Dosh 20 - Squeezing Pickled or Cooked Foods 10 - Sucking 4 (Klal 14 Siman 7) Hilchos Shabbos - S0382

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Dosh 20 - Squeezing Pickled or Cooked Foods 10 - Sucking 4 (Klal 14 Siman 7) Hilchos Shabbos - S0382

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We have finished siman 7, discussing the issue of sucking as it relates to dosh. We left off with a question regarding sucking. We learned that one should be machmir on grapes and olives, but when it comes to other fruits, one may be meikil and suck the item.

We raised the question regarding sucking a liquid from bread (s0379). We learned (s0376) that there is a machlokes whether a liquid which previously had the status of mashkeh lose its status of a mashkeh when it was absorbed by the bread, so the heter of sucking would equally apply, or whether it does not lose its status of mashkeh, so sucking it would be extracting a liquid from a solid and would be assur. The Chayei Adam is not clear about his position on this question.

The Mishnah Berurah writes that the primary psak regarding kevashim and shelakos is that the liquid absorbed loses its status of mashkeh. Therefore, one should be allowed to squeeze out the liquid. However, the Mishnah Berurah writes that since it is a machlokes, one it is appropriate to be machmir not to squeeze it out even into a food.
Thus, for example, if one wishes to squeeze kevashim or shelakos into another food, the basic psak is that it is muttar, since it has lost its status of mashkeh and since it went directly into a solid, it never regained its status as a mashkeh. The suggestion of the Mishnah Berurah that one should be machmir takes into account the opinion that the liquid absorbed by the kevashim or shelakos never lost its status as a mashkeh. If so, when it is squeezed out, one is squeezing out a mashkeh, so squeezing into another food will not help.

Nevertheless, the Mishnah Berurah states that even according that one should be machmir, in a case of sucking directly from the food item, we have the added element that sucking is not the normal way to extract liquid, so one can be meikil and suck the liquid out. The Chayei Adam is not clear about where he stands on this issue, but the Mishnah Berurah is clear that sucking is ok.

A practical example of this question of sucking kevashim and shekalos regards pickles. Pickles are essentially cucumbers and brine, so sucking the liquid from the pickle is our exact question. Based on what we have learned, the Mishnah Berurah holds that it is ok to suck it out. According to the Chayei Adam, it may be questionable. One can certainly place the food in their mouth and suck the liquid while the food is inside their mouth, even according to the Mishnah Berurah.

We need to answer our question about the difference between these halachos and choleiv (s0381). The Mishnah Berurah explains that sucking directly from the animal is not a total shinui, because it is the normal method of nursing for both animals and humans. Therefore, sucking directly from the animal, albeit that it is strange for a person to do, will only be muttar when one is ill. On the other hand, when it comes to sucking a food item, it is never a normal method of extracting the liquid to use, so it is muttar.

Summary
Technically speaking, it is muttar to suck the natural liquids of a food into one’s mouth from outside of their mouth. One can do so, with the exception of grapes and olives, where it is appropriate to be machmir, due to the machlokes.
All opinions agree that one can suck any item once it is within a person’s mouth.
Choleiv directly from the animal is assur unless one is ill.