Performing Various Types of Work on Yom Tov - Rabbi Eyal Peled shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 We’re continuing with the laws of Yom Tov. We’ve discussed the basic principles behind the laws we deal with on Yom Tov. We spoke about how the types of work permitted on Yom Tov are those needed for food preparation—types of work defined as food-related work. We know that there are types of work we cannot do on Yom Tov, some prohibited by Torah law and some by rabbinic law. We discussed that at length. Today we’ll focus more on the types of work that generally cannot be done on Yom Tov. In other words, these are types of work that, broadly speaking, are not permitted on Yom Tov. They aren’t considered food-related work, so the basic permission for food-related work on Yom Tov doesn’t apply to them. Still, there are certain circumstances in which we can make use of these types of work on Yom Tov as well. Now, we already know the general framework. We’re not going into the laws of Shabbos so much here; we’re focusing more on the laws of Yom Tov. So when we discuss these types of work, it’s understood that any details we don’t address follow the laws of Shabbos, where we can learn the specific rules. Let’s begin with tearing. As we understand it, tearing is not food-related work. It isn’t work generally done for food preparation, and it is prohibited on Yom Tov. So, in general, tearing things on Yom Tov is prohibited, according to the definitions we learn—or have learned—in the laws of Shabbos, primarily in section 340. But there are some exceptions. For example, tearing open an envelope. We know that the Alter Rebbe teaches

02:24 Speaker 2 us, also in section 340 of the laws of Shabbos, that tearing open an envelope on Shabbos presents a problem. But on Shabbos, we aren’t talking about simply tearing paper, right? To go a little into the basic conditions for the prohibition of tearing according to the Alter Rebbe, we can point to one particularly prominent distinction: in the Alter Rebbe’s view, the prohibition of tearing does not apply to a single, detached object—something that is not attached to the ground and is one piece. So tearing paper does not involve the prohibition of tearing on Yom Tov. Unless, through that tear, I make some sort of improvement: if I tear to a particular measurement, that’s cutting to size; or if I make an improvement, there’s a problem of making a functional object. But just tearing something at random is not a problem, even on Shabbos. Once we tear apart pieces that were attached to one another, though, tearing is essentially the reverse of sewing. It’s the other side of sewing. If sewing means attaching pieces to one another, joining them together, then separating pieces of paper that were stuck together is the prohibited work of tearing according to the Alter Rebbe. But that’s all about ordinary tearing. When we talk about tearing open an envelope, we mean a familiar situation: someone receives an envelope in the mail, with a letter inside, enclosed in the outer envelope. In the past, newspapers—whether Beis Moshiach or various other publications—were also delivered inside a paper wrapper that you had to tear open to get the paper out. That still happens today. Now it may be a plastic bag or something similar, but it’s the same idea, the same

04:21 Speaker 2 issue. Regarding this, the Alter Rebbe does indeed write that one should avoid tearing open an envelope on Shabbos. The Ketzos Hashulchan explains that the reason is the prohibition of dismantling. Again, it isn’t a problem of tearing, because the envelope is one object, so the prohibition of tearing does not apply, as we explained. But there is a problem of dismantling. When I tear open the envelope, I’m tearing apart something considered a kind of container: it holds the letter inside and protects it. Tearing it open therefore raises a problem of dismantling. It isn’t dismantling prohibited by Torah law, since it isn’t done in order to rebuild, and it may also be a flimsy container, and so on. But there is a rabbinic prohibition of dismantling. On Shabbos, then, doing this is permitted only if it is needed for Shabbos. So when I receive an envelope on Shabbos and want to open it, I have to ask myself whether I need it for Shabbos. If it contains a newspaper, for example, do I need to read it specifically this Shabbos, or can I read it after Shabbos? That leads to various questions. But the Alter Rebbe tells us that on Yom Tov this restriction does not apply. On Yom Tov I may tear open an envelope even if I’m not doing so for Yom Tov—even if the envelope, or the letter or newspaper inside it, is not specifically needed for Yom Tov,

06:05 Speaker 2 it is nevertheless permitted. So the conclusion is that tearing open an envelope on Yom Tov is permitted even when it isn’t needed for Yom Tov. That’s one difference between Shabbos and Yom Tov concerning tearing. Although this isn’t really tearing in the halachic sense—it’s more a matter of dismantling—the action takes the form of tearing. Of course, one must make sure the envelope doesn’t contain something that is muktzeh, such as electricity bills and the like. In that case, it is muktzeh and may not be moved at all. Another case raised by the Nitei Gavriel is that of a kohen who wants to go up to the duchan for Birchas Kohanim. He tries to undo his shoelaces, but the knot has become so tangled that he can’t untie it. In general, since we’re discussing it, a knot that became tangled is not considered a knot. It would be permissible to undo it even if it became so tangled that it resembles a craftsman’s knot, because it didn’t happen intentionally. In principle, it would be permissible to undo it on Shabbos. But here we’re talking about a situation where he cannot undo it right now. He doesn’t have what he needs to untie the knot. He’s standing there, needs to go up to the duchan, and cannot untie it. The Nitei Gavriel says that he may cut the knot—not untie it, but cut it. And when he cuts the shoelace, he should cut it away from the knot, off to the side rather than at the knot itself. That makes it more lenient. If I cut it at the knot itself, then that’s a kind of

07:56 Speaker 2 I undid the knot. But as long as I don’t cut it at the knot itself, there is more room to be lenient. Other halachic authorities also raise this possibility, so that is the advice when a case like this comes up. As for the melachah of sewing, as we said, sewing is not connected to food preparation. It is not a melachah performed on the food itself. Food is generally not prepared through sewing, so sewing is also forbidden on Yom Tov. That is the general rule. When we get into the details, though, we see that a certain kind of sewing is permitted on Yom Tov. The Alter Rebbe discusses sewing food in section 509. There is a dish I’ve seen prepared in many places, perhaps at event halls and the like, called stuffed chicken. They put rice and various other things inside the chicken, then sew it up and tie it so that everything cooks properly and doesn’t scatter or fall out, and so on. So, sewing food on Yom Tov: the Alter Rebbe writes in section 509 that it is permitted. There is something of a novelty here, because the permission is based on the fact that this sewing is done for Yom Tov. I’m sewing food, after all; it is for food preparation. So we are talking about sewing for the sake of food preparation. Some halachic authorities classify this sewing as preparatory work, because, in the end, if we adhere to the definition the Alter Rebbe gave at the beginning of the laws of Yom Tov, it certainly can be placed in that category. What is this sewing, after all? It isn’t—t-t-the Alter Rebbe’s definition is that the melachah is performed on the food itself, so that when I enjoy the food, I benefit from the work itself,

09:55 Speaker 2 as with cooking. When I eat food that has been cooked, I benefit from the cooking itself. But when we are talking about sewing up a chicken, I don’t benefit from the sewing itself when I eat that chicken. So this sewing would seemingly fall into the category of preparatory work for food. If we do classify it that way, then it would be permitted only if I could not have done it before Yom Tov. In practice, preparing this chicken before Yom Tov is generally not so feasible. Sometimes it isn’t possible or doesn’t work out. But I would still be subject to the restrictions that apply to preparatory work. That is if I define this sewing as preparatory work for food. The Alter Rebbe’s wording, however, explicitly implies that this sewing is classified as a melachah of food preparation in every respect. It is not considered preparatory work; he regards it as a melachah of food preparation in every respect. There is certainly something novel here, and it really calls for examination: why does he see it as food preparation? After all, it does not quite fit the definition we gave. If we want to reconcile our understanding somewhat, perhaps we could say that this sewing is, in any case, prohibited only by rabbinic law, because it is not permanent sewing. Sewing up this chicken is not permanent. So since we are not dealing with a melachah forbidden by Torah law in the first place, but only with something forbidden by rabbinic law, we can more readily treat it as actual food preparation and permit it even when I could have done it before Yom Tov. So, in practice, sewing food

11:47 Speaker 2 is permitted even if I could have done it before Yom Tov; I may still do it on Yom Tov. Nevertheless, halachah requires me to thread the needle beforehand. What is permitted is the sewing itself. The sewing itself is permitted on Yom Tov, but preparing for it—namely, preparing the thread I will sew with and putting it through the needle—must be done before Yom Tov. Doing that on Yom Tov is certainly not food preparation; it is preparatory work. I cannot do that preparatory work on Yom Tov, because it involves issues of prohibited melachos. As soon as I cut the thread, I encounter the issue of cutting, of fashioning an implement, and the like. They also require me to thread the needle before Yom Tov. However, if I threaded the needle before Yom Tov and then, on Yom Tov, discovered that the thread had come out of the needle, I may put it back in. But if I did not cut the thread from the spool before Yom Tov, I cannot cut it on Yom Tov. I will have to forgo it. So, to sew food on Yom Tov, I need to make sure the thread has already been cut and threaded through the needle before Yom Tov. Then, on Yom Tov itself, I can sew these foods with the thread, and at the end, when a loose end of thread remains, I can cut it. The custom is to burn it, but one may also cut it. That is regarding sewing on Yom Tov. All the other laws of sewing on Yom Tov are the same as the laws of sewing on Shabbos, as we said. Another melachah on Yom Tov that can indeed be regarded

13:41 Speaker 2 as food preparation is the melachah of tanning. Tanning in general is not specifically connected with food preparation, but a related activity is salting food on Yom Tov. So we have to ask ourselves: is salting food on Yom Tov subject to the same rules as on Shabbos, or is it somewhat more lenient? First, by way of introduction, on Shabbos there is a disagreement between the Mechaber and the Rema. The Mechaber is more lenient, while the Rema is stricter. As for the practical ruling, the Alter Rebbe writes that one must be stringent and not salt many pieces on Shabbos. If I want to eat vegetables on Shabbos and salt them, I have to make sure I salt no more than one piece. That is the limit the Alter Rebbe sets for us. Permission to salt a vegetable on Yom Tov—vegetables of the kind that salting improves, preserves, and so on—is only on condition that I salt one piece and eat it immediately. I also cannot leave it sitting in salt. I salt one piece and eat it right away. So if I have slices of radish, cucumber, and the like, that is what I need to do: salt one piece and eat it immediately. If it is a salad, for example, with small pieces, they are not going to tell me to take out each piece separately, salt it, and start eating it. I wouldn’t finish that salad until tomorrow morning. Rather, the solution in such a case is simple: each spoonful I take from the salad counts as one piece. I salt that spoonful and eat it. That is how it should be if I am only salting it and, of course, not adding oil or anything else that neutralizes the salt’s effect. But on Yom Tov, on Yom Tov, the Alter Rebbe

15:36 Speaker 2 Here he gives us a leniency. This is what he writes in siman 514: strictly speaking, I may salt even many pieces on Yom Tov, and I may also leave them in the salt. His wording is that I may do so even for later in the day. That is the basic law. So on Yom Tov, strictly speaking, I may salt even many pieces and leave them in the salt, provided I intend to eat them on Yom Tov—not after Yom Tov, of course, since that would be preparing on Yom Tov for a weekday. But the Alter Rebbe nevertheless says it is proper to be stringent and not salt many pieces, even on Yom Tov. In other words, he asks us to salt only one piece on Yom Tov, as we said regarding Shabbos. Even so, there is still a difference: on Yom Tov, I may salt one piece and leave it in the salt. That is clearly implied by the Alter Rebbe’s wording. Even after adopting the stringency of salting only one piece, I still have permission to leave it in the salt for later on Yom Tov. So, in practice, regarding salting, it is preferable to be stringent and not salt many pieces. But I can salt one piece, even if I leave it in the salt until later or until the next day and the like, provided I eat it on Yom Tov. Another thing we encounter on Yom Tov—though not on every Yom Tov—is making salt water on Seder night for dipping the karpas and the like. Of course, ideally we should prepare the salt water before Yom Tov rather than wait until Yom Tov. But often we don’t get to it, and Seder night arrives, Yom Tov arrives, and we have no salt water.

17:33 Speaker 2 So can we make salt water on Yom Tov? On Shabbos, of course, there are significant restrictions. I have to make only a small amount, and there are several conditions that allow me to make salt water. It must not be strong—that is, I must not use two-thirds salt or more. Standard strong salt water has a ratio of two-thirds salt to one-third water. On Shabbos, I may not make strong salt water; I have to use less than two-thirds salt. In addition, on Shabbos I have to make it in an unusual way and make only a small amount for the dipping I’m doing now. Those are the restrictions on Shabbos. On Yom Tov, two restrictions apply: I must not make strong salt water, of course, and if I want to make salt water, I have to do it in an unusual way. Usually, you put the salt in the vessel first and then add the water. On Yom Tov, I have to reverse that: put the water in the vessel first, then add the salt—and use less than two-thirds salt, as we said. As for the restriction that I may make only a small amount for immediate use, there is a dispute about it. But it appears—and this is also the ruling in Kitzur Shulchan Aruch—that this stringency does not apply on Yom Tov. On Yom Tov, I can make a larger quantity of salt water; it does not have to be a small amount. Even if I don’t need such a large quantity, I don’t have to get into questions of how much I’ll use and exactly what quantity I need.

19:25 Speaker 2 I can make a comfortable amount of salt water. That covers making salt water on Yom Tov, for Seder night and the like. From here we’ll move on to the melachah of memareiach, smoothing, on Yom Tov. Memareiach is a derivative of memacheik, scraping smooth. The melachah of memacheik was done with hides: when processing a hide, an initial step was to scrape off the hair and thereby smooth it. From this, the Sages learned that it is also forbidden to smooth out various ointments. This is the most familiar form of memareiach we encounter on Shabbos: spreading ointments for medical purposes, for pleasure, or for skincare. Just as on Shabbos, I may not spread an ointment on the skin on Yom Tov. But memareiach can also involve food. For example, on Shabbos, the Beis Yosef discusses how we sometimes want to serve hummus at the meal. We put the hummus in a bowl and smooth it into an attractive shape so that it looks presentable. That action is problematic on Shabbos. It isn’t as severe, but ideally one should try to avoid it. So when I put hummus in a bowl on Shabbos, I won’t smooth its surface; I’ll leave it as it is. On Yom Tov, however, since this is a melachah done in preparing food, the problem does not apply. I may smooth food on Yom Tov. This is also stated explicitly in siman 507, where the Alter Rebbe discusses smoothing in an oven and permits it. So memareiach is permitted with food on Yom Tov, and I may smooth the hummus. Another situation involving the melachah of memareiach

21:42 Speaker 2 on Shabbos or Yom Tov—and this isn’t really possible on Shabbos, but it is on Yom Tov—is when we want to bake, or heat food, on Yom Tov. It comes up mainly in baking. As we learned, baking is permitted in principle on Yom Tov. So if, for baking a cake or something similar, I want to spread margarine on the pan so the cake won’t stick, that too is permitted. It is done for food preparation. I can spread margarine on the pan, especially since Rabbi Ovadia also points out that here I don’t intend to spread it evenly over every part. The issue with memareiach arises when I smooth something because I want the ointment to be even. When I put ointment on my skin, why do I spread it? To make the layer even. With the margarine, I have no interest in an even layer; I just want it to reach every part of the pan. The same applies when spreading something on a slice of bread. Besides the general permission for memareiach on Yom Tov, there is this additional point: I don’t intend to make the spread even. I just want it to reach every part of the bread, so the concern of memareiach doesn’t really apply. In any event, memareiach with food is permitted on Yom Tov. Similarly, coloring food is permitted on Yom Tov. On Shabbos, when I make a cup of tea, I should ideally put in the tea concentrate first and then pour in the water, as the Mishnah Berurah points out. If I put the water in first and then add the concentrate, I am, in effect, coloring the water. On Yom Tov, I don’t have that problem. This can also come up on Seder night,

23:37 Speaker 2 because, for example, there is a halachah that it is important for the wine used on Seder night to be red. There is a certain preference for that, although during the rest of the year we do not insist that the wine be red. White wine can also be used, and if it is better than the red, then on the contrary, it is preferable. But on Seder night there is a reason to use red wine, resembling blood and so on. So for people who don’t like drinking red wine, one suggestion is to use white wine and pour red wine into it to get that red color, thereby gaining that advantage as well. On Shabbos, this could present a problem, because here the coloring is being done for the sake of the color. It isn’t coloring as part of preparing the food, as with tea and the like; the intention is specifically to give it a red color. That makes this coloring a little more problematic. So on Shabbos, I would have to follow the Mishnah Berurah’s suggestion: put in the red wine first, then pour the white wine into it, diluting the redness. But on Yom Tov it is easier. I can put in the white wine and then add the red wine. So coloring food is permitted on Yom Tov. Another melachah we encounter on Yom Tov is erasing. Erasing and writing are melachos that are not done

25:34 Speaker 2 [These melachos are not involved] in preparing food, so it naturally follows that they would be prohibited on Yom Tov, and indeed they are. Erasing and writing are prohibited on Yom Tov. But as we said, there are exceptions, and we need to pay attention to a few things. With ordinary erasing, the rule is clear: we may not erase letters, and we may not erase pictures either. It’s not just letters; it also includes pictures that convey meaning, and so on. But there’s another detail to be aware of for people who smoke cigarettes. First, since we’re talking about smoking on Yom Tov, we discussed this in previous classes, but it’s worth mentioning the Rebbe Rashab’s request. The Rebbe Rashab writes not to smoke in public on Yom Tov. There’s also a discussion among the poskim about smoking itself—whether it is considered a need comparable to food preparation, and so on. But even if we say it is, even if we say smoking on Yom Tov is permitted, as people do in practice, the Rebbe Rashab instructed that one should not smoke in public on Yom Tov. He would even speak to people he saw smoking in public on Yom Tov. You want to smoke? Smoke in a room, but not in public. Even when smoking in private, though, you need to be aware that some cigarettes have lettering on them, near the end of the cigarette. When you smoke the cigarette and reach that lettering, there’s a problem of erasing: you’re erasing the letters written there. So ideally, you need to take care not to reach that point. I can’t extinguish the cigarette; extinguishing is prohibited on Yom Tov. But what I can do is blur those letters beforehand, go over

27:37 Speaker 2 them with some coloring or the like—find some way to avoid the problem of erasing. Now, it’s true that while this is a real concern, and many poskim ask and insist that people avoid it, erasing the letters here is something you don’t want and that serves no purpose for you. At most, the prohibition here is rabbinic. After all, the erasure is a kind of indirect action, it isn’t done in order to write, and it isn’t done in the usual manner, and so on. So there are several grounds for leniency, but we don’t want to rely on leniencies. We’ll try, of course, to do things properly from the outset and avoid the problem of erasing when it comes to cigarettes. The same issue also applies, of course, to foods with designs, letters, or pictures on them. Pictures that convey meaning—not just a triangle or a square, but pictures that express some idea or content—are subject to the prohibition of erasing. The Alter Rebbe writes about this in siman 458, in the laws of Pesach: one should not make matzos with such designs, because they need to be broken. We have Yachatz and other occasions when matzah needs to be broken, and when I break them, I violate the prohibition of erasing. So on Yom Tov, too, we need to take care not to break cookies or cakes with letters or pictures on them. Don’t break them by hand. As for eating them, many permit it, as the Shulchan Aruch and the Rema write; that is the ruling on Shabbos as well. Eating them on Yom Tov would seemingly be somewhat more lenient, but that is the halacha.