Question:
1) One has a large stack of 10 magazines (which constitutes a mixture) and wants to remove the top 5 magazines. From these 5, he only wants to read now the first magazine on the very top, and would like to read the other 4 magazines later in the day. So when he removes the top 5 magazines, is it sufficient for him to just immediately read something from the very top magazine and not need to immediately read something from the other 4 magazines (just like would be the case if a person removed a book from a pile of other books, where reading something from one page is sufficient to fulfill the condition of miyad, and he wouldn’t have to read something from every page)? Or, do we say that each of the 5 magazines should be viewed independently, in which case he would need to read something immediately from each magazine to fulfill the condition of miyad?
2) If one has a mixture of various objects and wants to remove one of them for later use, would the following idea work to avoid borer issues? Could he place a piece of food or a small object (that he will immediately use) on the larger object (that he wants to remove for later)? That is, he will remove the larger object from the mixture (that he only wants to use later), but the smaller object that is on top will be used now. Basically, the question is whether using the larger object (to be used later) to transfer the smaller object (to be used now) is considered halachic usage of the larger object (in which case one would fulfill the condition of miyad for the removal of the larger object)?
Answer:
- Assuming that you are allowed to read these magazines on Shabbos, each magazine is a separate unit, therefore you don’t have to read each page, but other magazines are not this one.
- It would seem that the use has to be something real, not just in able to call it a use, which essentially is a joke. See Shvus Yitzchok (Borer) 3-5.
Best wishes
