By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com Many people get confused when it comes to the issue of opening various drink or food items on Shabbos.  Since every so often manufacturing processes change, it is important to understand the underlying issues – instead of just getting rulings as to whether one can or can’t open the item.  What follows is an easy way to remember the underlying issues in the opening of cans, bottles and other packages or containers on Shabbos:  Some Body Make Me More KoolAid, Please! The observant reader will realize that this is a mnemonic device because of the bolded first letters.  Some Body stands for Sosair and Boineh.  Make Me More stands for Makeh b’patish, Mechataich and Mochaik. KoolAid stands for Korayah. And Please stands for Pre-opening. Now let’s look at each. Sosair – Sosair means destroying. From a Torah perspective it is forbidden when it is done for a constructive benefit.  However, Chazal enacted a Rabbinic prohibition – even when there is no benefit at all. Boneh – Completing or forming a vessel or utensil. When dealing with metal bottle caps that leave a seal behind, opening it normally makes the cap into a functional utensil.  Some poskim hold that   since before unscrewing it serves as a seal and it now becomes a cap which may be used as a cover. Makeh BePatish – finishing the utensil, applying the final hammer-blow, or making an opening. Mechataich – cutting or tearing to a specific desired size or within the parameters of a desired size Mochaik – erasing letters or words Koraya – tearing Please – Pre-opening all food items so we do not come to a violation. MECHATAICH Some poskim prohibit opening all bottle caps that leave a ring or perforate along the edge. Rav Elyashiv zt”l considers it Mechatech (cited in Orchos Shabbos Vol. I 12:18 note 31, Me’or haShabbos, Vol. II, p. 551).  Rav Nissim Karelitz zt”l considers it Makeh b’patish (Chut Shaini, Shabbos, Vol. II, p. 274). MOCHAIK Virtually all contemporary poskim rule that one may not open bottle caps that are stamped with the date of production, and the letter formation will be erased or broken when the bottle cap is opened. Even though erasing is only forbidden biblically when one wishes to write in that area – it is Rabbinically forbidden even if one is not planning on writing.  However, when one places the cap back on the bottle, the dates can re-form. KORAYA The laws of Koraya, ripping, are subject to debate – on account of different approaches to how to understand a Tosefta.  The Tosefta in Beitzah (3:9) cited by the Mishna Brurah (314:25) writes as follows:   “It is permitted on Shabbos to rip the skin off of the top of a barrel [as long as one does not intend to create a spout].” The question is why this is permitted since it involves tearing on Shabbos. The Chazon Ish (OC 51:13 and 61:2) explains that the skins are ripped destructively and therefore, it is permitted. It is permitted because the ripping is done in a destructive manner. The person who opens the barrel has no interest in preserving the cover for later use. A Shabbos melacha done in a destructive manner is not considered a melachah and is permissible […]

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