Torah · Halacha YomitBorer - Filtering WaterRabbi Uri Nahum · November 11, 2026 · 39 Melachot-15Play+30Position0:00—Save⌄ShareTranscript0:00Okay, so we've been discussing borer for a while, and today's halacha is not—it's in the halachot of borer, but it's really under0:11melaket. Let's just review that the three melachot, zoreh, borer, and melaket, they're all accomplishing the same thing.0:17They're all separating. There's a mixture, and they're separating what's not wanted from the mixture, and they are just done in different ways.0:25Zoreh is by the wind, borer is with the hand, and melaket is using a special tool like a sifter.0:30So I want to talk today a little bit something that's connected more to melaket, but again, you'll find it in the halachot of borer because that's the general rule that we say.0:38So, could a person filter water on Shabbat? Could you use a water filter on Shabbat?0:44So simply, what's happening? So there's a mixture of solid and liquid, and now you're separating, you're taking, removing the unwanted things in it, whatever is in it.0:54So that's the question that's in discussion over here. Like we told you, there is a machloket if solid and liquid is a mixture anyway, but most opinions are machmir, and there is an issue.1:06And that's what we said: when you take out a tea bag, you're supposed to take it out with a little bit of liquid, so this way it has a little bit.1:12Over here, when I'm separating, when I have whatever is inside my water, whatever is inside of it, so this is really the big question, is would you drink this water without the filter or not?1:24So if you would not drink the water without the filter, I'll get to some reasons in a second, so then the poskim bring down, so then for you, filtering would be an issue,1:33because you would not drink it without the filtering, so therefore the filtering is helping you. It's doing something for you.1:39But if not, the system that you have is filtering the water. I mean, it would be better to be filtered, of course, but I would drink it anyway regardless, so it's not really doing much for you, that would be okay.1:50Now why would a person not drink the water? So there could be a number of reasons. If you live in New York City and you're of the opinion, or your rabbis— you shouldn't be of any opinions, I don't know if you know the opinions— but your rabbis hold that the bugs in New York City water is a problem.2:09It's a machlokes in the poskim, the acharonim, but there are copepods bugs in the water. Are those bugs, the ones that are asur or not? It's a big, big discussion, way beyond our session today or for a later time. But anyway, so if a person would not drink unfiltered water because of the bug issue, or there are some people that whatever chemicals that they put in our water to clean it or to not clean it, whatever it is, the carbon, what they are, and they would not drink it, they would only drink either filtered water or bottled water,2:36so then for such a person, the filtering is doing something for them, and that would be an issue.2:42Now this is only an issue if you're putting it in something that's filtering it right away. For example, there's a Brita, or there's, you know, they used to have, I don't know if they still have it, but they have like a filter that goes directly on the faucet. That's when it's being filtered directly.2:56However, if you have something, a filter in the main, in the main water line, which is not filtering only for what you're drinking water, but it's filtering for everything in the3:07house—your shower is filtered. You can technically open it in your house and just enjoy. Nobody's doing that. So therefore the filtering is not happening for this; it's happening for everything in the house. By the time it gets to you, it's already filtered, then that would not be an issue.3:18It's only an issue when it's direct and it's filtering it direct. That's when it would be an issue.