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...
Are Women Obligated to Recite Musaf?
Shaving, Showering and Immersing in the Mikveh Before Shaharit
Kedusha: Proper Intention Before Beginning Kedusha; Lifting One’s Heels During Kedusha
Laws of the Daily Viduy (Confessional)
The Recitation of Alenu Le’shabe’ah
The Recitation of Alenu After Shaharit
May a Person Standing Near the Doorway be Counted Toward a Minyan?
Answering Kaddish, Barechu or Kedusha During “Asher Yasar” and Immediately After Using the Restroom
The Procedure for Bowing and Stepping Back After the Amida Prayer
Facing Toward the Temple Site During the Amida
Reciting the Nighttime Shema After Daybreak; Proper Intentions and Pronunciation While Reciting the Word “Ehad”
If One Recited the Wrong Musaf on Shabbat Rosh Hodesh
If One Forgot to Recite Ya’ale Ve’yabo in Birkat Hamazon on Rosh Hodesh
The Proper Intention While Reciting the First Verse of Shema
Halachot Pertaining to the Beracha of “Yoser Or”
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found