Laws of Zmanim - Halachic Time Parameters - Cont.
Topic: מיגו דאיתקצאי בין השמשות. We discussed in the last two weeks the rule of migu deizkatzai - whatever has a muktza status during Bein Hashmoshos stays that way the whole Shabbos, even after the reason of the muktza is gone. There are exceptions to this rule and some of them are quite common.
Natural and Man-Made Muktza. Muktza items can be grouped (in one aspect of muktza groupings) into two categories. One is items that are muktza because of a human act or designation. This includes a candlestick which became muktza because the owner lit it, or a מילה knife that was designated by the owner for it’s specialty purpose. Second is items that are muktza naturally because they were never fit for usage, such as a crude rock or unripe fruit. The rule of מיגו only applies to the first category but not to the second (1). Many people purchase unripe bananas and let them ripen in the house to enjoy at the peak of their ripening. If at the beginning of Shabbos they were really unripe (and therefore muktza), and became ripe on Shabbos due to the bright sunshine of the day, they are permitted to eat. This is because they were never made muktza by any human act or designation but rather because they were just never fit for usage.
Topic: גומרו בידי אדם - Definitely Redeemable From its Cause of Muktza. Another exception to the rule of מיגו is when during Bein Hashmoshos the owner knows with certainty that the cause of the muktza will end by itself or by some human intervention that he plans to do (2). Therefore, if one has a pot of boiling hot food on the fire during Bein Hashmoshos which, in its present state is not edible, it is not muktza. Since he can remove it at any given time, and it will soon cool down enough to be edible, it is not muktza. Similarly, if one has a raw (or slightly cooked but not edible) food on the blech during Bein Hashmoshos going into Shabbos (which is permitted for Ashkenazim) (3), it is not muktza. The fact that he can just leave it there knowing with full certainty that it will cook and become edible during Shabbos makes it non-muktza. The same holds true for Yom Tov with a raw food even when it is not on the fire. Since he is able to cook it on Yom Tov, it is not muktza.
Wet Laundry: Introduction. Among the various types of muktza is a category that the Sages prohibited because moving it might cause a person to do a forbidden work. For example, a detached handle is muktza because if one handles it he might attach it firmly which is prohibited. Similarly, if laundry is wet enough to make something else wet, it may not be handled because it might bring him to wring out the garment (4). If it was hanging on an indoor clothes line during Bein Hashmoshos and will surely dry out during Shabbos, it may be handled when it dries. If it was on an outdoor line, where the weather conditions are not under his control, it remains muktza even if it does dry. If a person didn’t think about them and just left them around they remain muktza even they happed to have dried (5).
(1) משנה ברורה שיח:ח (2) מס' ביצה כו: (3) רמ"א רנג:ג (4) שם שא:מו (5) תשובה מאת הגמו"ר משה פיינשטיין זצ"ל בסוף ספר טלטולי שבת
Weekly Chizuk # 84
One way to be מחזק one’s kavana in bentching is to take a few seconds beforehand to think about the many places around the globe where the food on one’s table comes from: Oranges from Florida, Potatoes from Idaho, Kiwis from New Zealand, etc. One can also contemplate the farmers, processors, deliverers, storekeepers, etc. who help bring the food to our tables. This will upgrade the quality of the whole bentching.