Borer - After Meals

QUESTION: How should I clear the table after the meal so that I do not violate Borer?

ANSWER: The prohibition of Borer applies only to mixtures. Ordinarily, items on a table are not considered a mixture. Pans of food, bottles of drink, cups, plates and silverware, even when in close proximity to each other, are not viewed as a mixture so long as they are not piled on top of each other, but rather each item is in its proper place. Therefore, at the end of the meal one may remove the pans of food and bottles of drink and put them in the fridge. One may remove the plates, cups and silverware and place them in the sink. However, once they are piled in the sink, they often will constitute a mixture, and one may no longer sort them. If the dirty silverware is mixed, it can be washed by taking at random one piece at a time and then placing it to dry in a partitioned drying rack that has separate compartments for each utensil (see Shmiras Shabbos K’Hilchasa 3:78-79). If the silverware is washed in bunches, it must remain as a mixture until it is needed.

___________________________________________________

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.