Halachot and Customs
Is it halachically permitted to give gifts on Shabbat?
Question
Hello, honored rabbi,
I am coming to stay with my mother-in-law on Shabbat, and I understood that there is a problem with giving gifts on Shabbat. So how is it permitted to give gifts?
Thank you
Answer
Hello,
If it is food and drink that will be used on Shabbat, it is permitted to give them as a gift on Shabbat (Shulchan Aruch HaRav, siman 306, seif 15), and likewise any gift that is for the sake of Shabbat is permitted (Mishnah Berurah there, sk 33).
And if it is a gift that is not for the sake of Shabbat, there is a solution to acquire it for your mother-in-law before Shabbat through another person, in such a way that he lifts up the gift, and says: "I am acquiring this gift for so-and-so," and then you may give her the gift on Shabbat, if it is not subject to the status of muktzeh (Yechaveh Da'at, part 3, siman 21).
With blessings,
Hillel Meirs
