Welcome to the Daily Halacha (Jewish law). Is a person allowed to use a lemon squeezer on Shabbat? Halacha lema'aseh (practical Jewish law), a person can squeeze a lemon on Shabbat directly onto food. According to Hacham Ovadia Yosef, a person can also squeeze a lemon directly into water, into a drink. But are you allowed to use a lemon squeezer? The Halacha is that a person should not use a lemon squeezer on Shabbat. The person should not use a kli hameyuchad l'sechita, a utensil that's meant to squeeze on Shabbat. It should not be used. It's actually muktzeh (set aside). You should only squeeze the lemon with your hand, directly onto the fish, directly into the water to make lemonade, or onto the salad. No problem. But a person should not use an actual kli, an actual utensil that helps you squeeze, like a lemon squeezer, on Shabbat.
The Ashkenazim are machmir (stringent), and they hold a lemon. It's not allowed to be squeezed. Only if it's directly on food are you allowed to. But you're not allowed to squeeze it into water to make lemon juice. Hacham Ovadia Yosef holds that you're allowed to squeeze a lemon specifically into water. And again, we're only talking about a lemon. Do not compare this to other fruits and vegetables. So, is a person allowed to use a lemon squeezer, the actual utensil? No. But are you allowed to squeeze a lemon on Shabbat directly onto food, onto a drink? The answer is yes.