MB 320.14 – MB 320.18a – Squeezing on Shabbos: Snow, Cloths, Sponges & Inevitable Actions

This episode continues the laws of squeezing (Sechitah) on Shabbos, focusing on practical and nuanced cases. We clarify the difference between passive melting (like placing ice into a drink, which is permitted) and actively causing melting or squeezing, which may be prohibited.

Key topics include:

• Urinating on snow: Some authorities permit it since it resembles trampling snow, while others are stringent because the melting is inevitable and directly caused.

• Spreading cloth over a barrel: Prohibited if it may become wet and lead to squeezing (a form of laundering). If the cloth is designated for that purpose, it may be permitted.

• Stuffing material into a flask opening: Forbidden due to inevitable squeezing, which can involve either laundering or extracting liquid (similar to threshing).

• Using a sponge: Not allowed unless it has a handle, reducing direct squeezing.

• Plugging a barrel hole with cloth: Debate over whether an inevitable but undesired squeezing (Psik Reisha d’lo nicha lei) is permitted. Some allow it when no benefit is gained; others prohibit it rabbinically.

The shiur highlights a central principle: when an outcome is inevitable but unwanted, it may still be rabbinically prohibited on Shabbos—even without direct benefit.