Siman 506

One may not measure flour on Yom Tov in order to know how much to knead; rather, he should take by estimation. For there is no prevention of the joy of Yom Tov in this, even if he subtracts a little or adds a little. And even the one who permits in the Gemara (29a) does so only so that he may take challah generously, as is explained in the Gemara. And this was relevant in the time when they gave it to the Kohen, but not so now when we burn the challah—there is no mitzvah in the abundance of the challah (Tosafot ibid. starting with the words "Shmuel"). And if it is so that you will know if there is the shiur of challah in it—can you not take by estimation until there is certainly a shiur of challah, or certainly less than a shiur of challah? And why should we permit measuring, which is a weekday activity, when there is no benefit in this for the joy of Yom Tov? And it appears to me that even flour of a partnership—they should divide by estimation, or by way of a vessel that is not for measurement. And so too regarding other matters in a similar case. And there are those who permit when they bake on Pesach, so as not to knead much regarding the matter of chimetz. But from the Rif and the Rambam it is explained that even on Pesach it is forbidden, since they left their words unspecified, and so wrote the Tur in their name. And also our teacher, the Beit Yosef, did not write this, because even on Pesach there is no necessity, as he is able to estimate, and he could have measured on Erev Pesach. And it is permitted to take flour from the vessel even though he makes a hole in it, for the prohibition of a hole is only in the dust of the ground, and not in flour. And see what I wrote in siman 498, section 29.

One may not sift flour on Yom Tov, for he could have done so on the eve of Yom Tov. Even by means of a shinui, it is forbidden. It is not similar to salt, which is permitted by means of a shinui even though he could have done so on the eve of Yom Tov as I wrote in siman 504, because sifting is a melakhah performed for a long period of time and not for a single day (Magen Avraham, subsection 2). Furthermore, sifting appears more like a weekday activity. It appears that even if he has no sifted flour, it is forbidden to sift, and he should bake without sifting. For he was negligent himself in that he did not sift on the eve of Yom Tov. Even if he was under duress, we do not permit it for him, because it is possible to eat even without sifting. There are some of our teachers who permit it by means of a shinui (Tosafot at the end of the third chapter, starting with the words "Agava"). One may rely on this to permit the initial sifting by means of a non-Jew through a shinui. However, we ourselves are forbidden (ibid.).

This is the wording of the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch, section 2: One may not sift flour for the first time on Yom Tov, even by means of a shinui. However, if one sifted it yesterday, and a pebble or a splinter fell into it and one wishes to sift it a second time – it is permitted even without a shinui. If nothing fell into it, but one wishes to sift it a second time so that the bread will be fine – it requires a slight shinui, such as upon a table. But one does not require a major shinui to sift with the back of the sieve. Thus far his words. And know that "a second time" is only called such when the intention is not to remove any waste, but rather a mere sifting, as is the custom to do at the time of kneading (Magen Avraham, subsection 4, in the name of Yam Shel Shlomo). Or when a pebble fell into it, and to remove the pebble by hand is forbidden because of borer, and therefore one sifts it so that the pebble remains in the sieve. And this is more lenient, for the sifting of a pebble is not called sifting at all, and therefore even a shinui is not required. But when the intention is to remove waste, such as when the first time one removed the bran, and afterward one wishes to sift the fine flour from the flour – this is called "the first time," and it is completely forbidden just as the actual first time (Bach).

Our teacher, the Rema, wrote: And some say that it is permitted to take the pebble or the splinter in his hand. But some are stringent and forbid it. Thus far his words, meaning: that according to the opinion of the Tur and Shulchan Aruch it is forbidden to take the pebble in his hand, because it constitutes borer, as I have written. And this is the opinion of those who are stringent. But the opinion of "some say" is that it is permitted to take the pebble by hand from within the flour, and this is the opinion of the Rashba. And according to the opinion of the Maggid Mishneh in the third chapter, the Rambam also holds this. And their reasoning, it can be said: either that this is not called borer, because it is like an object resting on its own and is not mixed, or because since it was formed on Yom Tov—it is like something that was impossible to do from yesterday, which is permitted to be done today. And if it is because of muktzeh—behold, muktzeh is permitted for the sake of ochel nefesh. And know that a shinui is to sift upon the table as I have written, because every day they sift into the trough. And according to this, in a place where they always sift upon the table, another shinui is required (Magen Avraham, subsection 5), such as sifting upon the back of the sieve or the like. (And according to the opinion of the Ra'avad in the Hassagot there, it is the opposite, that without a pebble one does not need a shinui when sifting a second time, and with a pebble one needs a shinui; see there, for he ruled like R. Pappias and R. Yehoshua ben Batera at the end of the third chapter. However, regarding his words that with a pebble it is worse—it requires investigation to reconcile the sugya of the Shas there. And see Maggid Mishneh and Lechem Mishneh).

The Rambam wrote at the end of the fourth chapter: Even though one may not set aside terumot and ma'asrot on Yom Tov, if he had terumot and ma'asrot that he set aside from yesterday—he may bring them to the kohen on Yom Tov. And it goes without saying that challah, and the foreleg, and the jaws, and the abomasum, may be brought to the kohen on Yom Tov. Thus far his words, meaning: for they are permitted to be set aside on Yom Tov when the dough is kneaded today, as one who kneads dough on Yom Tov may set aside challah from it. However, for one who kneaded on the eve of Yom Tov it is forbidden, as he could have set it aside on the eve of Yom Tov. But regarding bringing it to the kohen—it is permitted even if he set it aside yesterday, as the Rambam wrote. And even on Shabbat—it is permitted to bring it to the kohen when it is baked bread and fit for eating (Magen Avraham subsection 6), for it belongs to the kohen, and one gives to him what is his. And regarding the gifts, it is permitted to set them aside even if the animal was slaughtered on the eve of Yom Tov, as I wrote in section 9.

And how should one act regarding dough that was kneaded yesterday and he did not separate challah from it? If he is in Eretz Yisrael, where it is forbidden to eat without the separation of challah, he has no other remedy except that he should knead another dough today, and bring it into proximity with this one, and take challah for both doughs from the dough that was kneaded today. However, in chutz la'aretz, as we hold that regarding challah of chutz la'aretz one may continue to eat and afterward separate—he may eat from the bread all day without the separation of challah, and he should leave over a bit of the bread more than the measure of challah, and in the evening he shall separate the challah and give it to a kohen or burn it according to our custom. And he does not need to leave over from the dough, for he may bake all the bread. And even though it contains a small amount of the challah which is not for eating—we have no concern with it, for the portion of the challah is not clarified on its own, unlike the one who forbids this and compares it to a dough half of which belongs to an Israelite and half to a non-Jew, which is forbidden to bake. For it is not a comparable case, as it is forbidden to separate challah today, and if it happened that he separated a bit of dough for challah from the eve of Yom Tov—it is forbidden to bake it on Yom Tov, since it is not fit for eating. (And that which the Magen Avraham wrote in subsection 8, regarding the law of the eve of Pesach that falls on Shabbat and one forgot to separate challah—it was explained above in siman 444 with the help of Heaven, see there.)

The Tur wrote: And when one separates the challah on Yom Tov – he shall not burn it immediately, but rather he shall leave it until the night. And so wrote our teacher, the Beit Yosef, in section 4, and this is his wording: One who separates challah on Yom Tov and it is impure (such as in this time when we are all impure) – he shall not bake it and he shall not burn it, for one does not burn kodashim on Yom Tov. Rather, he leaves it until the evening and burns it. Thus far his words. And it is a wonder: for behold, one does not burn kodashim at night, just as one does not burn them on Yom Tov, as is explained at the beginning of Pesachim and in Zevachim (56a). And the great authorities deliberated on this (Noda BiYehuda Tinyana, Orach Chaim siman 96, see there). However, in my humble opinion, from the Mishnayot at the end of Terumot it is explicitly proven that one may light with the oil of impure terumah at night, see there. And I found in the Yerushalmi Shabbat at the beginning of the second chapter, which asks simply: If so, one should not light with oil for burning at night, see there. Behold, it is explicit that it is permitted with terumah, and the same law applies to challah. And in the Rambam, the law that one should not light with oil for burning on Yom Tov is not found at all.

It is permitted to make large loaves on Yom Tov, and we are not concerned that through this he will come to bake more than what is necessary. And if he had flour or dough in partnership with a non-Jew—it is forbidden to bake it on Yom Tov; rather, he should divide it and bake his own. And even in one oven, where it is permitted to fill the oven with bread because all the bread is improved by this, as I wrote in siman 503—this is because in any event he can eat from whichever bread he desires, which is not the case here (Magen Avraham subsection 15). And so too if a person has much clean bread—he may not bake other bread, unless he has members of his household whom he is accustomed to feed bread of lesser quality than this, and he needs to bake for them. But conversely, if he has much "hadra'ah" bread, that is to say, bread of poor quality—he may bake clean bread afterward. And also ab initio he may do so, if he has need for this. And so too if he has bread from yesterday—it is permitted for him to bake today, because bread from today is better than that of yesterday.

And it is forbidden to make sourdough on Yom Tov except by means of a shinui, because he could have made it on the eve of Yom Tov. And even though regarding the separation of challah there is a distinction between that which was kneaded today and that which was kneaded on the eve of Yom Tov, as I have written—nevertheless, regarding the matter of the priestly gifts, it is permitted to separate them even if the animal was slaughtered on the eve of Yom Tov, because there is no delay in eating when he has not separated them, and furthermore, they are recognizable on their own.