Today’s shiur sponsored as a refuah sheleima for Shulamis bas Channah
Sponsorships for the upcoming Klalim, which discuss the 39 melachos of Shabbos, are available. Please contact Rabbi Reingold for more information at rabbireingold@gmail.com or 301.996.5910
We have finished Klal 9. The purpose of this Klal was to learn about broad klalim which come up regarding melachos of Shabbos. We will discuss a few other concepts not discussed by the Chayei Adam.
We are discussing various melachos where intent is definitional to the melacha, and when one is lacking that subjective thought process, it completely removes the status of that action as melacha.
In the first volume of Rabbi Ribiat’s sefer, he has a section titled meleches machsheves, and compiles a list of melachos which fit under this category. We have learned about makeh bepatish, tzod mechateich, mesarteit, kotzair, melabein and borer, and today we will continue through his list.
One of the most significant places where this concept plays out is sechita. One of the 39 melachos is dosh, which refers to the process of threshing, or breaking the usable kernel away from the stalk. Whereas borer is defined as items which are already detached and in a mixture, dosh is defined as an attached “mixture” which one wishes to break apart. One of the toldos of dosh is mefareik, to break items apart into pieces. Part of mefareik is the concept of sechita, which refers to extracting the liquid from a fruit. Halacha considers the fruit to be akin to the husk, and the liquid to be akin to the kernel. Thus, we learn the concept of sechita from dosh.
The process of dosh is to break off the kernel from the chaff in order to use the kernel. Similarly, sechita is the process of squeezing out the liquid, and when one does so, it is a melacha shetzricha legufa and chayav.
If one squeezes the fruit for a purpose other than the liquid, it has the status of a melacha she’eina tzricha legufah. If one squeezes the liquid with the intent of discarding the juice, it does not have the status of sechita/dosh at all, because it loses its status of melacha in totality. The only reason that it is akin to dosh is because the liquid becomes like the kernel by virtue of the intent to use it. If the person his no intent to use it, it is not like the kernel, so no dosh is involved.
Thus, if one is trying to fit a fruit into a hole or container, and, in the process, some liquid gets squeezed out and is discarded, there is no issue of sechita at all, because it does not have the status of melacha at all.
This last point plays into the question of milking animals on Shabbos. Milking is a form of mefareik, as the milk inside the udder is akin to the kernel, and the udder is akin to the husk. The two are considered connected, and the process of milking extracts one from the other. Thus, to milk the animal and use the milk on Shabbos is an issur deoraysa.
On the other hand, it is painful for the animal to carry around the extra milk in their udders, so one is allowed to squeeze it out, but it must be discarded. It can either be milked directly to the ground, or placed into a container which has an agent, such as soap, which will immediately soil the milk. With these arrangements, the milking does not have the status of being the melacha of mefareik whatsoever.
The same halacha applies to a woman who has a similar issue. However, if the woman needs to do it for the child, and the child will only use the mothers milk, and the child will not eat unless the milk is first extracted, it is considered a sakanah for the child, and she should do this process in a regular manner.
Summary
- For certain melachos, intent can be definitional to the melacha, and if the full criteria of intent is missing, the melacha has not been transgressed. It may therefore be muttar, pending certain concerns.
- For most other melachos, lack of intent will only consider it davar sheaino miskaven, to which psik reisha would apply, or melacha shaino tzrichah legufah, which are both assur either medeoraysa or mederabbanon.
- The melachos to which this concept applies include:
- Makeh bepatish
- Tzod
- Mechateich
- Mesarteit
- Kotzair
- Melabein
- Borer
- Dosh/mefareik
