All right, we're going to learn something regarding the laws of Shabbat. There are 39 forbidden melachot on Shabbat—the 39 primary forbidden acts of labor. Tonight, we're going to analyze the melacha called Borer. Borer is a very important melacha because many people who consider themselves Shomer Shabbat (Sabbath-observant) might unfortunately transgress this melacha on a weekly basis. If they do, then they're considered to be transgressing Shabbat. What does Borer mean? Borer means to select. What does it mean to select? It means that if you have things mixed together—let's say, even foods mixed together—and you have the edible part, which we'll call the ochel (edible part), and you also have the inedible part, or waste. We'll call that psolet, the waste.
I'll give you a classic example. You have a salad. In the salad, you have fresh greens and some wilted ones. You don't want the wilted ones, so you want to pull them out of the salad. So you do what everybody would do during the week. As you're eating, you say, “Oh, there's a wilted one over there.” So you just pull the wilted, spoiled piece out with your hand, and you go on. If you did that on Shabbat, you have officially transgressed a sin from the Torah. It's called selecting. You have selected the bad from the good, and that is not allowed. So that is one rule you must remember: you are never allowed on Shabbat to select bad from good. Once you have selected the bad from the good, you have transgressed Borer.
I'll give you another example of Borer. On Shabbat, we are not allowed to use kelim (vessels, instruments) that are designated for selecting. For example, a sieve, a colander, or any type of sifter. I'll give you the classic example. You have a sifter, and let's say you have beans or some sort of vegetable on top of it, and there's also dirt, pebbles, and things like that. You want to sift the vegetables from the dirt. So what do you do? You shake it. You're shaking it back and forth; it's good exercise. What ends up happening is that the vegetables remain on top, and the dirt goes to the bottom. Well, you have now selected, and you have selected with a vessel. You're never allowed to select on Shabbat using a vessel designated for sifting. So that's a second condition when it comes to Borer.
Thirdly, even when it's permissible to do Borer—for example, when you're not using a vessel and you're not taking the bad from the good—the only time it's permissible to select is when your intention is to eat it right away. You're not allowed to select from one meal to the other. It has to be for immediate use, which means right before the meal. We'll get into the details another night. Here's an example. Let's say you have a salad, and we go back to the wilted leaves in the salad. We've already learned that you cannot take the bad from the good. You cannot take the wilted leaves from the good. That you can never do, even with your hand. But now I'm allowed to take the good from the bad, so I can take all the good pieces out. I can take one good piece, two good pieces, three good pieces. I can take all the good pieces, but even that's only permissible right before the meal or during the meal as you're eating.
So we've learned three very important conditions regarding Borer. I will review them and give you a way to remember them. Borer is only permissible when you do it with your hand, not with a vessel. It's only permissible Miyad. Miyad means when you're about to eat, or while you're actually eating. Beyad, with your hand. Miyad, immediately. And it's only permissible to take good from bad, not bad from good. If these three conditions are not all met, then one is committing a sin on Shabbat.
So, back to my salad case. I am allowed to take the good from the bad, the good pieces from the bad, only if I'm using my hand and only if I'm doing it immediately, right before or during the meal. We'll get into more details of this. This is just the opening session, but at least now you're aware of Borer, and there are many, many examples. The salad case is just an easy one, but there are many other reasons and ramifications. But again, for your memory, for this halacha (Jewish law), you must remember the rules. Borer, if allowed, must be done only with your hand, not with a vessel. It can only be done for immediate use, and it can only be done by taking good from bad. Never bad from good. And all three conditions must exist in order for it to be permissible. So again, taking the good from the bad in the salad with your hand as you're eating, you're okay. But if any of those conditions does not exist, then one has already transgressed Borer.
So you see, Shabbat is more than just not turning on lights. People think, “Okay, I don't turn on the lights, I don't use my cell phone, I'm Shomer Shabbat.” No, there's no electricity in the salad. And still, it could be Chas veshalom (God forbid) problematic. May these bonus round of halacha be for the Refuah Shelemah (complete recovery) of Chaya Sarah bat (daughter of) Simcha.