Torah · Halacha YomitBorer: Is it One or Two Ingredients?מרכיב אחד או שני מרכיבים?Rabbi Uri Nahum · November 2, 2026 · 39 Melachot-15Play+30Position0:00—Save⌄ShareTranscript0:00So we started talking about the melachot of zoreh, borer, and0:06meraked. Like we said yesterday, all of these melachot, although done a little bit slightly differently, but they all accomplish the same thing,0:11which is, if you have a mixture, you're separating the unwanted, what you don't want, from the mixture.0:18You're taking that out. That would be those melachot.0:21So, like we said yesterday, we're building on that, is that in order for this to be a problem, there has to be a mixture.0:28A mixture is defined by two different ingredients.0:31If you have the same ingredients together, it's not called a mixture because it's the same thing.0:37So, for example, a person has a bowl of sunflower seeds.0:41There are a lot of different sunflower seeds types. There's bigger, smaller, right?0:45So let's say the guy doesn't want small ones. That's all the same thing.0:48There's nothing significantly different. That's all the same thing.0:51So the first step that a person has to look at when he sees a mixture is to see what we call in halacha, min echad or shnei minim.1:00Is there one or two minim,1:03right? What constitutes two things and one thing?1:06This, believe it or not, is one of the hardest things in1:09halacha, because there could be minim. It doesn't have to be just different types, but something that's significantly a different size,1:15that could also be seen also different.1:19Let's give you some examples, and then we'll tell you if it's one min or shnei minim.1:24And again, if it's two minim, that means if they're two different ingredients, two different types,1:29then in that case, if you take out what you don't want, that will be a problem.1:33So let's start with the first example, example number one.1:36A guy has a bowl of jelly beans.1:38There's red jelly beans, blue jelly beans, yellow jelly beans, okay?1:42You present it to your kids. The kids say,1:43Ew, pink jelly beans. We're not girls.1:47Okay, fine, I'll take out the pink jelly beans.1:50So calm down, okay?1:52So take out the pink jelly beans.1:53Do we say, All jelly beans?1:55Do me a favor, pink, blue, what's the difference?1:57What if you're colorblind, right?1:58So the answer to that is this is actually considered two different types.2:03Why is that so?2:04Because there is a difference in the pink and the blue and yellow jelly beans,2:09even though you never tasted or know the difference, but there is a2:12difference. Number one is the color, the fact that it's clearly different in color.2:15Number two is also in taste.2:17It does taste.2:18A blue jelly bean will taste differently from a pink jelly bean.2:20So therefore, if a person in that case will take out the pink jelly beans from the mixture2:26and put it on the side, that will be an issur d'oraita of— Borer.2:31That's one example.2:32Another example is the following.2:35A person had—now, we'll explain why at a different time, you know,2:40how to do it in the kosher way.2:41I just want to give an example:2:43an egg, right?2:45An egg is one egg.2:46If you have multiple eggs in a bowl and you want to take out one egg from the mixture,2:50it's not a problem.2:51That's all the same.2:53However, if you have eggs and you have the shells of the egg that are there also,2:58what does that mean?2:59That means you peeled and everything fell into the same bowl,3:02and now you have eggs and the shells as well.3:03So you want to take out the shells that have been peeled already.3:06You want to take them out of the mixture.3:10That will be an issur of borer as well.3:14So what do you mean?3:14It's all an egg.3:15Yes, but the shell is not edible, and egg is edible.3:19Now, how do you peel an egg in general?3:20You're taking the bad away from the good.3:23That we'll get to.3:23We'll explain why later on.3:25Right now, we're not up to that yet,3:26but I just want to give this example.3:28A person peeled the eggs, and there's the shells and the eggs inside.3:31He wants to remove the shells already that have been peeled off.3:35He wants to take them off,3:36could be a problem.3:37This will be the same issue with any fruit that has a shell that's similar to an egg,3:42meaning, say, oranges, pomelo.3:45I think of all different types of fruits that have3:49these—the peels are separate from the fruit itself.3:51If it's already peeled and they're mixed together, that'll be a problem.3:58What else did we say?3:59Okay, let's talk about the following case that of course can bring4:02now. Some cases are not so simple.4:03Some cases are very complicated.4:04This will be one of them.4:06What would you say about the skin of a chicken?4:10Right?4:11The skin of a chicken.4:12A lot of people will not eat the skin.4:15Right,4:15they don't want.4:16I'm not talking about the people who want.4:17I'm talking about the people that don't want it.4:18It's peel of the chicken,4:19the skin of the chicken, they want to take it off.4:22Removing the skin and taking off the plate, would that be considered?4:25This is not so simple.4:27I see poskim this way, that way.4:29Is it one piece?4:30Is it one chicken?4:31Because really it's edible.4:32At the same time, if you're so disgusted by it, you're a person that never eats it,4:35it could be considered two pieces, two, what's it called, two different ingredients,4:41and therefore to remove it off your plate—I'm reading carefully my4:44words—to remove it off your plate could be a problem of borer on Shabbat.4:47Again, the solutions we'll get to.4:49I'm just today defining, and when you come to Shabbat and you have things in front of you,4:54you always have to look: what is it?4:55Is it a mixture?4:56Number one is, which is what we're focusing on today, is it two ingredients or not?5:00You have to define that first, and then we'll get to the next one tomorrow.