Torah · Halacha YomitDefinition of ToldahRabbi Uri Nahum · October 23, 2026 · 39 Melachot-15Play+30Position0:00—Save⌄ShareTranscript0:00So we started the melacha of dash, and yesterday we gave a little bit of introduction to the melacha of dash.0:06But yesterday's introduction was coming to define the melacha, and that it's asur, and the definition is only that's0:17asur mid'oraita. Now, most people are not going to take the wheat kernel and smash it and get things out of it, whether it's a wheat kernel or the wheat stalks or the barley stalks or anything of the like.0:28The practical halachot are not going to come from the melacha d'oraita, but it's going to come from other issurim d'oraita known as0:36toladah. And the toladah of dash, which is what we are going to deal with, is sechita, which means squeezing.0:42Like, for example, squeezing a fruit, making grape juice, for example,0:46that is the more common place where we're going to discuss.0:51But I want to first take a little break and explain the concept of0:57toladah, because we mentioned it very quickly, but I want to talk about it now a little bit more.1:01So let's start with the Mishnah.1:03When the Mishnah lists the 39 melachot, the Mishnah doesn't call them 391:09melachot. The Mishnah says that they're called1:13avot melachot. Why are they called the fathers of1:15melachot? So the Gemara, in different places in Shas, Bava Kamma and different places, says that if there's avot, there's1:24toldot. What that means is, in short, basically, who celebrates1:29Father's Day? A person who has children.1:31Avot means fathers; children are, you know, there must be children.1:35So that's what the Gemara is saying over here.1:38If the Mishnah is calling them avot melachot, it must be that they have children.1:42What that means is that there are different categories.1:46These 39 melachot are different categories that a person is not allowed to do on Shabbat,1:52but each one also has a subcategory.1:55What makes something an av? What makes something a1:58toladah? Is one de'oraita, one1:59derabanan? The answer is no.2:01Both. A person who does the av melacha, for example, let's say a person does dash.2:06He takes a wheat stalk and he smashes it and gets the kernel out.2:13That's an2:15issur de'oraita. If a person takes a grape and squeezes it into a cup, it's also an2:20issur de'oraita. So what is the difference if it's av and2:22toldah? So the difference would be in the obligation of bringing a korban.2:26A person who does the av and the toldah of the same one without realization will only have to bring one korban.2:33If he does different avot, for example, he harvests, he's me'amer, he piles up the grain, and he also does dash2:42without realizing that today is Shabbat, he'll have to bring three different korbanot.2:46So it comes out in practical terms, there's no difference between an av and toldah for us.2:51They're both asur from the Torah.2:53Then there's, for instance, that the rabbis made, which is called2:57derabanan. Okay, so that's a little introduction of the av and the3:00toldah. One more detail, and that is why is the av called an av and why is the toldah called a3:05toldah? And the answer is the av is what they did in the Mishkan.3:09The toldah is the same idea, although it wasn't done in the Mishkan,3:12but again, like we said, it's3:14asur mide'oraita. So let's get to some practical halachot of the toldah of dash, which is sechita.3:20Mide'oraita from the Torah, it's asur to squeeze grapes and olives to make them into juice.3:25Anybody who squeezes grapes and turns them into juice, or olives and turns them into juice, is3:32chayav mide'oraita. Everything else, even though it's very common that people squeeze them and make juices out of them, for example oranges,3:38I believe the majority of oranges that are grown in the world are for the sake of making orange juice.3:43Still, a person who makes orange juice on Shabbat, although he did an issur, but the issur is only3:48miderabanan. Now again, for— All of us, most of us, in practical terms, doesn't make a difference if it's asur d'Oraita or3:55d'Rabbanan, it's still asur. You're also not allowed to squeeze orange juice.3:59So what's the practical4:01halacha? Today's practical halacha is going to be as follows.4:04The problem is that when does the issur actually take place?4:08I'm going to go in slow motion. You might think it's, you know, it's like too technical, but it is because we're going to learn a halacha from here.4:16At which point did the issur take place?4:19When a guy squeezes a grape, what happens is juice starts to come out of the grape,4:24and then it travels from the grape all the way down into an empty cup or bowl.4:29At which point did the issur take place?4:31Is it when the juice comes out of the grape, or when it hits the bowl?4:35What's the difference?4:37The difference would be when the Gemara says that ochel mitoch ochel—I mean, ochel, that4:44if you turn ochel into mashkeh, ochel into liquid, then you've done the4:50issur. If you turn food into food, it's not4:53issur. What does that mean?4:53If you squeeze even a grape on top of your food, since it went from a solid, it went from the grape onto the solid, it never became a liquid.5:05So therefore that would be mutar.5:06And that's today's practical5:07halacha. You're allowed to take a lemon and squeeze it on fish directly because it never turned into liquid.5:14True, you see the liquid, but it went directly from food onto food.5:17Now obviously, you can't make a whole cup of lemon juice, you know, from the thing on the fish and say,5:23Look, I'm squeezing on the fish.5:25If we hold that lemons is a problem of squeezing, that also needs to be discussed,5:31then it would be a problem to make a whole thing of lemon juice.5:34We're talking about that it's going directly on the fish to flavor the fish and to get absorbed in the fish or in the salad.5:40That would be okay.