[Avodah] Mutzkeh: Sticks, Stones, and Pets

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Zev Sero wrote:
> But *why* are stones and animals muktzeh?  Because they have
> no legitimate use.  These stones and animals do have a use,
> if you call playing with them a use (and if you don't then
> why aren't the checkers muktzeh too?).  So it shouldn't be
> enough to say "they remain stones and animals".

Nope. Stones have many legitimate uses, depending on size, shape, and such. Orach Chayim 308:22 suggests a chair, barrel cover, doorstop, and nutcracker, as legitimate uses of a stone.

To understand the reason why stones are muktzeh, one must remember the principle on which muktzeh was based: Everything handled on Shabbos must be prepared for Shabbos in advance. This includes, for example, any object which was manufactured before Shabbos and is used for permissible activities on Shabbos. It also includes natural objects which - prior to Shabbos - were designated for a Shabbos purpose. It does *not* include natural objects which were *not* prepared for Shabbos in advance: eitzim v'avanim.

(Some sources for the above include the third comment of Torah Temimah on Shemos 16:5, and Rabbi Yisroel Pinchos Bodner's "Halachos of Muktza", pages 10 and 77.)

Akiva Miller
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