Commentary for Shabbat 17:1

כל הכלים – that have doors.

Introduction There are certain objects which it is forbidden to carry or move on Shabbat and they are called in Hebrew, “muktzeh” which literally means “set aside.” There are several reasons why the rabbis prohibited carrying certain types of vessels on Shabbat, but the most basic reason is to preserve the character of Shabbat as distinct from all other days. In other words, even though certain activities may be technically permitted, they are opposed to the “spirit” of Shabbat, and hence the sages did all that they could to keep a person away from such activities or even from the appearance of performing such activities. Another reason is that if one is allowed to touch a vessel which is used to perform prohibited work, one might come to perform the work itself. As a general rule, if a vessel is used for activities which are permitted on Shabbat, then one can carry the vessel on Shabbat. An example of such a vessel would be a cup or a plate. If the vessel is used for things prohibited on Shabbat, then it is still permissible to carry the vessel as long as the intention is not to use it to perform a prohibited labor. It can be carried to perform a permitted labor and it also may be carried because the person simply doesn’t want it to be where it currently is. This chapter will teach the details of the laws of muktzeh. A note on translation: the Hebrew word for vessel is “keli.” This word can be used to refer to things that we commonly call utensils, and it can also refer to clothes. It would include most anything made by people with the exception of things attached to the ground such as homes. The article also must be used as an instrument to do something else a book or a document is not a “keli.”

ניטלים בשבת ודלתותיהן עמהן – and even though the doors were detached from the utensils prior to the Sabbath, they are taken on the Sabbath with the utensils.

All utensils may be carried on Shabbat and their doors with them, even if they became detached on Shabbat, for they are not like the doors of a house, which are not set aside for use. All vessels that have doors and which are used for permitted activities on Shabbat, may be carried with their doors. An example would be a trunk which has a door on its top. Furthermore, one may carry the doors on Shabbat even if the doors become detached from their vessels. This is true even if the doors became detached before Shabbat. The mishnah compares these doors with those of a house. House doors may not be carried on Shabbat because they are not normally carried around; rather they are attached to the house which is attached to the ground. Something may be carried only if it is an item that is normally carried. This is true with regard to doors of a vessel which are in normal situations carried with as part of their vessels.

ואינן דומין לדלתות הבית – and even if they were detached on the Sabbath, they are not taken because the doors of the house are not fashioned as such, that is to say, they were not made to be carried.