Borer: Difference between revisions

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#In the construction of the Mishkan, Borer was performed as part of the process of manufacturing dyes.<ref>Rashi 73a s.v. Haofeh </ref>; after the dye plants were threshed, any impurities that could not be removed by winnowing, such as rocks and pebbles were hand-selected out of the mixture.<ref>Rambam Peirush Hamishnayos 7:2, Rashi 73a s.v. Haborer </ref>

#One is permitted to separate for other people as long as one does it for immediate use, with one’s hand, and food from the refuse.<ref>Rama 319:1 writes that it’s permissible to separate for others to eat. Mishna Brurah 319:6 clarifies that it’s permissible even if one is preparing for others but he himself isn’t eating from the food that was separated. See Chazon Ovadia Shabbat Vol. 4 page 183 </ref>

#If one separated in order to eat immediately and then changed his mind and decided not to eat, some say that he violated Borer, while others say it’s permissible after the fact, therefore one should avoid such a situation.<ref>Shaar HaTziyun 319:5 quotes the Pri Megadim who says that after the fact the food is permitted if one had in mind to eat it immediately even if one changes his mind afterwards. Yalkut Yosef ([[Shabbat]] vol 3 pg 272) brings this as a doubt and says that one should avoid such a situation. </ref>

#One may throw all of the items of a mixture onto a table or on the ground so that they scatter. Once the items are separate identifiable units it is permitted to use each one separately without any prohibition of Borer.<ref>Based on [[Shabbat]] 74a, it seems that throwing a mixture out of the container so that the pieces separate so it’s not a mixture anymore would be permitted and allow one to put away each piece of the mixture separately. This is also the opinion of Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:3 (note 6 in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman), Sh”t Igrot Moshe 4:74 Borer #11</ref>

The Taz (319:13) writes that one cannot remove a fly from one’s soup because it would be considered Borer; however one can remove some soup with the fly. The Mishneh Brura (319:61) understood the Taz to mean that it’s not Borer when good was removed with the bad. However, the Chazon Ish 53:16 understood the Taz differently.  He thought that only the soup surrounding the fly was considered mixed with the fly.  Therefore the soup removed allowed the fly to be removed because the entire mixture was removed.  It follows that removing a little good with the bad would be Asur. </ref>

#A group of identical items isn't considered a mixture and may be separated without violating borer.<ref>Rama 319:3 rules that it's permissible to seperate peices of fish by the size since it's all one type of food. Mishna Brurah 319:15 writes that even though the Taz argues on the Rama, most achronim agree with the Rama. So write's the [[Shabbos]] Kitchen (pg 87-88) and Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:24 that there's no borer when separating indentical objects. </ref>

#One may separate different items some of which are more aesthetically pleasing from others which are less aesthetically pleasing as long as both objects are equally usable.<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:28 </ref>

#There's three possible arrangement of mixtures. 1) A mixture can consist of disparate objects that are near each other. 2) A mixture is formed when there's items attached to one another. 3) Items on top of one another also form a mixture.<ref>[[Shabbos]] Kitchen (pg 91-95). 39 Melachos (vol 2, pg 388) writes that items which are mingled, attached, or absorbed one into the other can form a mixture. </ref>

#However, if the items are readily distinguishable because of a clear and striking difference of consistency or structure are not considered a mixture. For example, meatballs in sauce is not a mixture.<ref>39 Melachos (vol 2, pg 391) </ref>

#A group of objects are considered a mixture if the individual items lose their identity as individuals and the items are seen as a group and not individuals. This includes examples such as  

#A totally rotten fruit among good fruits constitutes a mixture and so one may not remove a good fruit if one doesn’t intend to eat it immediately. However, one may remove a fruit that’s surrounding the fruit that’s adjacent to the rotten fruit.<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:25 </ref>

#Items that are attached are considered a mixture. This includes the following examples:

#It's permissible to separate the items that are attached except at the junction of their connection (as opposed to close items where even the outer items may not be separated). For example, it's permissible to cut away fat on meat if one leaves a sliver of the fat attached to the meat.<ref>[[Shabbos]] Kitchen (pg 107) </ref>

#If items are piled on top of one another, they are considered a mixture even if each item is individually recognizable.<ref>Mishna Brurah 319:15 (at the end), [[Shabbos]] Kitchen (pg 94-5) </ref> This includes the following examples:

#It's permissible to remove unwanted top items in order to reach a wanted item on bottom of the mixture.<ref>[[Shabbos]] Kitchen (pg 107-8), Mishna Brurah 319:15 </ref>

#It’s forbidden to separate a mixture of non-food items such as clothing or vessels.<ref>Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 80:17, Mishna Brurah 319:15, Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:1, [[Shabbos]] Kitchen pg 86, 39 Melachos (vol 2, pg 382), and Yalkut Yosef ([[Shabbat]] vol 3 pg 327). See the Aruch HaShulchan 319:7 who is lenient.  </ref> According to Sephardim some say that one may be lenient.<ref>[http://www.dailyhalacha.com/displayRead.asp?readID=365 Rabbi Mansour] on Dailyhalacha.com writes that it's permissible for Sephardim to sort silverware on [[Shabbat]]. Yalkut Yosef ([[Shabbat]], vol 3, pg 330 and 490) and Sh"t Yabia Omer 5:31 are lenient in certain cases.</ref>

#One may not sort different books in a pile to put them back on the shelf, however, if one wishes to clear the table, one may pick up each book one at a time and place it on the shelf in it’s appropriate shelf.<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:81 </ref>

#If one finds a paper with Torah written on it in the garbage, one may remove the papers and read them a little right away. However, if one finds [[Tefillin]] or [[Tefillin]] straps in a garbage, one may remove them.<ref>Or Letzion (vol 2 chap 31:2) writes that one is permitted to remove papers that have [[kedusha]] from a garbage if one uses it right away since that is considered removing good from bad with one’s hand for immediate use. However, if one finds [[Tefillin]] and it’s impossible to use the [[Tefillin]] on [[Shabbat]], one is still permitted because one is considered as having separated for an immediate purpose of giving respect to the [[Tefillin]]. Yalkut Yosef ([[Shabbat]] vol 3 pg 333) writes that one doesn’t have to read from the pages. </ref>

#It’s permitted to cause a mixture to separate naturally if the borer would have occurred naturally anyway without your interference. For example, it’s permitted to turn a bottle upright even though it’ll cause the sediment to fall to the bottom since that would have occurred anyway.<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:6 </ref>

#When preparing or eating fish or meat one must be careful not to separate the bones from the meat. One should eat the fish and spit out or remove the bones from one’s mouth after one separated the bones from the meat. If that’s not practical or convenient, one should hold the bone and eat the meat, hold the bone (with one’s knife or hand) and cut away the meat, or to remove each bone and suck it. If none of those are possible, one should remove the bones with a bit of meat attached.<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:11,12. See [http://www.dailyhalacha.com/displayRead.asp?readID=817 Rabbi Mansour] on Dailyhalacha.com who is lenient like the Menuchat Ahava. </ref>

*Sh”t Igrot Moshe 4:74 (Borer #7) writes that one should eat the whole melon and spit out the seeds and if that’s difficult one should shake off the seeds and those that remain remove with one’s hand. Halachos of [[Shabbat]] (vol 3, pg 174), 39 Melachos (vol 2, pg 411), and Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:16 agree. Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:16 adds that those who do remove watermelon seeds right before eating watermelon have what to rely on.</ref>

#One may remove a pit from a fruit whether the pit doesn’t come away from the fruit without taking away part of the fruit. For example, plums and peaches have pits that may be removed since when you remove the pit the flesh of the fruit comes with it.<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:17 </ref>

#Taking a particular bencher from a pile is considered Borer unless it fulfills the requirements of taking the food from refuse for immediate use with one’s hand.<ref>[[Shabbos]] Kitchen pg 87 </ref>

#If the tap water is drinkable without filtering it is permissible to filter it on [[Shabbat]].<ref>Shulchan Aruch O.C. 319:10, Mishna Brurah 319:34, Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:56 (in new editions 3:60), Chazon Ish 53 s.v. VeIm, 39 Melachos (Rabbi Ribiat, vol 3 pg 520) </ref> Those who hold that one should not drink New York tap water because of copepods, according to many poskim, may nonetheless filter the water on [[Shabbat]] with a sink filter that is built in.<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:60 writes that if people don’t drink the water in a certain place because of bugs one shouldn’t use a filter, however, one may drink directly from the faucet without a cup.  

*However, Rav Hershel Schachter on “Kashrus of Bugs” on OU Kosher Tidbits (www.ouradio.org, min 39-45) permits using a filter for NY tap water on [[Shabbat]] based on 4 reasons: (1) The bugs might be considered kosher (see S”A YD 84:16) (2) The amount of bugs in the water varies at different times of the day and may not require checking (See RJJ vol 49, pg 34, by David Shabtai) (3) The bugs aren’t necessarily waste since non-Jews eat it and it’s only halacha that prevents us (Chaye Adam in Nishmat Adam 16:5) (4) The sink filter is built in and automatically filters all the water even that which is for non-drinking purposes (Minchat Yitzchak 7:23; this would not apply to a filtered pitcher used for drinking). Rav Doniel Nuestadt (Yeshurun vol 17, pg 535) discusses the last two reasons at length and argues that the third reason is a dispute in the rishonim. See Rav Belsky in Shulchan HaLevi 12 who writes that he holds the NY tap water is kosher, however, one who holds it needs filtering may not filter it on [[Shabbat]] and disagrees with the third argument.</ref>

#If there are rotten grapes among good grapes, one should eat the good grapes and leave the rotten ones and not remove the rotten ones to make the cluster presentable for guests.<ref>Chazon Ovadyah (vol 4, pg 179) arguing on Menuchat Ahava (vol 2, 231) </ref>

#One must check lettuce to make sure that there’s no bugs on it. On [[Shabbat]], one may remove a large insect such as a caterpillar, however it’s preferable to take it off with a piece of lettuce. However, a small insect may not be removed unless one takes a piece of the lettuce with it.<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 3:36 </ref>