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Thought for the Day: Borrer on Shabbos Is Never Permitted, But Eating Is

Here is something that is oft stated: The only permissible way to do בורר/selecting on Shabbos is:

  • select what you want from what you don't want; aka אוכל מן הפסולת
  • do not use a utensil specially created for selction; aka ביד (literally: by hand, but forks and spoons are fine also; just as long is it is not a special tool for selecting, such as a sifter)
  • for immediate use; aka מיד

That statement could not be more wrong. There are no circumstances in which performing the malacha of בורר/selecting is not a violation of Shabbos. בורר/selecting is one of the 39 categories of creative labor that are forbidden by the Torah to be performed on Shabbos.

Clearly though, we certainly are permitted stab a bit of chicken/scoop some cholent (אוכל מן הפסולת) with a fork (ביד) and put it in his mouth (מיד). Yum! Right -- that is not called בורר/selecting, that is called "eating".

Now, in case you are rolling your little eyeballs at that statement (are any of my children reading this?), please know that this is an important distinction. I mean, even more than the usual importance in speaking precisely about halacha.

You are certainly allowed to sweep your floor on Shabbos. Of course, there are issues with sweeping on a dirt floor, because of the malacha בונה/building. However, no one mentions problems with בורר/selecting. And why not? You are, after all, removing what you don't want. What about washing your hands or dirty dishes? There are other examples. My favorite is removing lice from clothing. The Shulchan Aruch makes a big deal about being careful no to kill the little critters -- not a PETA issue, but the malacha of שחיטה/slaughtering. But nary a word -- not by anyone -- about בונה/building.

R' Fuerst, shlita, brought up this issue in his most recent (as of Nov 11, 2023) Sunday morning shiur. He has seven cases. The answer to all of them is a statement from R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (חכם אחד), which is brought in Shmiras Shabbos k'Hilchaso, Chap 3, footnote 7. It's a long footnote, the punch line (for this TftD) is about 2/3 of the way through (nine lines from the end in my edition). The statement is one can infer from the Shiltei Giborim that when it comes to the malacha of בורר/selecting, it all depends on what people call the activity whether it is בורר/selecting or something else.

In case you haven't already, please re-read that. Let's unwind those examples in reverse order. When someone is removing lice from a garment, it is called "delousing" and not "separating lice." It is "cleaning the dishes"; not "separating the dirt." It is "washing your hands"; not "separating dirt from your hands." It is "sweeping up the dirt"; not "separating the dirt from the floor."

If you are using a special utensil, then you are clearly separating/selecting. If you are removing what you don't want, then you are clearly separating/selecting. If you taking what want (אוכל מן הפסולת) without using a special utensil (ביד), but are not going to eat/consume/use it right away, then you are separating/selecting for later.

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