We continue our discussion of Muktzeh, items that are not normally used on Shabbat. Perhaps in my haste to catch up to the cycle today, I have read too many pages at once. Perhaps I lack the historical imagination to really understand life in ancient times. Whatever the reason, I can only charitably describe the level of detail in today’s Daf as sublime. We are considering what we can do with a Non-Muktzeh item to protect a Muktzeh item on Shabbat. The examples we discuss include:

• placing a vessel under a leaking barrel of wine that has not yet been tithed;
• placing a vessel under a lamp to catch falling sparks;
• placing a bowl over a lamp or prevent overhead beams from catching fire;
• supporting a sagging roof beam with a bench or the sides of a bed;
• placing a vessel under a leaking roof; and
• placing a basket next to a tree to allow young birds to climb to their nest.

We have a long discussion about how we can use bee hives and how we can cover them depending on what season of the year in which we find ourselves. We do learn pointed stones are not Muktzeh by special Rabbinical decree. Apparently, pointed stones were used as a form of toilet paper and the Rabbis permitted using them for this purpose on Shabbat and for carrying a mat to cover them.

The debate has two polar opposites as schools of thought. Rabbi Yehudah takes a very broad view of Muktzeh. Items which in the normal course of events are not going to be used on Shabbat are Muktzeh. Rabbi Shimon is much more lenient. If an item has a permitted use, even if we wouldn’t normally expect to use it on Shabbat, then we can use it for its permitted use. This debate will play out over the next several Dafs.

We end with the very tricky question of what to do with a corpse on Shabbat. In any interpretation, a corpse is Muktzeh. We can face difficulties if a corpse is in the sun on Shabbat (maybe your uncle has a heart attack while taking an afternoon stroll). Some Rabbis hold, we can set up a very temporary shade to protect the corpse, but only if the shade also protects living people. The procedure is to have two people sit on the ground on opposite sides of the corpse. When they get hot, they each bring out a bed and sit upon it. If they are still hot, they can bring out a mat and stretch it between them. They can then use the beds to support the mat. This only works if the mat is held up before it is supported. If you support it first, that would obviously be a prohibited labor. At that point, the temporary shade has been constructed for the living. They can now leave with the corpse still shaded. Alternatively, they can roll (but not lift) the corpse from bed to bed until they reach the shade. If those methods don’t work, you can put a loaf of bread or an infant on the corpse and then use the corpse to carry the non-Muktzeh item to the shade.