[Avodah] T'uM

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Richard Wolpoe wrote:
> Is a shtar chovvv [in other words an IOU or p[romissory note]
> with $10.00 face-value  really muktzeh on Shabbos? It may be
> assur to read as "shitrei hedyotos" but is it really muktzeh?
> If TODAY"S US money - no longer back by gold/silver is ONLY a
> promissory note - then it might not even be muktzeh at all

This post led me the wonder why these things (gold coins, aluminum coins, paper money, promissory notes) aren't ALL considered Muktzeh Machmas Chisaron Kis (MMCK).

>From what I see in chapter 3 of The Halachos Of Muktza by Rabbi Yisroel Pinchos Bodner, it is *not* critical for such an item to have a designated place, but it *is* critical that the item would not be used for anything other than its regular function.

If so, then I can make an argument that checks are MORE muktzah than money: Coins are used for all sorts of purposes on an ad hoc basis: Drawing circles, measuring a gris, screwdriver, and so on. Even paper money, which is manufactured to be quite sturdy, can be folded to be even stronger, and is then a handy straightedge, or used to clean one's fingernails, and so on.

In contrast, he writes on page 71 that "Important papers, with or without intrinsic value, are reserved for safekeeping by their owner and are muktza. Thus, cancelled checks, contracts, sales receipts, drivers' licences, automobile registrations, etc. are all muktza machmas chisaron kis." -- And I think it reasonable to draw a kal vachomer from "cancelled checks" to depositable checks.

Thus, while money is not MMCK and is subject only to the rules of Muktza Machmas Gufo, the promissory note which RRW asks about *is* MMCK.

Akiva Miller

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