This type of muktzeh, called muktzeh l’mitzvato,[1] has different levels. The gemara[2] derives from shared terminology used regarding both a sukka and the korban chagiga[3] that just as the latter may not be used for personal benefit due to its holy status, the “wood of a sukka” similarly becomes forbidden. This is a Torah-level law.[4] There is a machloket regarding whether this law applies only to the s’chach[5] or even to the walls.[6] There is also discussion whether this level of muktzeh applies only to the minimum size of the sukka and whether it applies after the sukka has fallen down.[7]
There are also Rabbinic applications of the prohibition to use mitzva-related objects. The gemara[8] discusses the Rabbinic prohibition of muktzeh with regard to leftover oil from Chanuka candles and with regard to sukka decorations (noyei sukka) that have already been used, understanding that the prohibition is generated by the fact that these objects are designated and set aside for mitzva use. However, elsewhere, the gemara[9] implies that it is forbidden to use noyei sukka for purposes other than the mitzva for which they were designated because such use constitutes bizuy mitzva.[10] Tosafot[11] explains that both reasons are needed, as muktzeh-designation does not apply on Chol HaMo’ed, and bizuy mitzva does not apply after the decorations have fallen down. The Ran[12] distinguishes between the categories as follows: Using the wood of the sukka is forbidden based on Torah law; use of the decorations during the chag is forbidden because of bizuy mitzva; the prohibition continues throughout the eighth day due to the regular rules of muktzeh.
In addition to the prohibition to use the objects, the Rama[13] points out that on Shabbat and Yom Tov, the decorations’ muktzeh status also forbids moving them, as in other types of muktzeh. The Gra[14] explains that anything from which one may not derive personal benefit is muktzeh with regard to moving it. Paradoxically, even though the status of muktzeh is rooted in one’s interest in continuing the object’s mitzva use, if decorations fell, one should not move them on Shabbat/Yom Tov even to enable them to again serve as noyei sukka. Similarly, one may not move them to protect them from the rain, even if this is necessary to enable them to be used as noyei sukka in the future.[15]
On days other than Shabbat and Yom Tov, the Torah-level or Rabbinic-level prohibitions of using objects connected to mitzvot do not extend to moving the object. Thus, one may move sukka decorations on Chol HaMo’ed or leftover Chanuka oil on a day other than Shabbat. There is a machloket among contemporary Acharonim regarding whether it is prohibited to remove sukka decorations from the sukka on Chol HaMo’ed if one is not planning to use them for another purpose.[16] Presumably, it is acceptable to remove them in order to protect them, so as to later return them to the sukka.[17]
There is a way to prevent noyei sukka (not the sukka itself[18]) from becoming muktzeh. The gemara[19] states that one can make an oral condition to “not separate himself from use of the objects when the days of Sukkot begin.” When one does so, the decorations never develop the exclusive connection to the mitzva of sukka, and it is therefore permitted to remove them from the sukka or to use them for other purposes, even if they did not first fall.[20] Consequently, they are not muktzeh on Shabbat/Yom Tov either.[21]’ However, there are complex requirements as to how to make such a condition, and because of this, the Rama[22] prefers that people not rely upon it.