Ball And Bat Substitutes
‘Cut Palm Branches’
(Shabbos 50a)
Children find amusement in simple, valueless objects such as cardboard boxes, popsicle sticks, and colored pebbles – articles that have no value to an adult. Are these objects muktzeh on Shabbos?
They usually are since they are not designated (muchan) for any Shabbos use. Our sugya, though, discusses how a person can prepare them for Shabbos use, thus allowing them to be handled on Shabbos.
For example, palm branches are muktzeh. But Rabban Shimon b. Gamaliel states that if a person appropriates them for a permitted use – e.g., to be sat upon – the prohibition of muktzeh falls away; the halacha follows Rabban Shimon b. Gamaliel.
The Rishonim note that the Gemara elsewhere (Shabbos 142b) states that a rock is muktzeh even if it’s used to cover a barrel. (Even the barrel becomes muktzeh since it serves as a base for the rock.) But why is the rock muktzeh if it was designated for a permitted use? Why isn’t it like palm branches that are designated to be used as seats?
The Rishonim offer two answers. The Rashba (Teshuvos 5:225) explains that preparing muktzeh objects is only effective if one prepares them for permanent use. Since the palm branches were designated for continuous use, they became muchan, like any other utensil, and they lost their muktzeh status. The rock, however, was only designated to serve as a cover for one Shabbos. Therefore, it retained its muktzeh status.
The Ran (23) writes that preparing on object for one-time use is sufficient to remove the muktzeh designation. However, one must prepare it for a function for which it is commonly used. In the time of the Gemara, it was common to use palm branches for seats, but it was uncommon to use a rock for a barrel cover.
The Mechaber (Orach Chayim 308:22) cites both opinions, and the Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 97) rules that one may rely on the Ran when necessary.
The Intent of a Child
Can a child designate a muktzeh item for a permitted use on Shabbos? Or must an adult do it? For example, does a particular stick or rock become not muktzeh if the child decides before Shabbos that he wants to use it as a toy?
Tosafos Shabbos (end of introduction to 308) rules that a child’s thoughts are not halachically effective, but his deeds are (see Pri Megadim, general introduction to Hilchos Yom Tov 2:1:6). Thus, a child must perform a physical action – such as coloring or shaping – to prepare a rock for Shabbos use. His mere intention to use it is insufficient.
Some suggest that a child need not perform an act that changes the shape or outward appearance of rocks or sticks. The simple act of gathering them together is sufficient to designate them as toys (see Halachah Aruchah p. 118). Of course, a parent may also designate the items as toys on behalf of his son with mere thought (see Nachalas Yisrael 15:7).
The Mechaber’s Opinion of Games on Shabbos
The Mechaber (Orach Chayim, ibid., 308:45) rules that an object designated for play remains muktzeh. “It is forbidden to play with a ball on Shabbos and Yom Tov,” he writes. The Rema, on the other hand, rules that we may follow those who are lenient in this matter.
The Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 157) explains that in the Mechaber’s view, the prohibition of muktzeh is only lifted if a person prepares an item for a significant function, not merely for playing. Designating rocks and sticks as toys is therefore ineffective to remove their muktzeh status.
Sephardim follow the Mechaber’s opinion and generally instruct their children not to play with muktzeh objects that have been designated for Shabbos use as toys. Ashkenazim must inquire whether a child (or adult) has performed any specific act to prepare the object for play. If he has, the object is no longer muktzeh (Halacha Aruchah, ibid 114).
It is important to note that when the Mechaber rules that balls are muktzeh, he means only muktzeh objects that were designated to be used as balls. Toy balls that were originally manufactured and sold as toys are not muktzeh even according to the Mechaber.