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...
The Sephardic Custom Concerning the "Yihud" of a Bride and Groom
The Wedding Ceremony – The Proper Pronunciation of “Al Yedeh Hupa Be’kiddushin”; the Custom to Break a Glass
Reciting Sheva Berachot After Sundown of the Seventh Day After a Wedding
Reciting Sheba Berachot at a Meal That Was Not Specifically Prepared for the Bride and Groom
May a Person Who Did Not Eat at a Sheba Berachot Celebration Recite One of the Berachot?
Sheba Berachot – If Somebody Did Not Eat Bread at the Meal, Reciting the Berachot Seated
Are the Sheba Berachot Recited if the Bride and Groom Did Not Eat?
Reciting the Sheba Berachot if the Bride and Groom are Not Present
Nidda – Abstaining During “Onat Ha’hodesh” and “Onat Hahaflaga”
The Obligation to Abstain From Relations at the Time When the Wife is Likely to Become a Nidda
The “Tikkun Ha’kelali” – Repairing the Damage Caused by Making Oneself Impure
The Proper Procedure for Sheba Berachot That is Not Held in the Couple’s Home
Making Weddings at Night
Does Dandruff in the Hair Disqualify a Woman’s Immersion in a Mikveh?
Understanding The Beracha of ‘VeTzivanu Al Ha’Arayot’ At The Wedding Ceremony
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found