DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Halacha is For The Hatzlacha of
 Yosef ben Rivkah and His Family
"Please say Tehillim for a good day following a devastating Sandy occurrence."

Dedicated By
Friends

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
      
(File size: 862 KB)
Is It Permissible To Squeeze Grapes and Other Similar Foods In One's Mouth on Shabbat

The Shulchan Aruch (320) codifies the Torah prohibition of "Sechita," which forbids squeezing grapes and olives on Shabbat. Does this prohibition apply as well to sucking juice from a fruit on Shabbat, or does Halacha distinguish in this regard between squeezing with one's hands and squeezing with one's mouth?

The Hagahot Maimoni (glosses to the Rambam's Mishneh Torah by Rabbi Meir Hakohen, Germany, 13th century), commenting on Hilchot Shabbat (chapter 21), forbids sucking juice on Shabbat, and this is the position as well of the Sefer Yerei'im (Rabbi Eliezer of Metz, France, 1115-1198), in Siman 274. According to this view, it would be forbidden on Shabbat to suck juice from any fruit or other food with absorbed liquid, such as moist meat, sugarcane, and bread that had been dipped in soup. However, the Beit Yosef (commentary to the Tur by Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch) held (in Siman 320) that sucking the juice from foods does not represent the standard manner of "Sechita," and is thus not included under this prohibition (listen to audio for precise citation).

Rabbi Moshe Halevi, in his work "Menuchat Ahava" (vol. 2, p. 165), cites both views and sides with the lenient position of the Beit Yosef. This is the ruling as well of Chacham Ovadia Yosef, in his work Halichot Olam (vol. 4, p. 106).

Thus, it is permissible on Shabbat to extract liquid with one's mouth from fruits or other foods, such as moist meat, sugarcane, and bread that had been dipped in soup.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Swimming During the Three Weeks
Situations When Listening to or Playing Music is Permissible During the Three Weeks
Avoiding Danger During the Three Weeks
Listening to Music During the Three Weeks
May One Allow a Contractor to Continue Building a Home During the Three Weeks?
Reciting Birkat Ha’gomel on Shiba Assar Be’Tammuz and Tisha B’Ab
Do the Restrictions of the Three Weeks Apply on the Night Before Shiba Asar Be’Tammuz?
Reciting “Tikun Rahel” Every Afternoon During the Three Weeks
Habdala When Tisha B’Ab Falls on Mosa’eh Shabbat
Purchasing and Mending Clothes During the Three Weeks and Nine Days
When Precisely Do the Prohibitions of the Nine Days Begin?
Washing a Stain Off One’s Clothes During the Week of Tisha B’Ab
The Custom of Syrian Jews Not to Make Weddings During the Three Weeks
Purchasing a Home or Furniture, or Painting One’s Home, During the Three Weeks
The Three Weeks – Restrictions on Hitting and Traveling
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found