Question: May one select “food” from “waste” on Shabbat using a fork or a spoon?
Answer: In the previous Halachot, we have explained the fundamentals of the forbidden work of selecting on Shabbat. Included in this forbidden work is that if one has two types of foods mixed together, one may not select one from the other by means of a strainer. We have explained that there are three conditions that, when all are met, will make selecting permissible on Shabbat. They are: “Food,” “By Hand,” and “For Immediate Use.” This means, that one must not remove the “waste” from the “food”; rather, one must do the opposite. For instance, if one has a plate of sunflower seeds and watermelon seeds in front of him and only wishes to eat the watermelon seeds, the sunflower seeds are considered “waste” for this individual while the watermelon seeds are considered “food” for him. Thus, he may only select the watermelon seeds from the sunflower seeds and not the opposite. Similarly, one may not select them using a utensil, such as a strainer; rather, one should do so by hand. In addition, one should not select in order to leave it for a later time; rather, one may only do so for immediate eating.
Selecting “Food” from “Waste” is Prohibited Even for Immediate Use When Done with a Utensil
Based on the above, it is clear that one may not select using a utensil even when selecting the “food” from the “waste” for immediate use. The question thus arises: Does using a fork or spoon constitute the usage of a utensil which is a prohibited form of selecting? For instance, if one has a dish of rice and beans before him and only wishes to eat the beans at the present time, he may, in fact, take some beans with his hands in order to eat it immediately. The question is: May one act leniently and select the beans using a fork which one is holding?
Hagaon Harav Moshe Feinstein zt”l writes in his Responsa Igrot Moshe (Orach Chaim, Volume 1, Chapter 124) that the answer depends on what one is using the fork for. If one uses the fork only as a means to prevent one’s hands from becoming soiled, this fork is ultimately considered just an extension of one’s hand and this cannot be considered selecting with the use of a utensil. However, if the fork aids one in the selecting process, for instance, in our scenario where the beans are submerged within the grains of rice and one wishes to remove the beans gently using the fork specifically in a way which would be difficult to do so by hand alone, if so, the fork is truly aiding in the selecting process and it will be prohibited to do so on Shabbat, as this is actually selecting with the use of a utensil.
However, Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l writes lengthily to rebuff his opinion and says that in any case, one may select “food” from “waste” on Shabbat (for immediate use) using a fork, for a fork is only considered an extension of one’s hand, as it is not a utensil designated for selecting; rather, it is designated to keep one’s hands clean. He proceeds to bring several proofs to his view.
Separating Meat from the Bone on Shabbat
We can infer from all this that although separating meat that is stuck to the bone is selecting, it is nevertheless permissible to do so since the meat is “food” and the bone is “waste” and one wishes to eat the meat immediately. Even if one does so using a fork, it is not considered that one is doing so using a utensil since a fork is not considered a utensil in this regard. (However, to separate the bone and remove it from the plate is forbidden since this constitutes selecting “waste” from “food.”)
Similarly, Hagaon Chazon Ish (Chapter 54) writes that one may use a fork to separate meat from the bone on one’s plate on Shabbat; even if the meat is attached to the bone and one holds the bone and uses a fork to scrape off the meat, there is not even a hint of a prohibition involved since a fork is not considered a utensil with regards to the forbidden work of selecting.
Removing Meat from Soup
Similarly, the Sefer Shemirat Shabbat Ke’Hilchata (Chapter 3, Section 45) writes that one may remove meat from soup in order to eat it immediately, even if one does so using a spoon or fork, for these utensils are only considered an extension of one’s hand.
Summary: When one performs permissible forms of selecting, i.e. by selecting the “food” from the “waste” in order to eat it immediately, one may even do so using a fork or a spoon, as these are not utensils designated for selecting. Thus, if one has a dish of rice and beans in front of him and wishes only to eat the beans, one may pick out the beans using a fork in order to eat them immediately.
