Chapter 24
Laws Relating to the Erection of Protective Shelters and of Partitions on Shabbath and Yom Tov
PARTITIONS ERECTED FOR THEIR HALACHIC EFFECT
37.a. It is perfectly in order to put up a folding partition if y one does not have as one’s object the achievement of a par halachic effect.
37.b. It makes no difference if one later also makes use of the halachic effect produced by the erection of the partition.
37.c. Thus,
1) a folding screen may be placed between two beds in a hospital ward to provide patients with privacy, and
2) a patient may subsequently say his prayers, taking advantage of the fact that the screen divides
between him and uncovered excrement on the opposite side (as long as the odor does not reach him).
38.a. Just as it is forbidden to erect a partition on Shabbath or Yom Tov for a halachic purpose (as explained in paragraph 30 above), so it is forbidden to take down a partition while it is serving such a purpose.
38.b. Nevertheless, once the partition ceases to be used for its halachic effect, it may be removed.
