Question:
Ha Rav, I selected what I thought was two forks but ended up with two forks and a knife. I have forks, knives and spoons separated in a standing divider. The knives are behind the forks. I had no intention to use the knife for immediate use. Did I break Shabbos?
Answer:
Hello,
What you did was not assur because even if you did take along an unwanted knife together with what you wanted forks, that isn’t borer. Borer is when you have a mixture of wanted (good) and unwanted (bad) items and you remove the bad item from the good ones. In you case you took some of the bad (unwanted knife) together with the good (forks) therefore it isn’t borer at all. What would be more of an issue, would be if to remove the knife from the forks, because then you are removing bad from the mixture. Therefore, take the forks away from the knife if it will be for immediate use.
Best wishes
