Penmanship in the Air; Observing a Mechanic

As we know, it is forbidden to write letters on Shabbat. However, the Terumat Ha’deshen (Rav Yisrael Isserlin, 1390-1460), in Siman 63, rules that this prohibition applies only to actual writing; it is permissible to simulate the act of writing with one’s finger or with an item that is not Mukseh. For example, if a person wants to practice his penmanship on Shabbat, he may take an object – such as the pointer for the Sefer Torah – and make the motions in the air, or even on a surface, if no marks are left, to practice writing. The Terumat Ha’deshen writes that as long as no marks or traces are created by one’s motions, this is entirely permissible on Shabbat.

The Maharam Provincia (1:48) addresses the question of whether one may observe a non-Jew performing a task forbidden on Shabbat in order to learn how to perform that task. A contemporary example would be a person who is walking on Shabbat and sees a mechanic working on a car. Would he be allowed to watch the mechanic so he can learn how to do the job that is being done? The Maharam Provincia rules that although it is forbidden to speak about commercial and professional matters on Shabbat, it is permissible to think about such matters, and therefore one would be allowed to observe a workman to learn how to do the work. Accordingly, Hacham Ovadia rules (Laws of Shabbat, vol. 5, p. 152; listen to audio recording for precise citation) that one may observe a non-Jewish mechanic doing his work on Shabbat in order to learn the work. It must be emphasized, however, that this applies only in a case where one chances upon a mechanic; one certainly should not knowingly go to a mechanic on Shabbat to watch him work.

Summary: It is permissible on Shabbat to practice one’s penmanship by simulating the act of writing with a finger or non-Mikseh item in the air, or even on a surface as long as this does not leave marks. If one happens to see a non-Jewish mechanic working on Shabbat, he may stop to observe the work so he can learn how to perform that task.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Yom Kippur- Halachot of the Final Meal Before Yom Kippur; Using Pills to Alleviate the Effects of Fasting
Yom Kippur – Candle Lighting
Laws and Customs of Kapparot
Must Pregnant Women Fast on Yom Kippur?
Yom Kippur – Wearing Gold Jewelry
Yom Kippur – Guidelines for Ill Patients Who Need to Eat
Ereb Yom Kippur – Immersing in a Mikveh; Wearing Gold Jewelry; Preparing the Home
Yom Kippur – Customs Relevant to the Musaf Prayer
Should Children Fast on Yom Kippur?
Yom Kippur- How Much Should a Sick Person Eat on Yom Kippur?
Yom Kippur: Lighting Candles
The Misva to Eat on Ereb Yom Kippur
Learning Torah on Yom Kippur Night
Yom Kippur – Guidelines for One Who Needs to Drink
May the Kohanim Wash Their Hands for Birkat Kohanim on Yom Kippur?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found