We have finished Klal 22 and are discussing a few additional points. Today, we will continue to discuss muktzah issues.
- Once an item receives a muktzah status, it cannot be moved. An item which still has potential use, such as a towel which is only partially wet, a towel which is only damp, or an item which one does not mind leaving wet, is not muktzah.
- A wet sponge is a concern of psik reisha, that inevitably one will squeeze it when picking it up.
- If a rag or sponge falls into the sink, one cannot wash their hands or wash dishes on top of it, because pouring water on top of the rag is sheriyah, which is a form of kibus. On the other hand, if the rag is soaking wet, it cannot be moved because of the gezeira that he may squeeze it, which makes it muktzah.
If the person does not mind the rag getting wet, it is not inherently muktzah (because he will necessarily squeeze it, so Chazal weren’t gozeir), but there is still the concern of a psik reisha of squeezing it. Therefore, one can pick it up in a way that does not squeeze it, such as by sliding a knife underneath it.
If the person does mind it being wet, it becomes muktzah. However, there are many opinions that hold that it is muttar to move muktzah kilachar yad, in an abnormal fashion. One suggestion is to lift it up with a fork or knife. Rav Falk writes that even though there is a machlokes whether two people moving muktzah together is a valid shinui to allow one to move muktzah, over here, Chazal allow this shinui to be used. The case brought in the Gemara is that multiple people can carry a towel back from the bathhouse. The wet towel has a muktzah status out of concern that one might squeeze it out. When there are multiple people involved, we assume they will remind each other about Shabbos and be careful. Rav Falk applies that heter to this situation. As mentioned above, there will still be a concern for the psik reisha of squeezing it out, but assuming one can avoid that issue, removing it with multiple people will be muttar.
Thus, one can move the sponge or rag a) with a shinui, to avoid muktzah, and b) in a way which avoids psik reisha of sechita.
Summary
- If an item still has potential use, such as a partially wet towel, it does not become muktzah, because one will not feel a need to squeeze it out. The gezeira doesn’t apply.
- If one minds that the item is wet, they cannot do anything with it.
- There is a second concern of psik reisha of performing sechita when moving a wet sponge or other soaked items.
- If one does not mind that the item is wet, it is not muktzah, but it is still problematic to touch it because of the inevitability of squeezing it when touching it. Therefore, if one has a way to move it such that it will not get squeezed (eg, sliding a knife under it), it is muttar to move it.
