Shabbat, Sepharadi Style part 6

The next part of our story, I like to call "the Gefilte Fish". It is a long established custom of most Jews to have a fish course at all, or at least some, Shabbat meals. This is mostly custom, but greatly emphasized in Kabbalah. However, some see a problem in doing so. One of the prohibitions of Shabbat is "borer"; the process of selecting out bad from good, or even good from bad if it is to be kept for later. For example, a bowl of fruit, in which one is rotten. It is absolutely forbidden to remove the rotten one on Shabbat. Rather, one may take out the good ones. This, too, would be forbidden if the good is put aside for later use. This even applies where one item is not bad, but not what I want right now. If peanuts are mixed with raisins, and I want the peanuts now, pulling out one or more raisins would be "borer". What does one do with fish? Most Ashkenazi poskim (legal decisors) see the removal of a bone from the fish as a Biblical prohibition of "borer". One must eat the flesh from around the bones. Therefore, European Jews developed the "Gefilte". The bones have been removed before Shabbat, with the flesh being cooked and seasoned. Classically, it was then stuffed back in the fish skin, or more commonly, made into a sort of fish dumpling. In Poland, even the non Jews enjoyed it, calling it "Jewish Fish". Problem solved. One early nineteenth century posek even forbade the eating of nuts on Shabbat (although this practice is widely reported as being done in Talmudic times), as sometimes a piece of shell gets mixed in. Its removal would constitute "borer". Most Sepharadic poskim see here no problem. First of all, if done in the normal process of eating, there can be no "borer".(Derech Achilah) That is the way of eating. One would not be likely to eat a nut without removing the shell. It makes no difference if the shell has inadvertently become mixed in with the nut. To do so BEFORE the meal, in the course of preparation, would indeed be forbidden. But not during the meal. Furthermore, most Sepharadic authorities say that there is no such thing as "borer" within a single item. The fish and its bones constitute a single item. The bones can be removed, according to this view, even before the meal! In addition, most Sepharadim see no problem in separating an unwanted solid from a liquid. They were never really "mixed", thus obviating the need for separating. if a fly fell into one's wine, most Ashkenazim would be sure to remove it along with some of the wine, with others saying that even this is forbidden. A Sepharadi would simply remove the fly. It never was "mixed" with the wine. I can still remember my younger, Ashkenazi self, swallowing watermelon seeds along with the flesh, in order to avoid "borer" (most people would spit out the seeds once in the mouth). Now, I freely remove the seeds before eating.The more relaxed the atmosphere of Shabbat observance, the more the soul can soar. I love being Sepharadi.