We have today and half of tomorrow left in Chapter Three and the laws of Muktzeh. Today, we largely focus on candelabra’s and lamps, but for different reasons. For candelabra’s, we are primarily concerned if they are one piece or composed of multiple pieces. If a candelabra comes apart into multiple pieces, then some Rabbis treat it differently than a small single-piece assembly candelabra. If we move the multi-piece candelabra, it might break if we drop it. Reassembling the sections would violate the forbidden labor of “striking the final hammer blow”. To avoid that possibility, some Rabbis prohibited moving sectional candelabras, other candelabras with grooves (as people might suspect they were sectional) and large candelabras in general.

Lamps are different than candelabras. All Rabbis prohibit moving a lit lamp on Shabbat. If we move the lamp while it is burning, the flame may be extinguished, which would be a prohibited labor. Some Rabbis prohibit moving a lamp that was lit before Shabbat, but goes out on Shabbat. In their view, the lamp was Muktzeh because it was burning when Shabbat began and if it was Muktzeh before Shabbat began, it stays Muktzeh. Rabbi Shimon does not subscribe to this belief. He believes that if the lamp goes out, it is no longer Muktzeh and we can move it.

We get a lot of examples of Rabbis who followed one opinion or another. The variety of practice illustrates the difficulty of applying the rules in actual circumstances. I am still wondering how Shabbat-observant Jews today can know what is and what is not Muktzeh.

Even Rabbi Shimon, who takes the most liberal view of Muktzeh, concedes that we cannot move a lit lamp on Shabbat. However, why does he hold this position? In other cases, Rabbi Shimon allows a permitted act, even if a prohibited act is a byproduct. We previously learned that Rabbi Shimon allows us to drag a bench across the ground, even though a trench (which is prohibited) may result. We only need be careful that we did not intend a trench. Why can I not move a lit lamp if I do not intend for the flame to go out? As of the end of today’s Daf, we have not reached any satisfactory answer.

One final tidbit from today’s Daf. We learn that if we read a Mishnah and their is an anonymous position and a position attributed to a specific Rabbi, the anonymous position is the legally binding ruling. I am not sure if there are exceptions to this rule (although, for the Talmud, most rules have lots of exceptions). I am also not sure why we adopt this rule. I hope that we will learn more about it in the future.