Torah · Halacha YomitSweeping & Mopping on ShabbatRabbi Uri Nahum · October 29, 2026 · 39 Melachot-15Play+30Position0:00—Save⌄ShareTranscript0:01So we're talking about the halachot of different sponges yesterday, what you can use for a sponge.0:07So that leads us to something that's not so, so, so connected to the0:13sechitah, to squeezing, a little bit connected, but it's more connected, or at least under the category of0:21choreish. So choreish, it's been a while ago that we spoke about choreish. We didn't speak, but this is connected to,0:26so put them together before we move on to the next0:29melachah. So just to review very quickly, recap, remember by choreish we said basically it's setting up the field0:36to be able to plant. Now, the field, the way it's set up, the dirt, the way it's set up,0:42it's made into a neat, a straight bed. They call it the bed, you know,0:46that's what they call it, a bed where you put the seeds in. So0:51that you need to have like a straight field, because if things grow,0:53you don't want it to grow out of—you want them to be neat,0:57to be able also to grow better and everything else.1:00So the halachah is, in olden days they didn't have tiles, they didn't have carpets,1:04they would have maybe rugs, right, like the way we have today a little bit. But the floor was pretty much dirt.1:09It's clear from the Gemara that's where they lived. So the Gemara says a person is asur to sweep the floor.1:15Why is that? Because you might see some1:19unevenness in your floor, and then you take the dirt and, you know,1:23push it to the side, make it all even.1:26That's going to be a problem if you sweep, because that will be an issue1:29d'oraita. So therefore, you cannot sweep the floor. Okay, that's dirt floor.1:33So I understand if I'm sitting in my backyard also, and food spills on the floor, the halachah is very clear:1:39it's asur to sweep the grass. Not real grass, not fake grass, you know, the carpet grass, no, real grass.1:46It's asur to sweep the grass. That's what the halachah is.1:48Even though I'm going to be careful, again, like every gezeirah, if it's asur, it's asur regardless of what you personally have in mind.1:56So to sweep grass is asur. What about a house, inside the house?2:01You might say, well, our house is, you know, we have tiles and everything else.2:05So Shulchan Aruch writes,2:10So you're not allowed to sweep the floor unless it is—2:15Merutzaf. No, merutzaf means that it's tiled. There's no dirt, basically.2:21So the Rama writes,2:26V'yesh machmirim afilu b'merutzaf, v'chein nohagim. So it seems like in the Ashkenazim that they're machmir. Even if you have a tiled floor, they should not sweep.2:34However, however, the Mishnah Berurah brings down that it depends on—first of all, why are people2:40machmirim? Why is the2:42Rama machmir? Why make machmir? So the answer is, he's machmir because a person might mix it up.2:46If you allow you to do the floor that's tiled, you might do a floor that's not tiled.2:50So2:51the Acharonim bring that. However, if the majority of the people in that city they live, they all have tiled floor, what are you mixing it up?2:56So therefore, in our days, I'm not so familiar with people's houses.3:01I don't look at people's houses, but I can guess3:03that almost everybody has either wood floor or tiled floor, right?3:08Nobody has dirt floor.3:10Again, I don't know people's minhagim.3:12People might have dirty floors, but dirt floor they don't have.3:16So therefore, it's pashut that today people could sweep without a problem.3:21That's minhag clearly by Ashkenazim, Sephardim, there's no question that we could sweep3:25if the floor is tiled, we could sweep.3:27But this is a setup for the next halacha.3:30The next halacha says that a person,3:38ein sachin et hakarka, v'lo medihin otah, afilu hu merutzaf, Shulchan Aruch, to wash the floor or to give it a shine, that's asur even if it's tiled.3:46Okay? So that means the regular classic, you know, in Israel they call it spanja,3:51right? They take water and soap, all over the floor, right?3:55And then sometimes they put a hose, whatever, and then they just, they take it all4:00and they take it down the drain.4:01That's cleaning, Shulchan Aruch, that's asur.4:03Why? It's the same gezeirah that you might come to be.4:07But one second,4:08you said over here this floor is tiled, I'm not worried,4:11and the other floor is tiled.4:12Why are you allowing sweeping and you're not allowing what they call like mopping, basically4:17to throw water on the floor and to clean it up?4:19So the answer is, and this is the answer of the Acharonim, is that it's nachutz.4:25This is very necessary, and that's not so necessary.4:28So because sweeping is necessary, when you have a dirty floor, you need to sweep.4:33That's necessary. Nobody wants a dirty floor.4:36The other one, it's to give it a little shine, to beautify it.4:39That's not so necessary.4:41And therefore, it comes out from this answer that when it is a case that's necessary,4:45for example, someone was just telling me yesterday they have a pet dog,4:49and sometimes they wake up in the morning and the pet dog decides to use the living room as a bathroom,4:54okay? And it's already there from the night before,4:56right? It's all sticky and stuff.4:58So of course you bring the bounty, you clean it, but what about, you know, it's still stuck and there's a smell?5:03That's called necessary.5:05Everybody will agree that's a necessary thing.5:06Something that's very stuck,5:08you could spray a little bit and just clean it.5:10But to just spray the whole floor and to just give it a shine,5:14you know, you know what we're talking about5:15when people just want to give that little, you know, shine and everything else, that's not called necessary,5:20and that's asur. But when it's specific dirt that you want to clean,5:24you could spray on that part and clean it and sweep it in the way that we spoke till now,5:29that's mutar, which is with a handle things, you know, not with a regular towel or a sponge that you're going to squeeze.5:35Something that has a handle or disposable towel is also not a problem of sechitah that you could do.