Q&A: Muktzeh
Muktzeh
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Is it permitted to pick up a parrot or another animal on the Sabbath?
(In the Shulchan Arukh, siman 308, se'if 39, it says, "It is forbidden to move an animal, a wild animal, and a bird, etc.," and in the Mishnah Berurah it says this is because they are included in muktzeh, "since they are not fit for use." I wanted to understand why they are not fit for use. If I bought a parrot in order to pick it up and play with it, then that is its use, or at least part of its uses. In what sense is it muktzeh?
Thank you very much in advance.
Answer
It is obviously permitted to move pets. That is what they are meant for.
Discussion on Answer
It is dealing with animals that are not pets. Pets are a new phenomenon.
By the way, I just saw Tosafot on Shabbat 45b, s.v. "here," where they wrote a proof that it is forbidden even with a chick that is fit for a child to play with.
A small note: the phenomenon of keeping pet birds is not new; see Maharah Or Zaru'a and the Rosh.
Regarding pets, there are also those who forbid it (Rabbi Ovadia Yosef).
But as the Rabbi said above, one who follows the lenient practice has authorities to rely on.
But I did not understand whether the leniency applies to adults as well, or only to children.
I heard about the Maharah and the Rosh. Do you know where they can be found?
Maharah Or Zaru'a, responsum 81, and there he also cites the words of the Rosh.
[Just to note that in Job 40:29 God's rule over the Leviathan is described, and it concludes: "Will you play with it as with a bird, or will you bind it for your maidens?"]
A chick is not designated for play, only fit for it. But something designated for play—I see no reason at all to forbid it, and anyone who is stringent about this is rather puzzling. And there is no such thing as it being permitted for one person and forbidden for another. Either it is muktzeh or it is not (see the Talmudic discussion of muktzeh for the rich and for the poor).
So then what is the plain meaning of the Shulchan Arukh?