MISC section - contents: Q Is it permitted on Shabbat to take hot food in a pan from an
oven and transfer it to an insulated or thermal container to keep it warm? Hatmana (insulating food) is rabbinically forbidden in two basic circumstances:1) when it takes place on Shabbat;2) even if the hatmana is done before Shabbat, if it is done in a medium where heat is being added (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 257:1). You refer to hatmana on Shabbat, so we will have to find situations where the prohibition of hatmana does not apply. In order to be considered hatmana, the food or its utensil must not only be covered but must be surrounded relatively tightly by the insulating material (ibid.:8) on all sides (at least for Ashkenazim - Shemirat Shabbat K’hil- chata 1:66). Only then is it similar to hatmana in REMETZ (a mixture of sand and coals), the prototype of the prohibition. In some cases, an insulating container gives a relatively snug fit, while in others, the food’s container and the insulation does not come in such close contact. In the latter case, there is no problem. We will continue to look for solutions for cases that meet the general description of hatmana or are borderline. The gemara (Shabbat 51a) cites Rashbag, who says that if one has moved food from the utensil in which it was heated into another one, he can do hatmana (that does not add heat) to the second utensil. It explains that since the person cooled down the food, we do not have to fear that he will now reheat it in violation of Shabbat, which is our usual fear. Thus, the following system should solve all problems. Before putting the hot food into the insulation, first transfer the food into another pan or container, using Rashbag’s leniency, which is accepted as halacha (Shulchan Aruch, ibid.:5). But is our case a legitimate application of Rashbag’s leniency? An important machloket exists between the Rambam and Rashi whether Rashbag’s logic applies in a case where the food was moved to a second utensil without intention to cool it off. The Rambam (Shabbat 4:5) says that the prohibition exists only in the “kli rishon shenitbashel bo” (the utensil that the food was cooked in), without further distinction, as Rashbag’s statement implies. Rashi implies that there must be intention to cool off the food for the leniency’s logic to apply. The major poskim accept the Rambam’s view (Beit Yosef, OC 157; Magen Avraham 157:14; Mishna Berura 257:29). A possibly more stringent application is heated water that is poured into a thermos, where the transfer was done specifically to maintain the heat for as long as possible. Still, most poskim permit the matter based on the Rambam, as the hatmana occurs in a kli sheni (a utensil that was not on the flame). Additional factors are raised that might allow even Rashi to be lenient by a thermos (see Chazon Ish, OC 37:32; Igrot Moshe, OC I, 95; Minchat Shlomo II, 10). We must consider whether our case is more stringent than that of a thermos. Liquids that are poured into a new utensil cool off significantly and are said to be in a kli sheni, where several halachic leniencies exist. However, many rule that solids (davar gush) maintain their heat, are not very affected by a kli sheni’s cold walls, and maintain the status of kli rishon (Shach, YD 94:30, arguing on Rama 94:7). Thus, one could claim that Rashbag’s leniency does not apply to solids, as in our case. However, the Rambam’s language (ibid.) implies and the Pri Megadim (MZ 257:5) states clearly that hatmana is forbidden only in the actual utensil where the food was heated and not in another utensil, even to food that is kli rishon (see Minchat Shlomo, ibid.). In summary, if one wants to put food heated in an oven pan into a tight-fitting insulating container, it is necessary and sufficient to transfer it into another utensil before insulating. Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat Yamim, the weekly parsha
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version). Please leave the subject blank. Ask the Vebbe Rebbe is partially
funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel After they had discussed the question, R' Yoshe Ber offered R' Chaim's answer, and again there was discussion. Some supported; others tried to argue against it. Again R' Itzele sat in silence. R' Yoshe Ber was surprised at R' Itzele's behavior, because he
had the reputation of being an outstanding Torah scholar. When he returned to
the inn where he was staying, he asked that R' Itzele's work, Pri Yitzchak, be
brought to him. In it he found the same question that R' Chaim had asked and two
answers, including the one given by R' Chaim. R' Yoshe Ber was astounded and
remarked: "How great is the humility of R' Itzel." Our Sages viewed Korach's revolt as a controversy (machloket) that was not for the sake of heaven.(Avot 5:19). Over the course of the last century, however, there was a machloket which appears to have been leshem shamayim. I refer to the issue of the proper Jewish response to the Zionist effort, to the opportunity afforded the Jewish people to return to Eretz Israel and rebuild Jewish society. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik saw a foreshadowing of this controversy in the conflict between the biblical Joseph and his brothers. He gives the following analysis: With the founding of the Mizrachi movement in 1901, a bitter controversy engulfed Orthodoxy. The Religious Zionists sensed an ominous cloud on the horizon of the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, an impending cataclysm led by the forces of secular- ism and anti-Semitism. A storm called modernity was sweeping away all the obstacles that stood in its path. In this world, all professions would be linked to an academic education and the centers of Jewish life would move to America and Israel. However, the opponents of this approach were blinded by the status quo in which the shuls and study halls were full and the traditional faithful constituted the bulk of the Jewish people. They saw only the dangers in modernity and none of its opportunities. Says the Rav: “In this controversy for the sake of heaven, between the biblical Joseph and his brothers, God ruled in accordance with Joseph that, ‘God did send me before you to preserve life’' (Gen. 45:5). In our own day, the Creator of the world has ruled like Joseph of 1901 who dreamed of a new land and new conditions. If the Joseph of 1901 had not paved the way to Eretz Israel it would not have been possible to transplant anew the world of Torah in the Holy Land.” Surely 56 years of ingathering and growth of the Jewish State
should be enough to convince those of us still tied to the gilded ghettos of
America that their rightful place now is at the side of their brothers and
sisters in Israel. “Shall your brothers go to war and will you sit here?” (Num.
32:6). TORAH THOUGHTS as contributed by Aloh Naaleh members for
publication in the Orthodox Union's 'Torah Insights', a weekly Torah publication
on Parshat Ha'Shavuah Their claws can be retracted. Most have perianal glands that
produce a strong-smelling substance; in some species the odor is sufficiently
potent to ward off predators. The secretion of these glands, called civet, is
used as a perfume base and medicine. Viverrids include civets, genets,
mongooses, suricates (a.k.a. meerkats, as is Timon in the Lion King series), and
others. Civets are mostly nocturnal... mongooses are smaller members of the
civet family... fierce, active hunters, feeding on a variety of ground-living
animals, as well as eggs... The Indian gray mongoose, is known for its ability
to kill snakes, including cobras... When attacking a snake, the mongoose
provokes it to strike repeatedly, avoiding it by agile dodging; when the snake
is exhausted the mongoose seizes its head in its jaws... Skill in evading the
snake is learned... easily tamed and is often kept as a pet and a destroyer of
household vermin... but very destructive... The meerkat or suricate is a social
mongoose... living in large communal burrows and prey chiefly on insects and
other small invertebrates. According to the Midrash, Korach sought to discredit Moshe’s leadership by publicly confronting him with the following question: “Why should a room filled with holy books need a Mezuza (which contains within it two texts from the Holy Torah)? By analogy, Korach was contending that, “All the congregation are holy” (Bemidbar 16:3): Why therefore single out anyone in particular? Like the holy books, each holy Jew has the potential to make a mark, to be a leader. Korach was arguing for a share of Moshe’s authority. In his view, and that of his followers, it was not necessary for the Kohanim to take the lion’s share of the leadership; everyone (in a democracy) should have an equal chance of leading the people. But, as the Lubavitcher Rebbe remarked, those very texts in the
Mezuza proclaim the unity of G-d, in every appropriate place. They thus call our
attention eternally to His exalted teachings. Similarly, the Jewish people need
the appropriate leaders whose higher calling beckons us to Hashem’s service, at
the appropriate time and place. [The Parshat Korach Homepage]
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