Shabbat, Sepharadi Style part 8

Wait, did I say at the end of my last post that we should have some tea? Wow, does that open a can of worms! How shall we make it? I have discussed in other posts, that ,in the laws of Shabbat, a vessel cooking over the fire is a "kli Rishon" (first vessel). Theoretically, we may put into it any dry, fully cooked food. But most avoid doing this. Anything not fully cooked will become cooked in a kli rishon, thus violating Shabbat. If we pour the water from a kli rishon into another vessel (kli sheni; second vessel), according to the vast majority of authorities, no further cooking takes place. However, the boiling water coming out of a kli rishon, before it comes to rest in the kli sheni, still can "cook", at least by rabbinic law. Since there is "no cooking after cooking", a Sepharadi will not hesitate to pour boiling water over coffee, which has, of course, been roasted. An Ashkenazi will never do this, as they fear we do not know if the principal of "no cooking after cooking", also applies to roasted, baked, fried, etc. Sepharadi eyes roll at this point. In the kli sheni, we may place anything...probably. In a totally different area of halachah, in the laws of tithes, we find an idea that one cannot take tithes from cooked food on raw food, or vice versa. Thus, carrots grown in Eretz Yisrael, if raw, can only be tithed with raw carrots. But how do we define raw? If they were heated, until they appear cooked, they are cooked. This would apply even in a kli sheni. So, since a kli sheni will make certain foods appear cooked, especially thin leaved vegetables. perhaps we need to apply this to Shabbat as well? Most Ashkenazi rabbis do, in fact, apply this to leafy vegetables and herbs. They insist on placing these foods into a kli shlishi (third vessel), before putting in hot water. One seventeenth century posek even wrote that anyone avoiding putting ANYTHING into a kli sheni "will be blessed". (One early twentieth century posek wrote that although this makes little sense, it's worth it to be strict, in order to receive that rabbi's blessing.) Some Sepharadic poskim are also hesitant to put leafy foods into a kli sheni, but most see no relationship between the principal of tithing, and the laws of Shabbat. Tea leaves, although they have been heated as part of the drying process, are not actually "cooked". The degree of heat is generally under the temperature needed to "cook". Therefore, most Sepharadim will put a tea bag into a kli sheni (into which the water has already been poured). Most Ashkenazim will insist on a kli shlishi. Some will argue that even this may be problematic, and prepare, before Shabbat, a tea "essence", to be mixed with hot water in a kli shlishi. So, if you are following Ashkenazi practice, pour the water into a kli sheni, then into a kli shlishi, and put in your tea bag, or, better yet, use tea "essence", and enjoy.If you are following Sepharadi halachah, pour the hot water into a kli sheni, then feel free to add whatever you wish. Rav Ovadia Yosef writes at length that it is permitted, but qualifies his ruling with a "better not to". I do not know if he meant that for real, or if it was merely a nod to Ashkenazi sensibilities. I, personally, will place a tea bag into a kli sheni. Now. let's have that cup of tea, and please squeeze some lemon into it.

Shabbat, Sepharadi Style part 7

Since we have enjoyed out gefilte fish, how about a salad? If we are Ashkenazi, not so simple. If vegetables need to be peeled, we run into the issue of "borer". Even if we determine that peeling a vegetable is NOT borer, the halachah stipulates that most permissible preparations, cannot be performed with "a specialized utensil" (kli hameyuhad l'kach). According to most Ashkenazim, that woulod rule out a vegetable peeler. Sepharadic rabbis disagree, arguing that a vegetable peeler is merely one of many types of knives, and hence permissible, But wait. May I cut the vegetables? Ashkenazim point to a Talmudic passage that says that we may not cut vegetables "finely". This is interpreted as a prohibition of "grinding" (tohen). How fine constitutes "grinding"? As it is not defined, we had better leave the vegetables in fairly large chunks. In fact, to be safe, let's cut them a little bigger than we do on weekdays. Sepharadim will say "Wait. The context of the above mentioned passage in the Talmud is cutting vegetables or herbs finely in preparation for cooking, either for food or medicine. It has nothing to do with "grinding'." The Sepharadi will prepare the vegetables as finely cut as he pleases. Do you want some lemon juice on that? Not so fast. We have before us a question of "sohet" (squeezing, wringing out). "Sohet" is a subset (toldah) of "separating". The Talmud informs us that the squeezing of grapes to make wine, or olives to make olive oil, is Biblically forbidden, as we are separating the desired liquid from the rest of the fruit. The Talmud extends this, as a rabbinic "fence", to pomegranates and raspberries, which were frequently juiced and fermented at that time, in that part of the world. All other fruits, where juicing is uncommon, are permitted. Ashkenazi opinion later extended that to all fruit that we may wish to juice. Sepharadic opinion, based on RAMBAM, says that no new decrees can be made after the demise of the last Sanhedrin (fourth century), except for a recognized local rabbi, for his community only. Many Ashkenazim, on the other hand, consider a situation that, had it been known to the Sanhedrin, we may reasonably assume that they would have forbade, to be, in fact, forbidden. (Lemons were unknown in the Middle East in Biblical and Talmudic times). Therefore, all juicing is now prohibited on Shabbat according to Ashkenazi opinion. An almost universal "out" in this, is if we are squeezing the lemon not into a bowl, or even into a drink, but rather only onto a solid food. It never had the status of a juice, but only of a condiment. Even here, though, many Ashkenazim say "it's permitted, but better avoided". Most Sepharadic rabbis see this as a strange interpretation. Only the juicing of grapes and olives is Biblically forbidden. Pomegranates and raspberries are rabbinically forbidden. No decree was made on anything else, and hence it is permitted. (Surprisingly, Rav Ovadia Yosef forbade the juicing of oranges, as orange juice today is extremely common). Since lemon juice is almost never consumed as a beverage, unless other ingredients are added, it is not considered juice at all. Therefore, it may be freely squeezed, even into a bowl. Again, it is not that the Sepharadim are looking for "outs", but rather that they do not consider the stricter opinions in this case, to have any textual or logical merit. That one great rabbi or another ruled differently, is of no interest or importance, unless he put forth a source, or a reasonable argument. Now, let's have some salad, along with tea and lemon.

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.