[Avodah] magnets on shabbat

[Akiva Miller]

R' Eli Turkel asked:

> Shmirat Shabbat prohibits putting or removing magnets from
> a refrigerator (if they will be there for a long time) on
> shabbat
>
> I don't really understand the connection to sewing (tofer)
> and in my experience people are not careful. Any opinions?

>From what I can tell, the Shmirat Shabbat says this halacha in 23:46 of the 5770 edition. I cannot find it in the 5739 edition.

It is important to note that he forbids this *only* if the magnet will be there for a long time. Also note that in footnote 145, he refers to footnote 143, and the main text there refers to the stricter of two opinions cited in 24:30, which focuses on binyan and ohel - building and tents.

In other words, he does *not* relate magnets to the melacha of tofer, but to the melacha of boneh.

(Some people might find it difficult to see this a an act of binyan, given that there are no screws or nails involved, so I'd just like to mention another somewhat surprising case which the Shmirat Shabbat considers to be a problem of binyan: An electric light bulb may be removed from its socket on Shabbos provided that three conditions are met: (1) that the electricity to the bulb is currently off, obviously; (2) that he does it with a shinui, because the bulb is muktzeh; and (3) that the bulb is one which is removed from and replaced in its socket from time to time, because if the bulb normally stays there for long periods of time, then removing it or replacing it would be a problem of binyan and stirah. This is found in the 5739 edition at 13:29, but in the 5770 edition (13:34) he simply says not to remove the bulb, "because in general it does remain in the lamp for a long time" and is therefore a problem of binyan and stirah.)

Akiva Miller


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