Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 113a
Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shemuel, “One may utilize weavers’ tools on Shabbat.” They [the students] asked Rav Yehuda, “What is the ruling with regard to the upper counterweight and the lower counterweight [of the loom]?” “Yes” or “no” were loose in his mouth.
אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל כלי קיואי מותר לאלאלן בשבת בעו מיניה מרב יהודה כובד העליון וכובד התחתון מהו אין ולאו ורפיא בידיה
Some of our Sages felt that objects which could not be used on Shabbat in any permitted way should be utterly outlawed for the entire twenty-five-hour period of Shabbat. This prohibition, termed by the Talmud, Issur Tilltul (the prohibition on moving an object), eventually came to be known as muktzeh(things placed to the side). If an object has no use on Shabbat, it is in this category and, generally, may not be picked up and moved to another location on Shabbat.
However, if one can find a Shabbat use for an object, even though that use may not be the purpose for which the object was made, one may use it on Shabbat. For instance, a hammer is used for building—a Torah-prohibited act on Shabbat. Nonetheless, one may crack open walnuts with a hammer on Shabbat. But we see a caveat to this exception in the text above. Rav Yehuda makes clear that his teacher, Shemuel, allowed the use of weavers’ tools for a variety of permitted purposes on Shabbat. Rav Yehuda’s students then challenge him: what about the delicate parts of the weaver’s apparatus, such as the counterweights? If you used one of these to crack open a nut, for instance, it may become damaged and then fail to initiate the movement of the loom. Would not the weaver refrain from using the weights for any other purpose than weaving? If so, then their use must be proscribed on Shabbat, even for permitted purposes. He is unable to answer their question. In the end, our halakhic tradition sides with Rav Yehuda’s students. If jewelers would only use their hammers to make jewelry, out of fear of damaging their tools, then a jeweler’s hammer’s purpose is only the construction of jewelry—an act prohibited on Shabbat. One may not use it to crack nuts (for instance) on Shabbat, since one would not use it this way during the week.
Questions
- What are the tools we value in our lives? Would we crack a nut with a laptop computer or cell phone in a pinch?
- Can we use Shabbat as a barometer of the level of material value in our lives? How?
