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- Shabbat and Holidays
- Actions and Appliances on Shabbat
- Muktze
Question
I got a cart I put between my stove and my refrigerator. The cart is inserted longways. It is on wheels. It has a top and below there are two shelves. On top of the cart I have a Keurig, Espresso Machine and Hot Water Urn I use for shabbos. On shelves of the cart I have mugs and cups to serve coffee and tea. plastic spoons. I also have instant coffee, boxes of tea, sweetener, sugar etc. My question is am I allowed to pull out the cart on shabbos to get to the items in the back of the shelves, tea, instant coffee, spoons, cups, mugs etc. I make tea using a kli shelishi. Because there are muktzah items on the top of the cart is the cart a bosis and cant be moved or since there are many items I can use for Shabbos, I am allowed to move it.
Answer
ב"ה
Shalom and Mo'adim Lesimcha
I'm sorry, I know this was not question but our Rabbis in the Gemara חולין דף י. have a set a rule of חמירא סכנתא מאיסורא..
Meaning that a danger is more severe than a prohibition. I say this, because you are describing a situation in which a hot water urn is on a cart, and in addition you must somehow go around it to get to your tea or coffee. This is a clear and present danger. My wife who works in a hospital has seen too many cases of severe scalding from water urns on Shabbat, which could have been avoided. Obviously, I am not familiar with your kitchen and how much room you have but a solution should be found for the urn so that, G-d forbid , no accidents occur.
Having said that, there are two factors to be taken into account in regard to Mukzteh. One is that מוקצה מחמת איסור meaning muktzeh which is because the object does something forbidden on Shabbat. Such as a pen or scissors or in your case an urn. These things may be moved on Shabbat when you need the space they are occupying. As I said before, I would strongly recommend not to move the urn of Shabbat because of safety concerns.
Another factor is the issue of the cart being a basis for things which are muktzeh like the urn and your coffee machine. However, since you have several significant items such as cups, coffee , and sugar which were on the cart before Shabbat and are also needed on Shabbat, the cart is no longer considered a basis for muktzeh and it may be moved on Shabbat with the muktzeh and non- muktzeh items on it.
However, as I previously said I strongly suggest finding a safer place for your urn.
All the best






