Shalom . Can one use a peeler to peel vegetables (etc) on Shabbat. With Mekorot please . Thank you , Chaim
Answer:
There are different opinions concerning using a peeler on Shabbos.
In general, the custom in America is to use a peeler, certainly where the peel is edible, whereas the custom in Israel is not to use it.
Best wishes.
Sources:
It is generally permitted to peel fruit on Shabbos because peeling fruit is considered preparation for eating, and not an act of forbidden separation.
However, it is not permitted to use a utensil that is made for acts of borer, and because a peeler is made specifically for peeling (which is forbidden unless done as preparation for immediate eating – see Mishnah Berurah 321:84), many forbid using a peeler (see Machazeh Eliyahu 51; Biur Halachah).
Yet, many are accustomed to peel with a peeler on Shabbos, because it is viewed as a sophisticated knife and not an item specifically used for borer. Furthermore, a number of authorities maintain that the entire melachah of borer does not apply to peeling (see Aruch Hashulchan 319:22; Rabbeinu Chananel likewise writes that borer does not apply to peeling).
In practice, see Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 3:34, who permits the use of peelers for peels that are generally eaten with the fruit, because they are considered part of the fruit; She’arim Metzuyanim Behalachah (80, K.A. 24) is more lenient and permits the general use of peelers.
Maybe at one point the minhag in America was to use peelers. But now I think the minhag is not to use peelers anywhere, even in America. There are reports that R’Moshe Feinstein Zatzal said that a peeler is like a knife but it’s not in his tshuvos. Most poskim say a peeler is a kli and is assur to use on Shabbos.
Thanks for this comment.
Do you have any sources that mention the current custom in this matter?
Rabbi Dovid Ribiat’s sefer The 39 Melochos page 404 (Vol 2), R’ Simcha Bunim Cohen’s sefer The Shabbos Kitchen page 111. I have heard b’shem R’ Shmuel Fuerst shlita of Chicago, IL and Rabbi Shmuel Felder Shlita of Lakewood, NJ that it’s muttar. So it sounds like a major machlokes haposkim
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