Guide
Amulets on the Sabbath?
On the Sabbath, it is prohibited to carry objects (burdens) from one domain to another. One exception to this is one’s clothing. In the following texts, the rabbis discuss whether other objects, including amulets, qualify as burdens with respect to this Sabbath regulation or rather are permitted for wearing. (For more about Sabbath regulations, see “The Thirty-Nine Acts of Labor Prohibited on the Sabbath.”)
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
The Mishnah on Amulets on the Sabbath
Hebrew
6:2. A man may not go out [on the Sabbath] with nail-studded sandals, nor with a single [sandal] unless he has a wound on [the other] foot. A [man may not go out] with…
Primary Source
The Palestinian Talmud on Amulets on the Sabbath
Hebrew
What is an expert [or, proven] amulet?
Any [amulet] with which one has healed two or three [people].
R. Abahu [said…
Primary Source
The Babylonian Talmud on Amulets on the Sabbath
Nor [go out] with an amulet unless [ made] by an expert.
[Aramaic] R. Papa said: This does not imply that the man [who produced it] has to be an expert [for it to be an]…