Can you rip off tags on Shabbos? Thanks!
Daniella Grodko
Response from Mrs. Sinensky:
The potential issue here is makeh b’patish (putting the final touches on an object), as one might view the removal of clothing tags as "finishing" the product.
The Shulchan Aruch paskins that you cannot remove fringes left over from the weaving process because of makeh b'patish. If you think about, though, removing a price tag is different than removing fringes--the price tag is not attached to the garment as part of the manufacturing process and the fringes are. The price tag is actually added AFTER the garmnet is completed! So when you take the fringes off, you are completing the garment. When you take the price tag off, you are taking something off that was added to the garment AFTER it was already completed. Based on this, ripping tags off of clothing on shabbat would not be a violation of makeh b'patish.
What about ripping?
R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach says that you do not violate ripping on Shabbat because the tag was never intended to be permanently attached to the garment.
So bottom line: One can rip tags off of clothing on Shabbat
Challenge for all you bloggers: Based on what I wrote, why would it be a problem for you to rip the seems in a slit of a skirt on Shabbat?
1 comment:
Thank you, Mrs. Sinensky! I have changed my mind about many a Shabbat outfit because I've discovered that I'd left the tags on. It's so nice to learn halakha le-ma'aseh, with proper explanations, through this blog.
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