Halachot and Customs
Is It Permitted to Read Books on Shabbat?
Question
Hello,
I wanted to ask whether it is permitted to read books on Shabbat (clean and good books, but not books that belong to Judaism and Torah. Secular books, such as storybooks). And if this is not considered desecrating Shabbat?
Thank you
Answer
Greetings,
It is permitted to read storybooks on Shabbat.
Sources: This was also written in the book Ashrei Haish, part Orach Chaim, part 2 (chapter 16, section 8), in the name of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt"l, that it is permitted to read books of reading on Shabbat, and they are not forbidden on account of the concern that one might write or erase, since with printed material it is not common to write or erase. Nor was there a decree because they might be confused with documents of business transactions (as the Rosh maintained), since, because there is benefit and enjoyment in reading them, no decree was issued, as the later authorities explained. This was also written in the book Chazon Ovadia, Shabbat, volume 6 (page 69).
With blessings,
Hillel Meirs
