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.