Translation:Shulchan Aruch/Orach Chaim/314

1. Construction and demolishing do not apply to Keilim which are not themselves a complete construction, for example a barrel RAMA: (that does not hold 40-se’ah) made of pieces bonded together with pitch, may be broken in order to take out what is inside, provided that one does not intend to cut a fine hole that will be used as an opening, because then it is called making a Keili. If it is a perfect article it is forbidden to break it even if one does not transform it into a Keili. It is forbidden even to create a small hole and a new hole may not be widened. ''RAMA: provided that one intends it. (Mordechai)'' If a knife was wedged into the barrel before Shabbos it is permitted to withdraw it and replace it because one does not intend to widen it. ''RAMA: As long as it was extracted once before Shabbos, but if not it is forbidden because surely it will be creating a hole and an opening to the barrel. If one is permitted to break a piece off a broken Keili, see Siman 308:44.''

2. If a barrel’s outlet became clogged (it will depend): if the hole is adjacent to the dregs it is forbidden to unclog it, because due to its low position and it having to bear the weight of the wine it is considered fully sealed and reopening it is akin to creating a new hole. If it is above the dregs it is permitted to unclog it.

3. It is even permissible to use a drill (a hand tool - used for making holes) to reopen a sealed hole, for example when the cork is broken. Others say that one is only permitted to reopen an old hole in a clay barrel where the seal is not so tight, but in a wooden barrel where the hole is sealed and the stopper is sawed off with the intention never to be extracted, it surely appears as if a new hole is being fashioned and is forbidden.

4. One is permitted to use a stopper to knock out another stopper stuck in the barrel in order to drink the wine on Shabbos. ''RAMA: as long as the original stopper is not next to the dregs, as written in se’if 2. (Beis Yosef in the name of the Shibulei Leket)''

5. It is permissible to insert a hollow piece of cane wood (into a barrel, or a stopper) in order to draw wine even though it was never there before. However, it is forbidden to insert a myrtle leaf into a barrel hole where the leaf is shaped like a spout and the wine flows over it. This is because Chazal were afraid one might fashion a spout for the wine flow over and further out, because when taking a myrtle leaf and folding it into the shape of a spout, it appears as if one is making a spout; unlike the cane or the stopper which are not modified. ''RAMA: Some permit using a myrtle leaf when one has many that are already detached, as there is no fear that one might pick one. (Rosh and the Tur)''

6. One is permitted to slash the top of a barrel with a sword because one does not intend to make an opening since he is removing its top. However, to bore a hole either into the side of the barrel or into the lid is forbidden, even if it is bored with a dagger which forms a large hole and does not look like an opening. Nevertheless, since it is in the side [of the barrel] the intention is clearly to create an opening. One is permitted to bore a hole through the top of the lid because the intention is not to create an opening, as it is abnormal to make an opening on its top, because usually the lid is just removed.

7. The ropes that seal the various types of container covers may be untied, or slashed with a knife or unraveled. This only applies to rope and its sort, but as for wooden or metal clasps it is forbidden to take apart or to break, because total demolishing applies to Keilim as well. Therefore it is forbidden to remove the hinges called “gonzish”, which are on the back of a chest when the key is missing. Yet there are those who permit this. As for breaking the clasp of a chest, there is an opinion that permits it and an opinion that forbids it, and it is permitted through a non-Jew.

8. The rope tying the lids of baskets filled with dates and figs may be untied, unraveled or cut even using a knife. Even the basket itself may be slashed because it is comparable to cracking open nuts or almonds in order to retrieve the food within.

9. It is permissible to unravel or sever the string that is used to tie a lamb or chicken to the skewer.

10. Ropes that seal lids covering pits and caves, for example, the lid of a pit that is tied with a rope may be untied, because it is not a permanent knot as it is intended to be untied. It may not be unraveled or slashed because of Demolishing, סתירה. However this is true only if it is sealed with the intention that it not be opened on Shabbos, but if not intended to be permanent at all it is permitted. For this reason it is permitted to remove the board placed in the mouth of an oven and sealed with clay, because it is not intended to be permanent.

11. It is forbidden to insert wax or thick oil into a hole in a barrel because one will be smoothing (the Aruch explains that oiling, smearing, plastering, spreading and smoothing are conceptually similar), but other objects that are not subject to smoothing may be inserted because the wine is not escaping just then. If the wine is escaping from the hole it is forbidden to stop it up. Even inserting a piece of garlic in an illusory manner by way of saying that one’s intention is merely to store it there is forbidden. If one is a learned person one may pretend in that manner.

12. A knife wedged before Shabbos into a wooden wall is forbidden to be extracted on Shabbos because it is in something attached to the ground, but it is permitted to extract it if it is wedged into a bench or any other movable object. RAMA If it was extracted and replaced before Shabbos it is permitted (Beis Yosef), see se’if 1.