660. Permitted Forms of Tying

Shabbos 10:3

A woman may tie her cloak even if it has two openings. She may tie her hairnet even if it fits loosely on her head. One may tie the shoe straps and sandal straps of a kind that one ties around the foot when putting them on. One may tie pouches of wine or oil even if they are tied at two ends. One may tie a pot of meat even if the meat can be removed without untying the knot. A bucket may be tied using a linen cord, a belt, or other such things, but not with a regular rope. A rope may be tied in front of an animal or to its leg in order to keep it from leaving even if this requires one to tie two knots. A rope that is tied to a cow may be tied to its trough, and a rope tied to a trough may be tied to a cow. One may not, however, take a rope from the house and tie it to both the cow and the trough. If one happens to have a weaver's rope, which a person is permitted to carry, he may bring it and tie it to both the cow and the trough. All of these knots may be tied on Shabbos because none of them require professional skill, nor are they intended to remain permanently. Quite the opposite: a person frequently ties and unties such knots, therefore they may be tied without hesitation. One may untie the openings on baskets of dates or of dried figs, break or cut the cord, then take and eat the produce.

Shabbos 10:4

Anything that may be used as animal feed may also be used for tying on Shabbos. Therefore, if a person's shoe strap broke in a carmelis (the quasi-public domain), one may take a fresh reed that is fit for feeding an animal and tie it around the shoe. If a shoe strap slips out of place, or if one's foot slips out of his shoe, he may return the strap to its proper place as long as he does not tie a knot (because the knot attaching the strap to the shoe is of a type intended to remain permanently).