DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 602 KB)
Borer: Selecting from a Mixture of Two Foods

The Halacha establishes that the prohibition of Borer applies also to mixtures in which both components are edible, but one is not desired. The undesired component becomes "relative P’solet." This Halacha is brought by Tosafot (Shabbat 74), Rambam (Shabbat 8:13) and Maran (319:4).

The conventional understanding would be that such a mixture has the same Halacha as a mixture containing inedible P’solet (waste). That is, one must select and remove the food that he desires and leave the relative P’solet. However, careful analysis of the Rambam’s language reveals a big Chidush and leniency. He says "Borer Ha’ehad Min Ha’ehad," implying that it doesn’t matter which element is selected. This is how Rabbi David Aramah and the Meirat Sefer () understands the Rambam.

The Shulhan Aruch quotes the Rambam verbatim, but the Rema adds a gloss (listen to audio for exact citation), specifying that the undesired food must remain. The Mishna Berura (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933) explains that the Rema is teaching that one must always select the desired food. Thus there is a Machloket how to understand the Rambam. The Be’ur Halacha (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933) writes that because this Machloket touches on an Isur D’oraita (Torah prohibition), one must be stringent.

SUMMARY

Even when a mixture contains two foods, one must always select and remove the food which he desires.


 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Nidda – The Status of Stains Found on Colored Garments
Immersing in a Mikveh With Long Nails and Nail Polish (Part 2)
Immersing in a Mikveh With Long Nails and Nail Polish (Part 1)
If a Woman Did Not Immerse In The Mikveh on the Night After the Seventh Day
May a Woman Immerse in the Mikveh Before Sundown on the Seventh Day?
When May a Woman Begin Counting the Seven “Clean Days”?
If No Wine is Available Under the Hupa; The Recitation of Birkat Erusin
The Custom to Refrain From Eating Meat On the Day of Immersion In A Mikveh
Weddings in Synagogues
Laws and Customs of the Meal at a Wedding
Does the Officiating Rabbi Drink the Wine Under the Hupa?
Who Has the Right to Choose the Officiating Rabbi at a Wedding?
If the Sheba Berachot Were Recited Out of Order
The Great Rewards of Hachnasat Kalla – Helping a Couple Marry and Build a Home
Must the Hatan’s Family Lineage Appear in the Ketuba?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found