Does the Shofar in my Tallis Bag Make It Muktzah on Shabbos?

Q. This year the first day of Rosh Hashanah is Shabbos. If I place a shofar in my tallis bag before Shabbos, will my talis bag be muktzah on Shabbos?

A. Shulchan Aruch (OC 588:5) writes that if Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, we do not blow Shofar. The Rema adds that it is forbidden to move a shofar on Shabbos, except to use the shofar (for example, to draw water – M.B. 588:15) or to free up the space where the mukzah object is resting. If a shofar is muktzah, why may it be moved for use or space? There are different categories of muktzah, and each group has unique sets of halachos. A shofar is a kli she’melachto l’issur (a utensil whose primary function involves melacha), and for that reason it may be moved for a permissible use or to clear a space. According to this opinion, a shofar in a talis bag on Shabbos may be moved to access the talis, as this is similar to moving the object for it’s space. (Interestingly, when Rosh Hashanah is on a weekday, one may move the shofar, but it may not be used to draw water, since it is huktza limitzvoso-set aside for mitzvah use.)

However, Sefer Pischei Teshuva (308, footnote 195) quotes the view of some poskim that today a shofar is more valuable and would not be used to draw water. In the opinion of these poskim, a shofar is categorized as muktzah machmas chisaron kis (an expensive or delicate item that is generally stored in a safe location). The restrictions for this type of muktzah are more stringent than for kli she’melachto l’issur , and muktzah machmas chisaron kis may not be moved for any reason. According to this view, a shofar may not be moved at all on Shabbos, and the tallis bag would be muktzah as well because it supports a muktzah item.

Rav Shmuel Wosner zt”l (Shevet HaLevi 9:127) ruled the status of shofar remains the same even at the present time.

Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach (Shmiras Shabbos Kihilchoso, footnote 82) has a middle position. He maintains that ordinarily, a shofar is muktzah machmas chisaron kis, because it is kept in a safe place. However, during the month of Elul, when the shofar is used for practice in preparation of Rosh Hashanah, a shofar is a kli she’melachto l’issur.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.