Sabbath food preparation refers to the preparation and handling of food before the Sabbath, (also called Shabbat, or the seventh day of the week) beginning at sundown Friday concluding at sundown Saturday, the Bible day of rest, when cooking, baking, and the kindling of a fire are prohibited by the Jewish law.
One of the 39 prohibited activities on the Sabbath is bishul (Hebrew : בישול), or "cooking." However, bishul is not an exact equivalent of "cooking." The Hebrew term bishul as it relates to Shabbat is the "use of heat to alter the quality of an item," [1] and this applies whether the heat is applied through baking, boiling, frying, roasting and most other types of cooking. [2] [3]
The prohibition of bishul applies to all types of food and drink, even to foods and drinks which are edible when raw or cold. [4]
Kli Rishon A kli rishon (כלי ראשון, "first vessel") is a vessel that was heated directly on a flame or other source of heat. Even when removed from the source of heat, this vessel maintains its status as a kli rishon, and possesses the capacity to enact bishul on any type of food placed within it. This capacity remains until the pot and its contents cool below the temperature of yad soledet bo (יד סולדת בו, the degree of heat "from which the hand recoils").
Rabbi Simcha Bunin Cohen, The Shabbos Kitchen Mesorah Publications, Ltd. 1991, page 17
The prohibited activity of bishul is separate and distinct from that of havarah (הבערה, "kindling a fire"). Performing bishul with a pre-existing flame is forbidden on Shabbat The prohibition of bishul, however, is not limited to the use of fire as a heat source; it is forbidden to perform bishul with any source of heat, whether it be an actual flame, or an electric stove/range, a hot plate, an urn [5] [6] or a microwave oven. [7] Moreover, placing food into a kli rishon may constitute bishul in certain instances. However using heat from the sun to cook is allowed on shabbat. (talmud shabbat 39a)
While it is prohibited in most instances to initially heat a food item to the temperature of yad soledet bo, foods that have already been fully cooked may sometimes be reheated. In terms of reheating, a distinction is made between dry foods and liquids.
Dry food that has been completely cooked is no longer subject to the prohibition of bishul; this is based on the principle of ain bishul achar bishul (אין בישול אחר בישול, "Cooking does not take effect after cooking"). Thus, a completely cooked, dry food item, such as a piece of chicken or potato kugel, may be reheated once it has been fully cooked.
However, there is a great dispute as to whether this rule applies to liquids: Maimonides, [8] the Rashba and the Ran assert that liquids are in fact no different from solid dry foods, whereas Rashi , [9] the Rosh [10] and Rabbeinu Yonah [11] assert that this rule does not apply and reheating of liquids is forbidden, applying the principle of yeish bishul achar bishul (יש בישול אחר בישול, "Cooking does take effect after cooking") to liquids. This prohibition of reheating liquids only applies when the liquid has completely cooled. If the liquid has only partially cooled and still retains enough heat to be enjoyed as the warm liquid as it was intended to be, [12] it may be reheated.
Kli rishon, literally the first utensil, refers to a utensil that is used for cooking, baking or roasting food or liquid, and contains that hot food or liquid. When hot food or liquid is transferred from the kli rishon into a second utensil, this utensil is called a kli sheni. A kli shlishi is the third utensil into which hot food or liquid is transferred. The idea of Kli shlishi being less stringent than a Kli Sheni is not clear in the talmud or rishonim. All vessels that are no longer a Kli Rishon have the status of kli sheni as the status of a kli sheni is based on the fact that the heat is generated by the liquid within the vessel rather than by the walls of the vessel. In that regard Kli sheni and Kli shlishi etc. are exactly the same .
The problem of preparing hot beverages on Shabbat revolves around the temperature of the water. If the water is hot enough to cook the tea leaves, it would constitute malacha. Pouring straight from an urn (also considered a klei rishon) would cause the cooking of the substance. For a solid substance the outer and concrete layer will definitely be cooked (bishul kdai klipah), which would be malacha. For a liquid there is no concrete layer, and therefore no specific part that is being cooked. Therefore, it is ruled that a liquid is not considered cooked if it is not yad soledet bo or 113 °F (45 °C)[ citation needed ]. A kos sheini can be used to bypass this problem.
Using a Kos sheini is acceptable because when the liquid is poured (Erui kos sheini) some of the heat is transferred into the atmosphere, and therefore the liquid loses some heat. Most people hold that this will not cause enough heat to be emitted and therefore the tea leaves will still be cooked. To lower the temperature of the water further people rule that a klei shlishi must be used. Once again in the pouring process (erui klei sheini) more heat is emitted and therefore some people hold that the tea will not be cooked and it is therefore permissible to make tea with this water. [13] However, many other authorities hold that tea leaves fall under the category of items which cook easily (kalei habishul), even in the diminished heat of a kos shelishi. Consequently, those who are most scrupulous in their observance will prepare a concentrated tea extract before the Sabbath; as a liquid, water from a kos sheini can be added to the extract to heat it.
In addition to the Biblical prohibition of cooking on Shabbat, there exist several related rabbinical prohibitions on Shabbat.
In 2015, a house fire killed seven children in Brooklyn, New York. The 2015 fire was preceded by at least four other Shabbat fires in Brooklyn in the past 15 years caused by appliances for heating food being left on or candles burning during the Jewish Sabbath in order to comply with Orthodox interpretation of Jewish Law. [14] In 2005, three children died in a fire in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, caused when stove burners were left on during Passover. [15] After the 2015 fire, the New York City Fire Department distributed a pamphlet titled "Fire Safety for Jewish Observances" to nearby homes. [16] In response to the fire, many Jews in Brooklyn purchased smoke detectors before the following Sabbath. [17] [18]
Kashrut is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jews are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher, from the Ashkenazic pronunciation (KUHsher) of Hebrew kashér, meaning "fit".
Shabbat or the Sabbath, also called Shabbos by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the creation of the heaven and earth in six days and the redemption from slavery and The Exodus from Egypt, and look forward to a future Messianic Age. Since the Jewish religious calendar counts days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on the civil calendar is Friday.
The Melakha are thirty-nine categories of activity which Jewish law identifies as being prohibited by biblical law on Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath. Many of these activities are also prohibited on the Jewish holidays listed in the Torah, although there are significant exceptions that permit carrying and preparing food under specific circumstances on holidays.
A Shabbat elevator is an elevator which works in a special mode, operating automatically, to satisfy the Jewish law requiring Jews to abstain from operating electrical switches on Shabbat. These are also known as Sabbath or Shabbos elevators.
Cholent or Hamin is a traditional Jewish stew. It is usually simmered overnight for 12 hours or more, and eaten for lunch on Shabbat. Cholent was developed over the centuries to conform with Jewish laws that prohibit cooking on the Sabbath. The pot is brought to a boil on Friday before the Sabbath begins, and kept on a blech or hotplate, or left in a slow oven or electric slow cooker, until the following day. Cholent originated in ancient Judea, possibly as far back as the Second Temple period, and over the centuries various Jewish diaspora communities created their own variations of the dish.
Muktzeh is a Hebrew word that means "separated", or "set aside". The generally accepted view regarding these items is that they may be touched, though not moved, during Shabbat or Yom Tov. Some extend this prohibition to the actual handling of these items. Halakha defines various categories of objects or substances which are "set aside" on the Jewish Sabbath, as well as various permissible instances of moving these various muktzeh items. For example, one may not handle money, rocks, twigs, etc. on Shabbat, as these items are muktzeh.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to food preparation:
A blech is a metal sheet used by many observant Jews to cover stovetop burners on Shabbos, as part of the precautions taken to avoid violating the halachic prohibition against cooking on the Sabbath.
Chol HaMoed, a Hebrew phrase meaning "weekdays [of] the festival", refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot. As the name implies, these days mix features of "chol" and "moed" (festival).
Sabbath mode, also known as Shabbos mode or Shabbat mode, is a feature in many modern home appliances, including ovens, dishwashers, and refrigerators, which is intended to allow the appliances to be used by Shabbat-observant Jews on the Shabbat and Jewish holidays. The mode usually overrides the usual, everyday operation of the electrical appliance and makes the operation of the appliance comply with the rules of Halakha.
Bishul Yisrael is a Hebrew term for one of the laws of kashrut in Judaism. The rule prohibits eating certain foods if they are cooked exclusively by non-Jews. The term is the opposite of bishul akum,, which the rule forbids. Akum (עכו"ם) is an acronym of Ovdey Kochavim U'Mazalot, literally "worshippers of stars and zodiac signs", but is actually a term for non-Jews).
Shabbat is the first tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. The tractate deals with the laws and practices regarding observing the Jewish Sabbath. The tractate focuses primarily on the categories and types of activities prohibited on the Sabbath according to interpretations of many verses in the Torah, notably Exodus 20:9–10 and Deut. 5:13–14.
A kitchen utensil is a small hand held tool used for food preparation. Common kitchen tasks include cutting food items to size, heating food on an open fire or on a stove, baking, grinding, mixing, blending, and measuring; different utensils are made for each task. A general purpose utensil such as a chef's knife may be used for a variety of foods; other kitchen utensils are highly specialized and may be used only in connection with preparation of a particular type of food, such as an egg separator or an apple corer. Some specialized utensils are used when an operation is to be repeated many times, or when the cook has limited dexterity or mobility. The number of utensils in a household kitchen varies with time and the style of cooking.
A Shabbat lamp is a special lamp that has movable parts to expose or block out its light so it can be turned "on" or "off" while its power physically remains on. This enables the lamp's light to be controlled by those Shabbat observant Jews who accept this use, to make a room dark or light during Shabbat without actually switching the electrical power on or off, an act prohibited by Orthodox Judaism on both Shabbat and the Jewish Holidays.
Many Jews who strictly observe Shabbat refrain from using electrical devices on Shabbat, with the exception of passive enjoyment of devices which were set up before Shabbat. Various rabbinical authorities have pronounced on what is permitted and what is not, but there are many disagreements in detailed interpretation, both between different individual authorities and between branches of Judaism.
Mixtures of milk and meat are forbidden according to Jewish law. This dietary law, basic to kashrut, is based on two verses in the Book of Exodus, which forbid "boiling a (goat) kid in its mother's milk" and a third repetition of this prohibition in Deuteronomy.
The Hebrew phrase yad soledet bo is a principle in Jewish law that governs those laws that deal with cooking.
The Shabbos App is a proposed Android app that is claimed to enable Orthodox Jews, and Jewish Sabbath-observers, to use a smartphone on the Sabbath. The App was supposed to appear in late 2014. Some argued from the outset that this project was nothing more than an elaborate hoax, or prank, of some kind.
Ethiopian Jewish cuisine is the cuisine of the Beta Israel. The cuisine of the Ethiopian Jews is similar to the cuisine of other Ethiopians, with some variations.
Shabbat meals or Shabbos meals are the three meals eaten by Shabbat-observant Jews, the first on Friday night, the second on Saturday day, and the third late on Saturday afternoon. The Hebrew word for meal is seudah, with the plural version being seudos or seudot, thus the Friday night and Saturday day meals are often called seudot or seudos. The third meal, held on Saturday afternoon is called either shalosh seudos, seudah shlishit, or shaleshudus.