/
RSS Feed
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 are continuing siman 1, where the Chayei Adam clarifies a scenario. Based on what we have learned until now, breaking open an orange, banana or nut should fall under the melacha of dosh, as there is an edible and inedible component which are connected together and where one surrounds the other.
There are two approaches to understand the difference. One is that when the shell or peel is thin, it is batel (secondary) to the food, so it is not considered a separate entity. There is only an issue of dosh when the shell is large, thick and/or distinct.
A second approach is that the melacha of dosh is defined as removing the husk in the field and preparing it to be stored in the silo. In other words, dosh is performed in the context of removing something in order for it to be stored. However, a shell which remains on the food until the food is ready to be eaten, and which functions to protect and maintain the food, does not fall under the melacha of dosh, as it is not under the umbrella of the melacha. Thus, the shells of bananas, oranges and nuts are normally left on in order to protect and maintain the fruit inside until they are ready to be eaten and the melacha of dosh does not apply to them.
Similarly, when peanuts were sold in their shells, this idea applied to peanuts as well in the sense that the shell served to protect the peanut. In truth, peanuts have two shells, a thicker outer shell and thinner, inner peel. Based on the first explanation, it would actually be an issue to remove the outer peel. According to the second explanation, neither peel would be an issue.
The Chayei Adam continues, and writes that some nuts have two shells, such as walnuts, where the outer shell is a thick, outer shell which is not batel to the food and normally removed in the field. Even If it was not removed in the field, it would be an issue of dosh to remove it on Shabbos. We will continue this idea in the upcoming shiur, be’ezras Hashem.
Summary
- Dosh refers to the melacha of threshing, which is to separate stalks from their kernels.
- Dosh is also defined as separating items which surround one another, even if not attached per se.
- Peels of foods such as oranges or nuts are not an issue of dosh, either because dosh does not apply to thin peels which are batel to their food, or because only peels which are removed in the context of storage are included in the melacha.
