Q&A: A Base for a Forbidden Item in a Secular Household
A Base for a Forbidden Item in a Secular Household
Question
Have a good week, Rabbi,
If I visit my mother on the Sabbath (she does not observe the Sabbath), and when I arrive she moves a chair that had a muktzeh item placed on it so that I can sit on it, is the chair forbidden because it is a base for a forbidden item? Seemingly, I thought there might be room to say that this Jewish law does not apply among secular people, because they do not take the prohibition of muktzeh into account. Therefore, even if they place a muktzeh item on a chair, for example, that does not mean they consciously set aside the chair itself. In Peninei Halakha this sentence appears:
“By deciding to place the money on the table, there is implicit agreement not to use the table on the Sabbath, and the table becomes muktzeh like the money on it.”
In the case of a secular person who places money on a table, there is no agreement not to use the table on the Sabbath, because they use the money on the Sabbath too.
What do you think?
Best regards,
Answer
As far as I know, the law of muktzeh does not depend on the view of a particular individual. A person’s view serves as a basis for determining the general laws of muktzeh (what a reasonable person sets aside mentally and what he does not). Therefore, I do not think that a consideration relating to a specific person can change the laws of muktzeh.
I would only note that if the muktzeh item was placed there on the Sabbath itself, the base is muktzeh only as long as the item is resting on it. If someone removed it, the base becomes permitted. Only if it was resting on it during twilight does the rule of “since it was set aside then, it remains set aside for the entire Sabbath” apply.