How to Play it Safe with a Sefer

How to Play it Safe with a Sefer

A sefer is holy and may not be dishonored by using it for tashmishei chol (mundane purposes). Using a background of sefarim shelves for a photo op is not considered dishonoring the sefarim. What if someone wants to otherwise use sefarim as a prop? They scatter them on the table to impress visitors or walk down the street with a sefer under the arm to appear scholarly—when not intending to learn. Though these practices are not considered using a sefer for tashmishei chol, they may well fall under the issur (restriction) of geneivas daas (deceiving others).

However, if there is a stain on the tablecloth which the host would like to cover before guests arrive, a sefer may not be used for this purpose—it is considered tashmishei chol.

On Shabbos, when it is assur (prohibited) to move an object that has become a bosis l’davar ha’assur (a base for prohibited items, which attains muktzah status as well), it is a common practice to place a sefer on a table or tray where candles are burning before Shabbos begins so that the table/tray contain a permissible item of greater significance than the muktzah candlesticks. This way, no bosis is created, and the table/tray can thereby be moved once the candles go out. This too would be considered using a sefer for tashmishei chol, and therefore only a sefer that is being used for its intended purpose (even a brief perusal) should be placed on the table or tray.

https://halacha2go.com?number=683

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.