Transferring Objects from the Home to Places Outside the Home on Shabbat

Transferring Objects from the Home to Places Outside the Home on Shabbat

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This article will address several common questions that arise when a person lives in a place without an eruv: in what ways may he take an object from his home outside? Is it permitted to throw an item to a neighbor from window to window or from balcony to balcony on the other side of the street? The laws of using a protrusion of a building, for example placing an object on top of the external air-conditioner unit attached to the building. Is it permitted to transfer an object from the house to a protruding window grille located outside the window?

Transferring Items from Balcony to Balcony on Shabbat

Question: We have a balcony in our building, and opposite us there is a friend’s balcony, and there is no eruv in the street. Is it permitted to throw an item from balcony to balcony on Shabbat?

Answer: There are two issues in this case: a. whether an eruv chatzerot is required [the procedure for making it requires a separate article]. b. whether there is a rabbinic prohibition against throwing objects in this case, as we will explain.

Is an Eruv Chatzerot Required?

When there are two balconies in two different buildings belonging to two different people, on a street where there is no eruv and it is forbidden to carry in the street, and a street passes between them below the building, and they wish to throw an object from one balcony to the other, an eruv chatzerot must be made between them, and only if they made an eruv chatzerot is it possible. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 353, se’if 1). The Mishnah Berurah writes (Biur Halachah, siman 353, se’if 1, s.v. mutar) that it is not possible to make an eruv unless it is possible to transfer objects from one place to the other without throwing. Therefore, only in a case where there is a bridge or an underground passage connecting the buildings does it pertain to make an eruv between them.

However, if both balconies belong to one person, for example, when both are dormitory buildings belonging to the yeshivah administration, and the like, there is no need at all to make an eruv chatzerot.

Is It Permitted to Throw When There Is No Eruv Problem?

However, even in a case where there is no eruv problem, such as when both balconies belong to one person, or there is a bridge or underground passage and they made an eruv, the Sages nevertheless prohibited throwing unless one of the following conditions is met:

1. Both balconies are at the same height, in which case one can easily throw from balcony to balcony without the item falling into the street.
2. The balconies are not at the same height, but the object is breakable, and if it falls into the street it will break; therefore there is no concern that the person will go and pick it up from the street.
3. The street passing below is not a reshut harabim but only a karmelit, and the prohibition of carrying there is only rabbinic.

In any case where one of the above conditions exists, it is permitted to throw. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 353, se’if 1).  However, even when one of the three above conditions exists, the permission applies only if the throwing is above 10 tefachim [approximately one meter] from the height of the street; but if he is in a courtyard and throws it to the courtyard opposite with a low throw below the height of one meter, via the street, the matter is forbidden. (Mishnah Berurah, siman 353, se’if katan 1; Biur Halachah, se’if 1, s.v. bechol).

Using the Surface Above an Air Conditioner Attached to the Outside of a Building on Shabbat

Question: There is no eruv in our city, and sometimes we want to take something out of the house, so we take it out through the window and place it on top of the air conditioner [the external unit located outside the apartment]. Is this permitted on Shabbat?

[In this article we have brought a common contemporary example of an air conditioner on the outside of a building, but the same applies to any protrusion or shelf attached to the building from the outside].

Answer: If the air conditioner belongs to you, it is at a height of more than one meter [10 tefachim] above the street, and there is no other protrusion extending from the building that belongs to another neighbor, it is permitted (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 353, se’if 2).

If the air conditioner is at a height of less than one meter above the street, and the air conditioner is adjacent to the street and there is no courtyard, it is forbidden to place items on it. (Mishnah Berurah, siman 353, se’if katan 8).

If the air conditioner belongs to the neighbor and not to you, and you did not make an eruv chatzerot with the owner of the air conditioner, it is forbidden to transfer from the window to the air conditioner or vice versa.

When There Are Several Protrusions from the External Wall of the Building Belonging to Several Neighbors

If there is more than one air conditioner or a planter and the like attached to the building externally, and they belong to two different people who did not make an eruv, there is a problem with carrying, since all the protrusions extending from the wall of the building are considered one domain, and it is necessary to make an eruv between them. Regarding this, the following laws were stated:

1. If there are not two protrusions that are 4 tefachim wide [32–40 cm], everything is permitted.
2. However, if there is one protrusion that is 4 tefachim wide, and above it there is an air conditioner adjacent to a window that does not itself have a width of 4 tefachim, but together with the windowsill it has 4 tefachim, and it is longer than the window, it is permitted to use the upper one only opposite the window; however, the length of the air conditioner on the sides of the window may not be used.
3. If the upper protrusion does not have a width of 4 tefachim [32–40 cm], it is permitted to use it.
4. If the objects were on the air conditioners or other protrusions when Shabbat began, in any case it is permitted to transfer from one air conditioner to another (Mishnah Berurah, siman 353, se’if katan 11).
5. The later authorities disagree as to whether only the upper protrusion is forbidden, or whether the lowest protrusion in the wall of the building is also forbidden. (Mishnah Berurah, siman 353, se’if katan 12).
6. If the air conditioner is above a reshut harabim, it is permitted to transfer to the air conditioner or take from it only breakable utensils, which, if they fall into the street, will break, and there is no concern that he will pick them up from the street and bring them into his home if the object falls. But if the street below is a karmelit, and all the more so if the air conditioner is above a courtyard, there is no prohibition. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 353, se’if 3).
7. It is permitted to transfer from the window to the roof of the house, even though the window is adjacent to a reshut harabim, the surface is narrow, and the utensil is not breakable, because usually the roof is wide and there is no concern that it will break; therefore the Sages did not decree, and they permitted even with a narrow roof. (Rema, Orach Chaim, siman 353, se’if 3; Biur Halachah, s.v. vedavka).

Using a Protruding Window Grille on Shabbat

However, all these laws were stated regarding protrusions without partitions. But if there is a protruding window grille, since there are bars around the protrusion and there are not 3 tefachim [24–30 cm] between one bar and the next, the protruding grille is considered part of the house in every respect, and there is no problem with it at all.

Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim, siman 353).