So I know the language is a little harsh, but this is a Pg site and I just had to write this post since its been in my head for some time so bear with me. A muktza bitch is someone who is basically a Jewish shabbos goy usually of the yeshiva rebel variety.
Across the land we are learning what actually happened to yeshiva rebels of the 90s and in fact most of them have become muktza bitches, since they usually reside with at least one shomer shabbos roommate. The shomer shabbos roommate may come home from shul to find all the lights in the house on and the air conditioners off. Luckily for the shomer shabbos roommate his muktza bitch roommates know exactly what to do- its almost like the picture perfect shabbos goy- one that you don’t have to tell what to do- they just “know”, unfortunately for the shomer shabbos roommate- deriving benefit from a Jew breaking shabbos is assur- so your screwed either way.
So next time you shomer shabbos types are watching TV with your roommate muktza Bitches you may want to refrain from voicing your opinions that may cause them to change the channel.
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{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
i’ve never heard of MB before. did you make it up?
i’ve pushed carriages or carried for people who don’t use the eruv where i live. i hope that doesn’t make me a MB. it doesn’t sound too nice.
Nah my buddy has two roommates that don’t keep shabbos- he made the term up. Don’t worry your doing something that is perfectly kosher-
Hesh, when did you become a posek???? Dont want to get into a whole discussion about it, but from personal experience, for I dont carry, and some of my family members do, I asked my rabbi, and he told me its a big no-no. That’s me, and my Rabbi, and yours or Lion of Zion’s might say different. So one might refrain from giving such blanket psokim.
In reality, just for halachic knowledgs, the concept of not benefiting of a melachah (one of the 39 “workings” prohibited on shabbat) untill after shabbat, with enough time to have it accomplished after shabbat, is unique to cooking, though it is borrowed to some other melachas.
The same is with getting a goy (non-jew) to do turn on the light or AC ( or TV), although it has become an accepted practice via shteeble-rabbi’s alowing it, if one does some acutual halachic research, one will be amazed how stringent it is , and is really not permitted, accept in extreme cases. For instance, if its freezing outside and there is a young one or a sick one who might get sick, it is permissible, derech remez, (meaning subtle innuendoes, like telling the goy (non-jew), that its freezing in my apartment) but you cant really come straight out and ask him to turn it on.
It reminds me of a story, one of my buddies who became totally non-frum, was walking in williamsburgh, and someone came over to him asked him straight out if he can please come up and turn on the AC, so my buddy goes up and turns on the AC, and turns around to the host, who was standing there with his wife and older kids, and tells him in yiddish, with a heavy chasiddishe accent, “de shvis fin amirah l’aakim is ba dir gurnisht?” (“the rabinical prohibitio,n of telling a non-jew to do a melachah for you on shabbat, is by you nothing?”). The host turned a million colors, and kicked my buddy out of his apartment so fast.
Well-said, Hesh. Seriously.
And to get a picture what he looked like, my buddy has a pony tail, both arms tattooed, wearing a tank-top, shorts, and piercings in every orifice of his body. Oy, was he a good learner.
HEIMISH:
iirc you are correct that it is assur for them to ask me (though i wonder if it matters if they hold that the eruv in general is assur or if they don’t hold from it only as a personal humra) . from my perspective (since the eruv for me is mutar), there is nothing wrong with complying with their request. just for the record though, in most of the instances that i’ve acted as a shabbos goy in this matter it was for people who have no problem with the eruv but refrain from using it only because of the social realities of living in flatbush or boro park.
hemish: That is a really great story. I start giggling each time I think of how the host’s face must have looked when your friend busted out the yiddish! Hope it taught the guy a lesson!
Awesome story Heimishe, I have my own muktza bitch story except in involves non Jews.
I one time wanted to participate in an indoor bike race which was on Saturday. So I drove in the car with my buddies who carried my wallet and bike and did all the stuff required so I shouldn’t do any melocho. Even when my chain fell off my bike I had them put it back on.
The halachot re: the use of an eruv are very complex (and unfortunately) are often misused do to misunderstandings. Someone who doesn’t “hold from an eruv” should not ask or rely upon someone who does “hold.”
heimish in bp’s story reminds me of a story I heard many years ago re: Hatzoloh in Boro Park. When they started up (long after other neighborhoods, btw) the volunteers would not drive the ambulance back to the garage after a call to Maimonides Hospital. So they had an arrangement with a car service (I think on Fort Hamilton Parkway) to have one of their drivers return the ambulance to the garage. It turned out that the car service was owned by a Russian Jewish guy and all the drivers were Russian Jews. LOL
Eventually the practice stopped and they did what all other Hatazolohs do, they drive the ambulance back themselves.
Actually, today, in BP and willi, they have off duty cops who drive back all the members cars on shabbat.
LEFT BROOKLYN:
“Eventually the practice stopped and they did what all other Hatazolohs do, they drive the ambulance back themselves.”
the original practice was that hatzalah guys could not drive home after a call. but this was stopped because of piku’ah nefesh (they were not available to go on another call). it think this might be in iggerot moshe.
anyway, there is a story (in short) about a frum couple in the bugalows. she is pregnant and and when she goes into labor after kiddush, she calls the car service and demands they send a driver who is not jewish. on the way to the hospital, they here the dispatacher say to the driver in a thick israeli accent: “yossi, did you pick up the anti-semite yet?”
I stand corrected!
Lion of Zion, that is hysterical.
I didn’t know there was an eruv in Flatbush.
Yes, there is an eruv in Flatbush built by the original community (when there was a community) about 30 years ago. In the early years of the eruv, there was a lot of damage to the eruv (supposedly by by frum people) on erev Shabbat to prevent people from using it. Nowdays some people (I would guess a decreasing number) still use it and the frum people ignore it.
Good way to keep the women home.
Yeh the flatbush eruv is an anomaly because people hold of the Boro Park one but not the flatbush one which some may think the opposite about.
Why dont they make the one in Flabush glatt kosher.
HESH:
not everyone holds from the BP eruv and there were big fights when it was erected. fwiu, the misnaggedim are against it and a majority (but by no means all) are for it.
it is my impression that a much higher percentage of BPers use it than flatbushites. in fact i would say that the vast majority of flatbushites don’t use it.
why one has more support than the other? at the end of the day it boils down to politics
there are also other eruvin in brooklyn (e.g., marine park, bensonhurst, manhattan beach)
Hesh, do you want a whole long explaination about it? its not a couple of lines.
FUTURE DRUGGIE:
“I didn’t know there was an eruv in Flatbush.”
actually there are different groups in flatbush that support competing eruvin that all basically cover the same main area. that’s right, 3. god forbid the small minority that actually hold by the eruv here gets together to save some communal $ and energy.
LEFT BROOKLYN
“In the early years of the eruv, there was a lot of damage to the eruv (supposedly by by frum people) on erev Shabbat to prevent people from using it.”
i remember when it was first errected (mid 80s) that it would be knocked down every other week. then it suddently stopped. the story that circulated at the time was that the police caught some yeshivah kids doing it and the vaad of flatbush (which was behind the eruv) threatened to press charges if the vandalism didn’t stop.
“Nowdays some people (I would guess a decreasing number) still use it”
let’s say there are about 100 religious families on my block, i can think only of 2 that use it.
“Good way to keep the women home.”
where else should they be?
lion, lol.
The history and controversy surrounding the Flatbush can fill several pages if not a small volume (probably thicker then the Famous book “Jewish Business Ethics”).
But it boils down to two things.
1) The eruv was conceived and built by Young Israel rabbis (back in the days when YI was Modern Orthodox and not frum).
2) The status of Ocean Parkway, ie. wheter OP constitutes a rishut harabim or a carmalite (or neither). The founding Rabbis utilized traffic data from the NYC DoT (BTW, these Rabbis were no halachic slouches). Then some people butt in and asked Reb Moshe (Feinstein) his opinion. The story goes that R. Moshe was not given all the facts and paskind on what was given to him (by those who opposed the eruv).
The sad fact is that instead of unifying the community it was very divisive. **sigh**
s(b.):
not that i mind if someone thinks i’m funny, but i thought what i wrote was pretty sad.
s(b.)
oh, i guess you mean the woman from the bungalow colony
LEFT BROOKLYN:
the particulars of your #2 are irrelevant. it was just the excuse. #1 was first and foremost.
Lion:
I totally agree. One of the reasons I “left Brooklyn” (also they wouldn’t view my hashkafa as valid anyway)
interesting twist about R Moshes psak. If you read more then a couple of his in depth tshuvas, as the eiruv ones are, I dont think one would say that R Moshe would answer his psokim on mere hearsay.
lion: –“Good way to keep the women home.”
where else should they be?–
Were you kidding? If you were, that’s funny. (imo)
heimish in bp – I agree with you, but R. Moshe clearly trusted the people who gave him information (and unfortunately some had an agenda)
Nuttin like a good muzkta b#tch
re: Flatbush eruv:
*cough*politics*cough*
So why “hold from an eruv”? The grammar and choice of words seems odd to me, is this Yinglish?
totally Yinglish, Chris! its such an eloquent (cough cough) way of talking…oy vey!
Think in German, write in English. Oy!
Chris, I will try to explain the the saying “hold from the eruv” to the best of my ability.
The word “hold” is a straight up interpretation of the word “halt” in yiddish. In yiddish the word “halt” (and I think in german too) can mean “hold,” for instance, “halt es” = hold this, or “halt uhn mein hant” = hold onto my hand.
It can also mean, that one accepts a certain view. As you know, in almost every aspect of Halacha, there are many different opinions. In the Gemara lingo, we see it all the time: “R’ Yehuda, sover lei k’Rav,” or “R’ Yehuda, sover lei k’Shmuel,” which means R’ Yehuda opines like like Rav, or accepts Rav’s views, (or Shmuel). The word “sover” is the the root of “mistabre” which means reasonable, or understandable. So in Yeshiva, they always interperated the above verse as “R’ Yehuda halt (holds/opines) vee (like) Rav” or “R’ Yehuda halt vee Shnuel”
In essence it means the same thing. A view or an object is beholden to someone. When you are accepting of a certain view, its as if its in your posession. In Torah learning or Halacha, when you accept a view, onto yourself, its part of your belief. You accepted that view, so you are “holding” that view.
Now, the eiruv is a very complicated issue which have caused many Poskim (rabbi’s who’s Halachic decrees are followed by the masses) to have many different opinions about it. Therefore, when one says “he holds of the eiruv” it means he accepted the Rabbi’s decree which allows it.
Wow heimish, that was a great explanation, thank you! It is much as I suspected, but now Im clear on the matter.
CHRIS:
“So why “hold from an eruv”? The grammar and choice of words seems odd to me, is this Yinglish?”
i don’t usually talk like this, but Hesh’s blog seems to bring out the worst in me
We were once invited to new friends on a Shabbos afternoon who–as it turned out– happened to have the football game on in their den. I was annoyed, but my husband was kind of attracted to it. We didn’t know if we were allowed to watch it, but we had our kids with us so that kind of helped us make our decision to leave gracefully. I wonder whether it was allowed or not. Now, had we gone back the next Shabbos, I guess this couple would become our Muktza B—–, but I think we have to revamp the term.
Oh and L o Z, you crack me up. You actually wrote in your explanation of your Yidiogrammar:
“I don’t usually talk like this.” Um, you’re right. You don’t usually speak that way.
Hesh- this is the best post in a while…its so true…I have alot of irreligious friends and this totally happens. We love having muktza bitches with us wen we go away for the weekend to a hotel makes everything so much simpler…
Yes but you know you might as well do it yourself right?
Just thought of a related concept: What about the people who use their toddlers as the muktza b*tch? You know, the people who somehow get the 2 year old to switch off a light or turn on the a/c.
There would need to be a different name though – like Muktza Brat or something.
nice to know we’re appreciated!
Meira thats a good one
Muktza B of course your appreciated
I was once at a shabbaton in a hotel. It’s a bit surprising to see frum people sitting on a couch, watching a football game, between davening and shabbat dinner.