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We are beginning Klal 28, which discusses the melacha of tofeir. We will begin with an introduction.
Tofeir is sewing, which is defined as taking two units and sewing them together to create one entity. The Rambam points out that a toldah of tofeir is gluing two items together. This melacha was found in the mishkan in that the yerios were woven in separate units and then sewn together. It was also used to sew together the clothing of the kohanim.
The opposite of tofeir is koreiah, tearing out the stitches. Sometimes the stitches were not sewn properly, so they were torn out in order to resew them. This is known as koreiah al menas litfor, where the koreiah is constructively for the purpose of tofeir. Mideoraysa, koreiah is not chayav unless it is al menas litfor. The Mishnah Berurah adds that it does not necessarily need to be al menas litfor, but at least al menas lesakein, meaning that koreiah for the purpose of making something more usable is a tikkun. The example the Mishnah Berurah gives is of an Aerogram, which was a letter which was glued onto itself. A person would write on one side of the paper and then fold it onto itself. When it is opened, it is koreiah, but while it is not for the purpose of tofeir, it is a tikkun, because now the letter can now be read.
The Beis Yosef writes that only koreiah al menas litfor is chayav mideoraysa, but koreiah al menas lesakein is not. The Biur Halacha disagrees strongly, and brings sources to his opinion.
One of the questions which comes up is that stitches themselves are not permanent, and only become permanent through a knot made at the end of the stitching in order to secure them. If so, if a person does not make the knot, the stitches can easily come out, and they are not chayav for tofeir. The Gemara asks that, if so, the person should be chayav for koshair, and the Gemara concludes that he will be chayav for both. The difference between koshair and tofeir is that tofeir is taking two things and making them into one unit, while koshair is joining two items together, regardless of whether they become one unit or not.
Summary
Tofeir is defined as joining two items together into one unit through sewing. A toldah is joining two items into one unit through gluing. It is different from koshair in that koshair joins items together, but they do not necessarily become one unit.
Nevertheless, tofeir generally is not chayav unless there is a kesher at the end of the stitches, because otherwise the stitches will not last.
Koreiah, tearing, will only be chayav if it is constructive. The Beis Yosef holds that “constructive” refers to the ability to resew the stitches, while the Mishnah Berurah holds that any constructive purpose is included in the chiyuv
