Torah · Halacha YomitTochen - The Permitted way of GrindingRabbi Uri Nahum · November 13, 2026 · 39 Melachot-15Play+30Position0:00—Save⌄ShareTranscript0:00Okay, so we're in the melacha of0:06the tochen. And tochen, believe it or not, doesn't have so many halachot in Shulchan Aruch.0:10He has maybe, okay, four or five halachot in Shulchan Aruch.0:14So we're just going to mention a few very quickly.0:16Yesterday we gave a leniency,0:18so if you guys want chumrot, we'll give you0:20chumrot, but we'll give you another leniency for now to make it easy.0:24So Shulchan Aruch brings0:27down, Mutar laduch pilpelin afilu harbeh yachad. You're allowed to crush peppers, like peppercorns,0:33even a lot together,0:36v'hu al tenai, before—don't shut off the recording0:42yet—v'hu sheyeduchem b'katah shesakin uv'karah, on a condition that you do it with the handle of the knife and in a bowl.0:47So the normal way that people would actually crush peppers,0:51like the way they grind anything, and that is0:52they have a special bowl for it.0:55It's called the pestle,0:57right? I forgot what the other thing is called.0:58But you see, like the ones, you know, they have in the pictures how they make medicine,1:02right? So that was a special grinding machine1:05for spices.1:06Or they would have like a handmade—today, you know, like a handmade grinder, basically.1:11That's what it would look like.1:14That's the— Right, so that's today. You see that also in the black peppers,1:18right? They have it like that.1:19This way people have it1:20fresh. There's no question the taste is on a different level,1:22but we're not here to talk about culinary;1:24we're here about talking about1:26halachot. So this is the normal way of how you grind, what's it called, anything.1:32So the Shulchan Aruch is telling you, if you want to do it on Shabbat,1:37you could only crush peppers if you do what looks like what we call in1:43halacha, two1:44shinuyim. Two shinuyim means with two changes.1:46Number one is that you got to do it with the handle of the knife.1:50Usually the knife, the sharp part of the knife, is how you slice something.1:54If you do it with the handle, that's not the normal way.1:56The second is, instead of doing it in the special bowl that's made for it,2:01you're doing it in a bowl that's not made for it,2:04in a kearah, in a regular plate.2:06And this is the rule for grinding things on Shabbat.2:10Things, remember the definition of tochen is to take something that's one unit2:15and to turn it into many small units,2:17and that would be the same with garlic.2:19That would be the same with even avocado and banana,2:23anything that you could think about.2:26If you break it down to small pieces, it would be a problem.2:30It will only be mutar if you do two shinuyim, two changes.2:34And the two changes could be, like we said, anything.2:37A normal way, you take a garlic and you put it in the garlic crusher2:40and you crush it, and that's how it comes out,2:42so you can't do it in a garlic crusher.2:44What should I do?2:45So you could take a knife and cut2:48it. Still might be still the normal way.2:49Or you could take the back of the knife, or a handle, or take a fork2:54and crush it down on a regular bowl or on a plate.2:59That would be two3:01shinuyim. So this is the general rule of a leniency of how to be able to crush things on Shabbat.3:06One more thing, and that is, which Shulchan Aruch also brings down3:09and all the acharonim also bring it down.3:14Cheese is not, in order for it to be a problem also,3:17it has to be something that also grows from the ground.3:19It's a discussion about cheese.3:21Cheese is not an issue of grinding, technically,3:24right? So technically, I could take cheese and slice it very, very thin if I want to.3:28However, to use a cheese grater, right,3:33you know, I hope everyone knows what I'm talking about.3:35So a cheese grater will be a problem on3:36Shabbat. This is what the halacha brings down, because it's a special tool for grinding.3:41Even though it's not subject to grinding,3:43but it's a special tool that's made for grinding or for whatever3:47this—so that's what we call3:49ovdin dechol, and that would be asur on Shabbat.3:50And the same would apply to many other things.3:52Although the act may be permitted, but the tool that's being used will be an issue3:58and therefore cannot be done on Shabbat.