Chapter 26
Plants and Trees
14.a. There is a Rabbinical prohibition against the use, on Shabbath or Yom Tov, of
1) a tree or
2) anything directly hanging from, attached to, or
supported by a tree.
14.b. The prohibition does not extend to the use of things only indirectly hanging from, attached to, or supported by a tree,
14.c. Details are contained in the following paragraphs.
15.a. The prohibition against using a tree extends to
1) placing anything on a tree on Shabbath or Yom Tov
or
2) removing anything from it,
whether with one’s hand or with the aid of a stick.
15.b. One may not tie a rope to a tree or hang a basket from its branches on Shabbath or Yom Tov.
15.c. 1) The Rabbis even forbade one to put an object which is not muktzeh, if it is liable to be used on Shabbath or Yom Tov, onto a tree before Shabbath or Yom Tov commences.
2) This is because one might come to “use” the tree by taking the object off it on Shabbath or Yom Tov.
15.d. An object which was on a tree at the commencement of Shabbath or Yom Tov, and subsequently dropped off or was removed by a non-Jew, is muktzeh.
