Question
What are the possible halachic problems that arise with brushing teeth on shabbos and is it permissible to do so? I have noticed special shabbos toothbrushes for sale in the shops, perhaps this elivates all the potential issues?
Answer
The possible violations that brushing teeth may incur are mimareach, molid, refuah, sechita, uvdin dechol and chavala. In order to get to the bottom of whether one may brush his teeth on Shabbos, we will look into these. Mimareach – one of the 39 forbidden melachos is scraping, removing a surface to leave a smooth remainder (e.g. sandpaper, scraping hairs off a piece of leather to make it smooth, etc) Smoothing not by eliminating surface, but by spreading something over the surface Rav Moshe Feinsteins opinion is that it’s definitely forbidden to use toothpaste because of mimachek, but without toothpaste, brushing teeth is allowed just like washing the rest of your body. Seemingly, Rav Moshe meant mimareach the toladah of mimachek. It is also possible that he meant mimachek in that one is smoothing out his teeth by removing the plaque. Rav Soloveitchik said removing dirt or plaque is certainly not mimachek just like washing dishes is permissible. Mimachek is only when you’re removing something that is part of the essence of the object itself and plaque isn’t that as it is something separate that coats the tooth. When asked if maybe one may remove enamel by brushing, he said that if that were true eventually they would have no tooth left from brushing. There are some sefardi poskim that allow even using toothpaste ].This is based on the Mogen Avrohom (316:24) that says one is allowed to smear spit on the ground, since what he is smearing gets totally absorbed, therefore its not a problem of mimareach. Similarly, toothpaste doesn’t stay there for a long time. His second proof is that the Rama (Orach Chaim 326:10) doesn’t say that the problem with using a hard soap is mimareach but instead says molid, because the soap only remains there temporarily. The Tzitz Eliezer rules like Rav Moshe. He says that it is not the same as the Mogen Avrohom refers to, because the spit the whole purpose is to get it into the ground, but with the toothpaste there is a purpose in the smearing even if just for a minute and there’s no shiur for how long it has to be there for it to be assur.
Molid is the prohibiton of creating something. The toothpaste becoming a foam, more fluid liquid may be a problem of molid. This problem is raised based on Rashi (Shabbos 51a) which says its asur to squeeze or crush ice on Shabbos because of molid. The Shulchan Aruch however holds like the Rambam which says squeezing ice is asur because it looks like squeezing fruit which falls under the category of sechita. Rav Moshe Feinstein in Igeros Moshe and Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss in Minchat Yitzchak prohibit brushing teeth with toothpaste based on this also. However some say that even for Ashkenazim it should not be a problem because molid is solid to liquid not a paste to liquid.
Rav Moshe Yonah Halevi Zweig raises the issue that it may be refuah on Shabbos. This is based on the Rambam who says that if you put a certain liquid in your mouth, it is prohibited to put it in if you have intention to heal, but if your intention is just for your breath then its ok. He says, that maybe since there’s flouride and the brushing strengthens your teeth it may be asur.
Regarding sechita – squeezing – when using a toothbrush, Gemara (Shabbos 128b) says there’s no sechita in hair since it doesn’t absorb. Rambam (Shabbos 9:11) paskens this way. However, the Maggid Mishnah there says its asur derabbonon. Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss say that because the bristles are tightly packed and therefore you can’t use even liquid toothpaste and can’t wet it before. The Sridei Esh brings the following reasons that we can be lenient with sechita with a toothbrush: Because the intention is not to squeeze out the toothbrush so its pesik resha dilo nicha leh on a dirabanan i.e a consequence that
will automatically happen that is not the intended outcome. Also, since the main issue involved is mifarek, which is a form of Dash, it is permitted since the water or toothpaste goes to waste when you’re done. However, had the issue been libun, the fact that the water or toothpaste goes to waste afterwards wouldn’t be enough of a reason to permit. The third reason the Sridei Esh is meikil is because of kovod habrius. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach says that the first leniency is not true because the people are happy with the squeezing of the toothpaste because that’s what cleans their teeth. He also rejects the second because the liquid doesn’t go to waste until after it fulfills its purpose. However, he is still mekil because of the third reason – people suffer when their teeth are unclean.
There is no clear definition of what uvdin dichol is. However, Rav Shlomo Zalman defines it as if you do something during the week that would make it assur on Shabbos so then on Shabbos do the same actions with the same objects just a little differently. Rav Moshe Feinstein defines it as something that is an easily recognizable weekday activity even if it requires no melochos to be done. Mishna Brurah (314:41) says that to use a vegetable grinder to grind eggs or cheese would be uvdin dichol even though theres a clear difference. He also says in (303:87) that you can’t use a comb even to lightly brush your hair to one side, but instead should get a special brush for Shabbos with soft bristles so it is not uvdin dichol. Minchas Yitzchak 3:50 say that this would be a problem unless a special toothbrush is used.
The final halachic issue that brushing teeth might pose is Chavalah.Brushing your teeth can cause the gums to bleed which is asur under the melacha of shochet Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss says that this would be a problem with toothbrushes especially ones with hard bristles. However some say that this isn’t really a problem because people usually don’t bleed, it only happens when you don’t brush often so it is davar she’eno mitkaven if you do end up bleeding. And even if one does bleed often, then its pesik reshe its not nichah leh bidarabanan and there may be room to be lenient.
To summarise, some poskim permit brushing one’s teeth on Shabbos, while some forbid doing so. Some poskim hold that if one does brush his teeth on Shabbos he should use liquid toothpaste. Using mouthwash on Shabbos has no halachic problems. |