muktzah

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Pronunciations

muktzah (MOOK-tzuh) listen

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Definitions

  • adj. (of an object) Forbidden to handle on the Sabbath and on certain holidays (generally because the object's primary purpose involves actions considered work and forbidden on those days).

Example Sentences

  • "Do you know if umbrellas are muktzah?"

  • "Tali, don't touch the dollhouse- you know it's muktza."

  • "Leave the radio where it is. It's muktseh." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew

Etymology

  • מוקצה

      • Who Uses This

      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)

      Regions

      • North America
      • Australia / New Zealand
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      muktza, muktsa, muktsah, muktzeh, muktze, muktseh, muktse

Notes

  • It includes but is not limited to an object whose primary purpose is work forbidden on the Sabbath, which can therefore not be handled -- for example, since writing is forbidden, a pen is muktzah. But anything else which has no proper use on the Sabbath is also deemed muktzah -- for example, a pebble.

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