Shabbat: K and L - (Keys, Knots, Laundry, Lights)

Richard B. Aiken

KEYS

Key Ring with House and Car Keys

If you keep your house key on a key ring with your car keys and you are within a private domain or an eruv, you may either:

Remove the house key (even on Shabbat), or

Carry the entire set of keys on the ring with you.

REASON: The key ring and all of the attached keys are not muktza as long as they are on the key ring with the house key.

Shabbat Key as Tie Clip or Brooch

On Shabbat, you may not carry a key by hanging it on a tie clip or brooch; it must be an integral part of the jewelry.

Key in Shabbat Belt

A Shabbat belt key should be integrated into the belt, not hanging on.

Shabbat belt: Key must be an integral part of the belt

Do not stack two keys in a Shabbat belt: put them on separate connectors in a row.

How To Open Door with Key in Shabbat Belt

SITUATION: You need to open a door with a key on a Shabbat belt in a place with no eruv.

STATUS: You may not disconnect the key from the belt, stick the key in the door, and open the door in a way that the key enters a private domain.

WHAT TO DO: You must either:

Turn the key while the key is still on the Shabbat belt, OR

Remove the key from the Shabbat belt (or take off the belt), open the lock, and then replace the key on the Shabbat belt before you open the door.

KNOTS

Permanent Knots

You may not tie permanent knots on Shabbat. A permanent knot is a knot intended to remain tied for at least 24 hours. Any strings you connect on Shabbat must be able to come undone by pulling on a single string, such as a bow.

NOTE: Since opinions differ on what constitutes a permanent knot, we do not even tie knots that are intended to be untied, such as a double figure-eight knot.

Double Bows

You may not tie a double bow on Shabbat.

LCDS/LEDS

You may not do anything on Shabbat that will cause an LED to light up.

NOTE: You may not turn on anything that generates noticeable light AND heat on Shabbat (and Jewish festivals).

You may not use any item on Shabbat that will cause an LCD or LED to form or change letters or change an LCD display.

LAUNDRY

You may not wash or hang up wet laundry on Shabbat (or Jewish festivals). The halachot for drying laundry depend on whether you use a clothesline or a dryer:

Clothesline

You may take down laundry on Shabbat only if it was dry before sunset on Friday, and only if you don't:

Transfer the laundry from one halachic domain to another (hotza'a), or

Give the impression that the laundry had been washed on Shabbat (mar'it ayin).

If laundry on a clothesline is still wet at sunset on Friday, the laundry is muktza and you may not take it down or use it during Shabbat. This is different from the case of a dryer.

REASON: On the clothesline, there is no certainty that the laundry will dry during Shabbat (it might rain, it might be cold or cloudy...), so the person cannot have in mind that it will dry during Shabbat.

Dryer

Laundry in a dryer (even if it was wet at sunset) that was turned on before sunset on Friday (or Jewish festivals) is not muktza, even if you do not intend to wear it. You may remove the dry laundry from the dryer on Shabbat as long as no light goes on.

LIGHTS

Redirecting Lighting Fixture

You may redirect a light fixture on Shabbat, but only by moving it with a stick or other object (a shinu'i), not directly with your hand.

NOTE: You may not turn the light on or off and you may not disconnect the light during Shabbat.

Moving Lighting Fixture

You may slide a lamp or other light fixture to where you need the light if it is not practical to move closer to the light, but not by using your hand directly (you must use a shinu'i such as a stick or other object).

You may not plug in the cord or remove the plug from the wall.

You may not turn the light on or off.

Shabbat: K and L - (Keys, Knots, Laundry, Lights)

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