[Avodah] Vegetable Peeler: Clarification

[Micha Berger]

R' Rothenstein,

On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 09:43:55PM CST, R Naftali Rothstein wrote:
: based on the MB ruling that you can take some ochel with the pesoles, and
: then it's not borer, you are right that it would not be borer. However,
: the reason I believe, that this is reasoning is not accepted so much
: with regards to a peeler is that not in every case and not with every
: peeler does a part of the ochel actually come off with it....

Is this a statement about the metzi'us of peeling or about the definition
of okhel vs pesoles?

Eg, there is no way to peel a potato or apple without removing /some/
of the "meat". And the "peel" of a carrot is arbitrarily thin. I don't
agree with this estimation of the metzi'us. And if this were the problem,
then wouldn't we be told to simply make sure to peel thickly?

OTOH, since the "peel" of a carrot is arbitrarily thin, I could see
arguing that the limit of the pesoles isn't defined until it is peeled.
This would mean that by definition whatever you remove is pesoles,
not okhel.

FWIW, using a peeler on Shabbos is one of those things "everyone" (in
my parents' neck of the shomer shabbos world) did in my youth that is
now found to be assur.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Man is a drop of intellect drowning in a sea
micha at aishdas.org        of instincts.
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