Making an Item Unusable Over Shabbos

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Three quick things to know: 

1] Based upon the results of a recent survey of Bais Yaakov students, it is one of the least known prohibitions of Shabbos – making a vessel or item unusable or unmovable over Shabbos. 

2] Sax Fifth Avenue sells a $1400 soup bowl.

3] Radiators have heated our homes for over one hundred years.  And they outlast all of the other elements of the heating system too.  They were originally installed along with the old coal boilers – the kind that needed an adjacent coal room where zeidy used to shovel that coal into the boiler from a whole room full of coal that is now part of everyone’s seforim library. The radiators have outlasted the coal boilers (and two or three other boilers in most cases) of homes that are over a century old.  Most younger readers, however, enjoy sitting on the covers of these radiators as seat-warmers on a cold winter day or evening.

These radiators are durable.  They are very warm and comfortable as well. Indeed, many prefer their heat to the forced air systems because they don’t remove moisture from the air like the forced air duct systems do.  The problem is that many of them, well, eventually leak.

BACK TO THE LEAST KNOWN HALACHA

Now, let’s get back to the least-known halacha.  We can call the little known halacha Em-Kaye-Em – MKM.  MKM stands for “mevatel kli m’haichano” which can be translated to mean “abnegating a vessel from its state of preparedness.”

The Gemorah in Shabbos (43a and 154b) clearly states that it is forbidden on Shabbos to purposefully perform an act that would make a vessel or item no longer fit for use on Shabbos.

6 REASONS FOR THE PROHIBITION

Interestingly enough, neither the Mishna nor the Gemorah explains what the reason behind the prohibition actually is.

• Rashi on Shabbos 43a explains that it is forbidden because originally it was permitted to use and now he is making it Muktzeh. Rav Ovadyah Bartenurah adds (citing the Ran on the Rif Baitza 28b) that even the opinion that does not hold of Muktzeh agrees here because the person is actively putting this vessel out of his mind for use – even before he is using it.
• Rashi on Shabbos 42b explains that the reason is because it resembles building – in that now the vessel which is under an oil lamp cannot be moved and it is as if it is attached to the ground and plastered into the ground. [There are also those who understand Rashi as because of soser – destroying.
• A sefer entitled, “Hegyon Libi” written by Rabbi Levi Basch explains Rashi’s position in a fascinating manner. He understands Rashi as holding that the real reason for Rashi is that Chazal did not wish for people to engage in non-Shabbos-dike activity. However, they wished to couch it in an actual prohibition, and that is why they likened it to Boneh – building.
• The Rambam (Hilchos Shabbos 25:23) understands the prohibition as not being Boneh – but sosair – destroying. How so? The vessel, essentially, is no longer usable and this is equivalent to breaking the vessel.
• The Ritvah explains that the reason for the prohibition is on account of Kavod Shabbos. Chazal did not wish there to be less vessels available for use on Shabbos.
• The Meiri writes that MKM is actually a sub-category, a toladah, of Boneh – building, and is a Torah prohibition.

APPLICATION TO STEAM RADIATORS

Now let’s get back to the second and third thing to know.  What if someone placed the Sax Fifth Avenue soup bowl under the radiator leak? (actually, we can also be discussing any shallow cereal bowl or soup bowl).  The problem with that is that the water that is leaking out of the steam radiator is Muktzeh – and that renders the food bowl muktzeh as well.  It would seem that according to some of the reasons mentioned above – there would be a difference between a steam radiator and a hot water radiator.  The steam radiator changes the steam into water, rendering it a possible Nolad type of Muktzeh.  The hot water radiator does not do that. 

OTHER APPLICATIONS

The classic example is to use a vessel to save dripping oil for later use.  The Mishna and Gemorah prohibit this.  Another example is to use some sort of a bowl on Shabbos to catch an egg that is dropping from a chicken about to lay one.  In terms of modern day applications, the same prohibition would apply to an air conditioning unit that leaks underneath and onto the floor of the room.

EXCEPTION WHEN DONE THROUGH A GRAMA

There is a fascinating Mishna Brurah (265:6) that describes an exception to this prohibition – and that is when it is done through a Grama.

Imagine a case where there is a dripping oil lamp above one’s table.  The Mishna Brurah cites the Maharil’s suggestion to place a vessel under the table on Friday, and then after the meal – to remove the table.  This is a case where the vessel is now collecting the dripping fuel oil but it is permitted since it involves a grama – the mere removal of something that would have prevented it from happening and not a direct action.

OTHER WORKAROUNDS

Another workaround is to designate an official specific bucket for this use.  Doing so would not make it negated from its original use.

There is a debate, however, regarding another possibility that is mentioned by the HaGaos Ashri (Siman 18).  The HaGaos Ashri writes that one may place a more important item in the vessel and that would make it usable in order to fetch the more important item.  However, Rabbi Akiva Eiger, in his comments on Shulchan Aruch 265, states that if this were true – then there would never be a situation of mevatel kli m’haichano because all a person would have to do is put an item into the vessel.

How then would we understand the Hagaos Ashri?  Perhaps the Mishna was referring to a time and plave when people did not necessarily have items that they would have hanging around that they wouldn’t mind having it soaked in oil.

CONCLUSION

The underlying point here is that this is a real yet not-so-well known aspect of Hilchos Shabbos.  It is not a chumrah – a stringency, but rather a halacha that is found in the Mishna itself and discussed in the Gemorah.  The debate as to the reasons is found in our rishonim and acharonim.

The author can be reached at [email protected]