Separate Situation

Prepared for print by Faigy Peritzman

I don’t like mushrooms. What’s the correct way to avoid eating them on Shabbos if I’m served a salad or dish containing mushrooms?

Use your spoon or fork to eat the rest of the salad or dish while avoiding the mushrooms. If that doesn’t work for you, then use your fork or spoon to push away the mushrooms, along with some of the salad or dish, to the other side of the plate. If that doesn’t work either, then it’s permitted, according to the Mishnah Berurah, to completely remove the mushrooms, as long as you are removing some of the salad or dish along with the mushrooms.

I opened several cans of corn and chickpeas on Erev Shabbos, but didn’t strain them. How can I go about doing this on Shabbos?

It’s permitted for you to pour out the majority of the liquid, as long as you leave some liquid remaining in the bottom of the can. You may use the can cover to hold back the corn or chickpeas from falling out while you pour out the liquid.

I’m making a kiddush and will be serving fruit platters. I wanted to prepare the platters on Shabbos, but was wondering if this was a problem of borer.

If all the different types of fruit are mixed together, and as you place them on the platter you put each type of fruit separately, that would be considered “sorting” and would be a problem of borer. But if each type of fruit is packaged individually, you may take one type of fruit at a time and place it on the platter, even if that will result in the different types of fruit becoming mixed together on the platter.

Is there any way to use a peeler on Shabbos?

The consensus of most poskim is that even when fruits and vegetables are peeled for immediate use, it’s forbidden to use a peeler (although it is permitted to use a peeler on Yom Tov). While some poskim hold that fruits whose peel is sometimes eaten — such as apples and pears — may be peeled at any time and even with a peeler, many poskim disagree and forbid it. But fruits that are almost always eaten with their peel — such as grapes and peaches — are permitted to be peeled at any time and even with a peeler.