Q) May one use a hot water bottle for his stomach pains on Shabbos?
A) The Gemara (Shabbat 40b) permits a person to heat up a towel and place it on his stomach during Shabbos, however, one may not place a kettle of hot water on his stomach. Rashi elucidates that the reason for this prohibition is that were the hot water to spill onto his stomach this would create an issue of washing on Shabbat which is not allowed. Conversely, the Tosafot give two other explanations for this prohibition; either because some of the water may spill out onto the towel and one may subsequently wring it out (Issur Sechita), or because this act resembles Refuah, which Chazal prohibited on Shabbos because of concerns that one may come to grind spices in order to prepare medicine.
The Shulchan Aruch (OC, 326, 6) prohibits placing a receptacle with hot water on one’s stomach, but does not give any reasoning. The Magen Avraham explains the Shulchan Aruch like Rashi, that the issue is the possibility of the hot water spilling and causing an act of washing. (He adds, that this is only in situation where the water was heated slightly on Shabbat prohibiting washing on even only part of the body.)
The Mishnah Berurah concludes that although one would be permitted to use a hot water bottle on Shabbat providing that it is tightly closed and thereby taking care of possibility of the water spilling, as mentioned by Rashi, the issues cited by the Tosafot remain, hence one may only be lenient in a situation deemed a Tzorech Gadol.
R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach permits using a properly closed hot water bottle for stomach pains in a place and time (i.e. cold weather) where it is customary to use one to warm oneself up, because in such circumstances one’s intentions for Refuah are not conspicuous.
Hot water bottle on Shabbat
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