- Carrying four amos in reshus horabim is a melacha. Carrying less than four amos at a time is a severe shvus because Chazal are concerned that you will mistakenly overstep to four amos in one go. The only time they allowed it is when carrying something of value just before Shabbos and you weren’t able to enter into a secure place before it got dark. Chazal figured that if they do not make a leniency, a person might carry outright in his anxiety of financial loss. It is better to pass the object to your friend less than four amos away and in turn he passes it back to you etc…. Once you are about to change domains you should toss the object into the next domain in a backhanded way. (ShA1,7 – MB16,17,18)
What do you do when you realize your wallet is on you on Shabbos?
- If you are indoors and the wallet is not muktza itself (in a case where it isn’t a bosis for only money so it is merely a k’li shemelachto l’issur) you can walk with it to a safe room and drop it there. If the wallet is itself muktza you must drop it out where you stand. (Rama12 – BeH “yachol”)
- If you are outdoors (a place that you are forbidden to carry), drop the wallet where you are and instruct a gentile to guard it or to take it to your house if you can’t rely on him. If you are afraid to trust any gentile in the area there is a case that you can take the wallet home: You remembered the wallet while walking and you didn’t stop since then – you must run without stopping – when you get near the change of domain, flip the wallet inside in a backhanded manner. (Rama12 – MB36, 37)
- If you find a muktza wallet on Shabbos and you will be able to keep it (majority non-Jews), you can either kick it out of sight or instruct a non-Jew to pick it up for you. If he brings it in doors for you on his own, you do not need to protest. (ShA13 – MB38 – BeH “pen”)