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Shoveling Snow on Shabbos

Assuming an ERUV can someone shovel snow on Shabbos?

Answer:

Yes, it may be shoveled.

Sources:

It is questionable if snow is muktzeh, according to many opinions it is not, see Beis Yosef at end of O:C 310 with regards to rain. Even according to the opinions that it is muktzeh, this would be indirect movement [through the shovel] which would be permitted. In addition, moving muktzeh which presents a danger to people walking by, is also permitted.

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2 Comments

  1. Rabbi Ribiat forbids for a number of reasons, including tircha.

    1. The only reason I saw there was tircha, this application he brings from one obscure source who compares it to O:C 333. This is a far fetched comparison. Shoveling snow is a tzorech gadol and often involves real danger to people’s welfare, hence we should accept the simple understanding that this would be permitted. His advice to shuffle back and forth through the snow to clear a path would seem a bigger tircha and a violation of O:C 301:3.

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