Brushing Teeth on Shabbat: Difference between revisions

## Rav Soloveitchik<ref> Nefesh Harav p. 168 </ref> said removing dirt or plaque is certainly not mimachek, just like washing dirt off of dishes is permissible.<ref>Gemara [[Shabbat]] 50a</ref> Mimachek is only when you’re removing something that is part of the essence of the object itself.<ref>In a funny anecdote, Rav Schachter recalls how one of the talmidim asked Rav Soloveitchik that perhaps brushing teeth on shabbat should be prohibited because enamel is removed via the brushing, and he responded that if that were true, then eventually you would have no tooth left from brushing, so obviously that is not the case (to any degree which the halacha would deem significant).</ref>  

## Rav Moshe Feinstein says that it’s forbidden to use toothpaste due to "mimachaik", but that brushing without toothpaste is allowed, as this is just like washing the rest of your body.<ref> Sh"t Iggerot Moshe Orach Chaim, 1:112 </ref>

### Seemingly, Rav Moshe meant mimareach, the toladah of mimachek, and this is why he only prohibited brushing with toothpaste but permitted brushing without toothpase.  

##Rav Ovadia Yosef says even toothpaste is allowed.<ref> Sh"t Yabia Omer 4:30. </ref>

###This is based on the Magen Avraham (316:24), that one is allowed to smear spit on the ground since it gets totally absorbed in the ground, and is thus not considered to be smoothed out in any significant way. Similarly, toothpaste doesn’t stay on the teeth for a long time.  

###His second proof is that the Rama (Orach Chaim 326:10) prohibits washing with hard soap due to [[molid]], but does not mention anything about mimareach, presumably because the soap only remains on one's hands temporarily.

##The Tzitz Eliezer rules like Rav Moshe.<ref> Sh"t Tzitz Eliezer(7:30:8). The 39 Melachos (vol 2, pg 373) also paskens this way.</ref>

###Brushing teeth is not subject to the same leniency as the case of the Magen Avraham. There, the whole purpose of rubbing the spit on the ground is to get it absorbed into the ground, and so that's why the smoothing is deemed insignificant. But with toothpaste, there is a purpose in the smearing itself on the teeth, even if just for a minute, and so the smearing itself is significant.

##Rav Soloveitchik agreed to Rav Ovadia.<ref> Nefesh Harav 168.</ref>

###Even though the toothpaste companies claim that the paste coats the tooth for 24 hours, he wasn’t convinced this was true. And even if it is true, an invisible coating isn’t halachically significant.<ref> Aruch HaShulchan Yoreh Deah 83:15 </ref>

The toothpaste becoming a foamy, more fluid liquid maybe a problem of [[molid]]. This problem is raised based on Rashi ([[Shabbat]] 51a) which says its asur to squeeze or crush ice on [[Shabbat]] because of [[molid]].<ref>(a dirabanan issur of changing form because it’s so creative it’s like a quasi-melacha.(Shu”t Maharal Diskin 66)</ref> Shulchan Aruch however holds like the Rambam saying [[squeezing]] ice is asur because it looks like [[squeezing]] fruit which falls under the category of [[sechita]].<ref> Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 320:9 based on Rambam Mishneh Torah Hilchot [[Shabbat]] 21:13. This same machloket applies to the permissibility of using a bar of soap. Shulchan Aruch (326:10) permits it, but the Rama there forbids it because of [[molid]].</ref>

*Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss<ref> Minchat Yitzchak (3:50) </ref> prohibits brushing teeth with toothpaste based on this also.

*Rav Ovadia<ref>Yabia Omer OC 4:29</ref> paskins like the Shulchan Aruch that Sephardim don't have to worry about [[molid]]. He adds that Ashkenazim should hold like the Rama and brushing teeth is forbidden for them.<ref> Yabia Omer Orach Chaim 4:28 </ref>

*Rabbi Herschel Schachter<ref> Rav Schachter is quoted by Rabbi Aryeh Leibowitz between 2:30 and 3:30 http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/752802/Rabbi_Aryeh_Lebowitz/Ten_Minute_Halacha_-_Brushing_Teeth_on_Shabbos </ref> holds that even for Ashkenazim it should not be a problem because [[molid]] is solid to liquid not paste to liquid.

Rav Moshe Yonah Halevi Zweig raises the issue that it may be [[refuah]] on [[Shabbat]]. This is based on the Rambam who says that if you put a certain liquid in your mouth, it is prohibited to put it in if you have intention to heal, but if your intention is just for your breath then its ok. He says, that maybe since there's flouride and the brushing strengthens your teeth it may be asur. Rav Ovadia rejects this and says even if the toothpaste has flouride because even healthy people brush their teeth daily, and the gezeira of [[refuah]] doesn't apply to preventative [[refuah]].<ref> Rabbi Zweig in Ohel Moshe (2:98) is quoted by yabia omer (Yabia Omer Orach Chaim 4:29) as comparing it to the Rambam in Hilchot [[Shabbat]] 21:24 which discusses the issue of [[refuah]]. </ref>

Gemara ([[Shabbat]] 128b) says there’s no [[sechita]] in hair since it doesn’t absorb. Rambam ([[Shabbat]] 9:11) paskins like this. However, the [[Maggid]] mishnah there says he still holds its asur derabbanan.<ref> Hilchot [[Shabbat]] 9:11 and [[Maggid]] Mishnah there, (Kesef Mishnah on Rambam 2:11, and Mishnah Brurah 330) </ref>