Q. The... Star newspaper has started randomly delivering their Saturday paper to several houses in the Clanton Park area. We never asked for it, it just started showing up. Although I plan to likely cancel mine because of inappropriate pictures that sometimes show up, it brought up a few interesting halachic questions among some of us in the neighborhood.
1. We were wondering if we must halachically call them to cancel it or not. (since we never requested it, it seems like its not "melacha done for the benefit of a Jew."
2. We were wondering if the Rav would hold that the whole paper is assur altogether (even on a weekeday) given that it contains pictures of women dressed immodestly.
3. We were wondering if it can be read on Shabbat. Obviously ignoring the ads and business sections, and avoiding reading captions under pictures and not wasting too much time......but could you glance at the sports section for a few seconds.... for example: to find out how your favorite team did on Friday night? (I've heard it suggested that its NOLAD because it was printed Friday night, but haven't seen a source). It its mutzeh, which category would it be, and would it be okay to then kick it around with your feet to look up something in the paper on shabbas or is their issur in getting any benefit at all?
Thanks so much
A. 1. Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that indeed since you did not request this Shabbos newspaper delivery, they are doing it for their own benefit, and you don’t have to stop them
2. Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that if someone has to ask this question on a newspaper, he probably should not be reading it.
3. There are different Halachic questions regarding the reading of newspapers on Shabbos. One issue is the content of the paper. Poskim agree that if the content should not be read because it is considered mundane and inappropriate for Shabbos reading, as are many of today’s newspapers and magazines, they should not be read during weekdays either, as mentioned above.
Nevertheless, even if the content of the newspaper is proper and in principle it could be read on Shabbos (Mishna Berura 307: 53), the financial and commercial sections including adds are prohibited and muktze also. (Badei Hashulchan 107 n. 43, Shmiras Shabbos K. (29: 46-47).
As far as the newspaper being prohibited because of nolad (something that came into existence on Shabbos), Avnei Yoshfei (O.H. 5: 47: 5) quotes Maharam Shik (O.H. 123) that permits since the paper and the ink were already in existence before Shabbos began and the printing is only the “mixing” of these ingredients and therefore not qualified as nolad. Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is similar.He remarked that the financial section may not be muktze if it contains other sections such as sports, the weather or be put to another permissible use, were paper in needed.
Nishmas Avrohom (5: O.H. 340: 4: n. 1) quotes from the author of Shemiras Shabbos K. that there is no nolad by acts of a Gentile. Horav Miller explained, that it may make a difference on some cases.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit”a
Important Numbers
