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DRS Yeshiva High School for Boys

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10th Grade - Rabbi Cooper ‫הלכות שבת‬

Intro Worksheet ‫מכבס‬/‫מלבן‬

The Four Types of Dirt

1) Non-Absorbed – lint, feather, hair
a. Since it is sitting on the surface – you are allowed to remove it with your
hands
b. You cannot use a brush because of ‫עובדה דחול‬
2) Absorbed and small – dust, confectionary sugar
a. If it is absorbed into the fabric you cannot shake, brush, or hit the clothing
b. The one thing you are allowed to do is blow off the surface dust.
3) Absorbed and Dry – rice with sautéed mushrooms
a. If rice with sautéed mushrooms falls on your pants – what can you do?
b. You cannot apply water or soak it
i. If removing it will not leave a residue behind – then it is ‫ אסור‬to
remove.
ii. If removing it will leave a residue, then you are allowed to remove
the stuff with a ‫– שינוי‬
1. Examples
a. Remove with the back of a spoon or knife
b. flick opposite side of material
iii. Why is this permitted?
iv. Because you are only removing a layer of dirt but it is not being
cleaned (there is still the residue)
4) Absorbed and Wet – wine juice soda
a. You may not clean in any way the wet material

Will There Be a
Stain Remaining?

Yes No –
Is the Stain THEN
Moist or Dry? GENERALLY ‫אסור‬

Moist Dry Requires 3

How are you Is there a problem conditions to be 1) You
removing it? with ‫ טוחן‬with it? allowed would wear
it anyways
2) No ‫טוחן‬
3) Do it
Dry towel or back of softly
Using a brush or Yes
knife or back of No
rubbing it hard Generally is ‫אסור‬
fingernail

‫מותר‬
‫בשעת הדחק‬

‫אסור‬ You could ask a ‫גוי‬

to remove the stain –
for ‫כבוד הבריות‬
‫מותר‬
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DRS Yeshiva High School for Boys
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10th Grade - Rabbi Cooper ‫הלכות שבת‬

Worksheet #1 ‫מכבס‬/‫מלבן‬

In this ‫ מלאכה‬we will learn how to…

Wash dishes
Clean the table
Clean muddy shoes
Put seltzer/water on a stain on your shirt
Whether it is permissible to have a water-fight on Shabbos
Whether it is permissible to remove dust from your clothing

1) The prohibition of laundering is learned from the __________________ which

was done to make the _______________ in the ‫משכן‬.
2) There are two forms of cleaning
a. Cleaning that involves water
b. Cleaning that does not involve water
3) The three forms of ‫ מלבן‬that involve water are ______________,
______________, & ______________. [Think of the three cycles of a washing machine]
4) _______________ is only ‫ אסור‬on absorbent fabrics and materials but not on non-
absorbent ones.
5) Why is it permissible to dry a wet countertop with a paper towel isn’t it ‫?שרייה‬

R’ Moshe Feinstein has a famous ‫ היתר‬regarding the ‫ אסור‬of ‫ שרייה‬and disposable

paper towels/napkins. He holds that soaking a paper towel in clean water is not
‫( שרייה‬not to be confused with ‫ )שהייה‬because
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__Therefore it is ‫ מותר‬to wipe a countertop clean – since the countertop is non-
absorbent and you are using a paper towel.

6) Others do not agree with R’ Moshe. They hold that you can even use a towel to
wipe up a spill as long as it is _____________________________.
7) You spilled grape juice on the table and it is sticky. What action are you allowed
to do lightly but not too heavily? _________________________
8) The difference between ‫ סחיטה‬and ‫ דש‬is
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__

Fact: Squeezing a dirty & wet object extracts the dirt through the removal of the
water (the dirt is carried out with the liquid).
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DRS Yeshiva High School for Boys
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10th Grade - Rabbi Cooper ‫הלכות שבת‬

Worksheet #2 ‫מכבס‬/‫מלבן‬
Clothing Care on Shabbos

1) Caught in a Down-Pour

a. Walking in wet socks is ‫ מותר‬and does not violate ‫סחיטה‬.

b. If your laces became untied while walking, you can only tie them gently in

a loose bow knot and not tugged tightly (as normally done).

c. To untie your shoe laces – do it gently.

The reason why this is permitted is because it is not ‫ מתכוון‬or a ‫פסיק רישא‬

Try to avoid tugging hard to avoid ‫סחיטה‬.

You should not put on wet socks on Shabbos.

d. When it comes to hanging up your wet clothes, the halacha provides a

limitation: you should not hang the wet clothes in a place where you

normally dry them, like a laundry room (or in the shower).

i. This is because of the concept of ‫ – מערת עין‬it would seem to a

casual observer that you’ve just washed the clothes and are now

hanging them to dry. To avoid this mis-impression, the Sages

required that we hang the clothes in an unusual way or place.

1. Example – your socks, undershirt are wet – you cannot

hang them up in the usual places to dry

ii. The exception to this rule is a raincoat (outerwear) – which you

would be allowed to hang in the shower – since nobody will think

that you just washed your raincoat and you’re currently drying it –

rather they’ll assume it got wet from the rain

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DRS Yeshiva High School for Boys
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10th Grade - Rabbi Cooper ‫הלכות שבת‬

e. What about hanging up wet dry cleaned clothing?

i. Some Poskim – (including R’ Elyashiv) contend that since it is

common knowledge that these types of clothing get ruin when

washed, the onlooker will know that the clothing is not being dried

from a fresh washing but rather is wet from the rain as well.

ii. This is true even for some women’s clothing that is washable, but

normally dry cleaned. Here too you could hang the clothing to dry

in the shower or laundry room.

2) Caught in Snow-Storm

a. While removing the snow you have to be careful not to violate ‫סחיטה‬

b. It is best to lightly shake off the snow or blow it off (if you shake it hard it

will force the water out of the fabric - ‫סחיטה‬

3) Folding Clothing or a ‫ טלית‬on Shabbos

a. The final stage of laundering clothing is folding

b. According to the ‫ משנה ברורה‬- folding any clothing on the creases is ‫אסור‬

unless you have fulfilled 4 conditions:

i. The garment you are folding is the only garment you have

ii. Must be a new garment that was never washed

iii. Must be white and not colored

iv. Must do t by yourself (can’t ask your friend to do it for you)

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DRS Yeshiva High School for Boys

10th Grade - Rabbi Cooper ‫הלכות שבת‬

c. According to the ‫ערוך השולחן‬, this prohibition of folding on the creases

doesn’t apply nowadays (folding used to improve the clothing – ours just

allows it to be status quo)

d. This is part of the reason why many do not fold their ‫ טלית‬after shul –

Rabbi Willig of YU (as well as many others)– go like the ‫ \משנה ברורה‬that

say it is ‫אסור‬.