Is
it permitted to inflate balloons and airbeds on Shabbos?
The halachic issue pertaining to
inflating a waterbed on Shabbos is one of
Makeh B’patish
– completing an article.
The
Shulchan Aruch
teaches us that
one
may reinsert down (feathers and fluff) into a pillow and
eiderdown but they may not be inserted for the first
time. Even though the insertion does not entail physical
force or any unique
expertise, nevertheless it is a melacha called
Makeh B’patish.
This
is because the combination of the pillow and the
stuffing form a k’li.
We
can therefore deduce that combining two items to form a
k’li will involve the issur of Makeh
B’patish. Accordingly, it is prohibited to inflate a
water or air bed, even when using a mechanical pump,
because introducing the air or water into the bed
“completes” the bed and transforms it into a usable
k’li. [For the moment we are referring to the
initial inflating of the water bed (the first time), as
for consecutive inflating we will see further on be”H].
The
same could be said when inflating helium balloons.
Why do you not say the
same about regular balloons that are filled with CO2
(air)?
Let
us first examine the issue of inflating rubber ducks and
then we will see the status of regular balloons.
The
difference between rubber ducks, swimming pool rings and
waterbeds is that the former are inflated for a limited
period of time and subsequent to use are deflated,
whereas a waterbed is usually inflated permanently. It
is not so much the time factor that makes the difference
rather it is the purpose and intent. Here is the
explanation.
One does not say that a deflated swimming ring is
broken, just as one does not say that a fan or light
that is switched off is broken. On the other hand one
does say that a waterbed without air is not fulfilling
its purpose. Here is another approach.
A
wind-up toy is not broken when it is not wound up
and moving about because such a toy is made to wind up,
be played with and put away, whereas a wristwatch that
has stopped (as a result of unwinding) is considered
“broken”
and
winding it up is considered “repairing”, since a watch
is supposed to tick continuously and not stop.
Accordingly, inflating a rubber duck would not be called
making it, rather using it and inflating a
helium balloon would be called making a balloon.
So
what is the status of
a regular balloon?
A
regular balloon is somewhere in the middle, because
children sometimes enjoy inflating and deflating
balloons, thereby using it as they do a rubber duck, but
more often it is inflated and tied, which would
categorize it with a water bed, and hence its inflation
would be ossur.
For
yet another reason one must not inflate balloons on
Shabbos. After inflating a balloon one usually ties a
permanent knot, which is forbidden on Shabbos. Even if
one were to say that one will inflate it without tying,
it is ossur, because we find that one may not
thread a string through an article of clothing when one
regularly ties a knot of threading.
Therefore one must not inflate balloons on Shabbos.
If
that is the case, then one should be permitted to
re-inflate a waterbed on Shabbos, just as one may
reinsert the down into the pillow and it is only the
initial inflating that is forbidden?
We
find a beautiful machlokes between the poskim
on that, but we must first reintroduce another concept.
One is permitted to reinsert down into the pillow it
came from but it is ossur to insert other down
into the pillow or insert old down into a different
pillow.
In
short, one may only reintroduce the same down into the
same pillow.
Rav
Weiss ztz”l says
that
since one is not reintroducing the same air or water
that was inside the bed (or soccer ball, for that
matter) it is similar to inflating the bed for the first
time and it is ossur to do so.
Rav
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ztz”l, on the other hand,
says
that
air is air and therefore once an air or waterbed etc.
has been inflated for the first time, one may re-inflate
it on Shabbos because one is reinserting air similar to
the reinserting of the down into the pillow.
To
Summarize
It
is ossur to inflate waterbeds or soccer balls for
the first time. After the first time it is a
machlokes. One may not inflate a balloon on Shabbos.
It
is permitted to inflate a rubber duck and a swimming
ring even for the first time on Shabbos.