Q&A: Opening a drawer on the Sabbath when it contains a muktzeh item worth more than the other items
Opening a drawer on the Sabbath when it contains a muktzeh item worth more than the other items
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I would like to ask about the laws of the Sabbath regarding muktzeh:
I have a drawer containing items that I use on the Sabbath, such as a toothbrush, facial wipes, and the like. At the same time, that same drawer also contains an electric shaver—an item that I do not use on the Sabbath—and it is worth more than all the other items in the drawer.
Is it permitted to open the drawer on the Sabbath in order to take out the toothbrush, or should one be concerned about muktzeh / about the drawer being considered a “base for a prohibited item” because the shaver is more valuable than the other objects?
Answer
There is room to be lenient for several reasons. Here are three: First, the significance of an item is determined not by its monetary value but by its importance for that particular Sabbath. That is why they permitted moving a table with candlesticks on it if loaves of bread are also placed on it. Second, the shaver is a utensil whose primary use is for a prohibited activity, so it is not clear that it renders something a base for a prohibited item (the halakhic decisors disagree about this—whether the law of a base for a prohibited item also applies to a utensil whose primary use is for a prohibited activity, or only to ordinary muktzeh. This is because it is permitted to move such an item for its own permitted use or for the use of its place, and therefore it is not considered fixed on the base. And that is also what logic suggests). Third, when the moving is for its own permitted use or for the use of its place, it seems that if the shaver itself may be moved for its own permitted use or for the use of its place, then certainly its base may be as well. The secondary item should not be more stringent than the primary one.