Q. Last Shabbat a sad thing happened to a close friend of mine. He has B’H a large and happy family with many children. He invited to his home a group of guests to join him for the Shabbat meal. One of them accidentally bumped against a prominent frame in the dining room wall that contained his marriage Ketuba. It is a beautifully decorated and hand painted document that was kept in a frame on the wall. The frame came off the wall and fell, and to the detriment and concern of all the family, the glass covering shattered.
Since the family attaches great meaning and importance to the Ketuba document, the question immediately arose if it is correct, after removing the broken glass pieces that are a danger for the little kids, place back the frame on the wall. A few questions.
1) Is a Ketuba Muktza on Shabbat and cannot be moved?
A. 1) Mishna Berura (307: 63) maintains that a Get (divorce document) is not Muktza on Shabbos, since one can learn Halachos of divorce from it. Shalmei Yehuda (12: 13) quoting Horav Eliashiv zt’l opines that the same applies to a Ketuva document .(See Piskei Teshuvos (307: 25).
Hagaon Harav Ben-Zion Abba Shaul zt”l would say that anything that has a set place on Shabbos, such as a picture on the wall, is considered Muktzeh although it is not used for any forbidden work. He therefore prohibits moving a picture frame hanging on the wall on Shabbos and he brings several proofs to his opinion. On the other hands, Maran zt”l writes extensively about this matter and concludes by staying firm in his own ruling that any object which is not used for a work forbidden on Shabbos may be moved, even if it is very expensive.
However, Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that although the broken glass pieces can be removed, the Ketuva is Muktza, since it remains a viable owing contract document between two parties.
Rabbi A Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller, Horav Dovid Pam and Horav Aharon Miller Shlit’a