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It's Chol Ha'moed. Your house has four bathrooms. You use one of them, and the toilet clogs. May you plunge it during Chol Ha'moed?

(I've done some Web searches. So far, I have found a discussion of repairing toilets during Shabbat, and during Erev Pesach, but not during Ḥol Ha'moed.)

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  • I'm curious if there's anything permissible on shabbos but forbidden on Chol hamoed... – robev Oct 6 '20 at 13:45
  • @robev Allowing gentile contractors to build your house outside of the techum – Joel K Oct 6 '20 at 15:50
  • @robev: Good comment! May we please post your comment as a new question? – unforgettableidSupportsMonica Oct 9 '20 at 12:35
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IIRC it's the text shmiras shabbos kehilchasa that allows you to use an ordinary plunger — but not a professional-grade one — to plunge a clogged toilet even on shabbos. So you'd certainly be allowed to do so on Chol HaMoed. As for using a professional-grade plunger: I don't have a source.

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  • How do I know if a plunger is ordinary or professional-grade? Lately I've been using a large Master Plunger with a bellows, since that's what I found lying around the basement. Does Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah explain the distinction? – unforgettableidSupportsMonica Oct 6 '20 at 13:09
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I phoned a rabbi — probably one of the top ten rabbis in my city (a North American city of three million people). He's a charedi Ashkenazi rabbi.

He said I can unblock it using a plunger, since it's unskillful work.

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