Opening Bottles, Cans, and Packages

From Halachipedia
  1. These laws equally apply to Shabbat as they do to Yom Tov. [1]

Preferable option

  1. To avoid all forbidden activities with opening bottles and cans on Shabbat, it's preferable to open the bottles and cans before Shabbat. [2]

Background

  1. Opening containers on Shabbat involves several prohibited activities including ripping, making a useful container, finishing a vessel, and erasing letters. [3]

Opening a bag or container on Shabbat

  1. If a container (bag, can, or bottle) is usually reused after having been emptied are forbidden to open whether or not one intends to reuse it. [4]
  2. If a container is usually used to keep the original contents after having been opened, but not usually reused, it’s forbidden to open on Shabbat. However, some are lenient if one really intends not to reuse it and one does not make a neat convenient opening. [5]
  3. It is forbidden to open a milk or juice carton which has a folding spigot for the first time. [6]
  4. It is permissible to open a container (which is usually reused or at least used to keep the original contents) if at the time of the opening (or beforehand) one ruins the container by perforating the side or bottom so that it could no longer be used. [7]
  5. It's permissible to rip open a miniature pack of sugar which is thrown out right after it's opened. [8]
  6. It’s forbidden to take special care to rip a neat hole to be used as a opening or to rip open a container along the lines marked for perforation. [9]
  7. It’s permitted to remove the staples from a container stapled shut. [10]
  8. Cardboard boxes closed with gummed paper or tape, papers stuck together, or a paper wrapper may be (ripped) opened on Shabbat only if one ruins the box in a way that it’s unusable as a container afterwards (nor is any part of it useful which is violated if one tears along the edge of prize tokens printed on the wrapper). [11]
  9. One may not open a bag which is closed with a metal or plastic twister (the ends of which were twinned together). [12]
  10. It’s permissible to rip or cut string that’s used to close a container if it’s impossible to remove the string otherwise as long as cutting spoils it for later use. [13]

Ripping letter or pictures

  1. One may not rip through lettering or pictures. [14]

Closing bags

  1. One may not close a bag with a metal or plastic twister. [15]

Bottle caps

  1. One may not open a metal bottle cap for the first time on Shabbat unless one first makes a hole in the cap (with a knife) that makes it unfit for covering a bottle afterwards. [16]
  2. However, it’s permissible to open plastic bottle caps on Shabbat. [17]

Plastic protective seal

  1. It is permissible to remove a protective plastic seal on yogurt containers and wine bottles in the normal way. [18]

Metal Can

  1. One should not open a metal can unless one only opens it halfway, removes the content immediately, and throws out the can. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many

After the fact

  1. If one opened a can, bag, bottle or other container in a prohibited way, one may still eat the food on Shabbat. [19]

References

  1. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:22 (See also Sh"t Igrot Moshe 1:122)
  2. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:1, Shabbos Kitchen (Rabbi Simcha Bunim Cohen, pg 184)
  3. ↑ 39 Melachos (Rabbi Ribiat, vol 3, pg 831-2)
  4. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:2, Shabbos Kitchen (pg 187-8) similarly forbids opening wrappers, bags, and boxes, unless one rips it to the extent that the bag is unusable afterwards and one is careful about not ripping the letters.
  5. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:3
  6. ↑ Shabbos Kitchan (Rabbi Simcha Bunim Cohen, pg 184)
  7. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:3
  8. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:4
  9. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:5-6
  10. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:9
  11. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:10-12
  12. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:13
  13. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:14
  14. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:12
  15. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:13
  16. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:17 (in the new one, 9:18), Shabbos Kitchen (Rabbi Simcha Bunim Cohen, pg 184-6). Shabbos Kitchen (note 10) quotes Rav Moshe Feinstein who allowed making a hole in the cap of a soda bottle before opening the bottle.
  17. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:18 (in the new one)
  18. ↑ Shabbos Kitchen (Rabbi Simcha Bunim Cohen, pg 188)
  19. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 9:23
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