can you use an umbrella on shabbat

can you use an umbrella on shabbat? Answer: The universal custom is not to use an umbrella on Shabbos, and this follows the opinion of most authorities. It is customary to avoid even carrying an umbrella that was already opened before Shabbos, and it is forbidden to do so on account of mar’is ayin. Of course, this relates to a place where there is an eruv; if there is no eruv, it would be forbidden to carry the umbrella anyway. Best wishes. Sources: Some authorities were initially lenient concerning the question of using an umbrella, equating it to the case of a folding chair which is mentioned by the Gemara. The Gemara rules that one may open such a chair on Shabbat, even though he creates a “tent” over the area underneath the chair, because the chair is a single piece that requires no assembly, and one merely pulls the seat down to open the chair. This rationale can be applied to an umbrella, too, since opening an umbrella entails merely extending it outward, and not any kind of assembly or construction. For this reason, the Chasam Sofer (Orach Chaim 72) was lenient on the matter of using an umbrella on Shabbos. Other authorities, however, and first and foremost the Noda Biyhuda (Orach Chaim 1:30), distinguished between the case of a folding chair and that of umbrellas. The difference is that a chair is not not opened for the purpose of using the seat as an “ohel” to protect from the elements. An umbrella, by contrast, is intended for the specific purpose of protecting one from the rain or sun, and therefore indeed constitutes an “ohel,” which is forbidden to construct on Shabbos. Some suggest additional reasons for stringency (see Chazon Ish, Orach Chain 52:6). Due to concern for mar’is ayin, it is also forbidden to carry an open umbrella on Shabbos (see Shemiras Shabbos Ke-hilchasa 24:15, note 53). It is possible to thing of a umbrella that will certainly be permitted – if the top of the umbrella is made so that there is already a “tent” (of at least a tefach), so that there won’t be a problem of opening it, and the umbrella is made so that it is clearly distinct from normal umbrellas and is set aside for Shabbos. Nobody, as of yet, has raised the gauntlet.