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          HALAKHA: A WEEKLY SHIUR IN HALAKHIC TOPICS



                COOKING LIQUIDS ON SHABBAT

                  by Rav Elyakim Krumbein

         Trans. and adapted by Rabbi Eliezer Kwass




QUESTION:  Under what circumstances can one reheat liquids on 
Shabbat?  How and why does the halakha distinguish between 
liquids and solids?

Background Information - Cooking vs. Reheating

	Though the Torah prohibits cooking on Shabbat, in some 
situations reheating is permissible.  The well-known halakhic 
dictum states, "Ein bishul achar bishul," i.e., there is no 
prohibition of cooking a previously cooked food.  (Similarly, 
we find the principle "ein tochein achar tochein," e.g., 
regrinding a piece of matza into flour is permitted, while 
grinding grains of wheat is prohibited.) 

Solids vs. Liquids - Several Approaches

	Authorities agree that reheating solid food is 
permissible once it has been one-third cooked (called by the 
Talmud "ma'akhal Ben Drosai" after a highway bandit who, in 
his haste, would eat partially cooked meat).  Reheating 
liquids, however, is the subject of a debate among the 
Rishonim:

1.  Some say it is prohibited once the liquid has cooled down 
beneath the level of "yad soledet bo" (literally, "when the 
hand recoils from its heat" - about 45 degrees Celsius). 
2.  According to Rabbeinu Yona (quoted in Rabbenu Yerucham, 
Section 3), reheating a cooled down liquid is prohibited only 
if the application of heat improves the food's quality 
("mitztamek ve-yafeh lo").
3.  The Rema (OC 318:15) maintains an alternate approach which 
prohibits reheating only if the liquid has completely cooled 
down.  As long as it remains somewhat warm, recooking is 
permissible.

Solids vs. Liquids - Why Distinguish?

	Why do the rules of recooking differ for liquids?  Why 
consider a solid "cooked" once the food has reached a certain 
stage of its preparation and a liquid "cooked" only while it 
is still hot?

	Based on the gemara (Shabbat 74b), one would infer that 
cooking means "softening" the food, not just making it edible.  
For solids this definition works, but for liquids we need some 
other criterion.  Apparently, for liquids cooking means 
"heating."  This does not explain, though, why we do not also 
prohibit reheating solids which have fallen below "yad soledet 
bo."  If this temperature is a relevant criterion for liquids, 
why does it not also apply to solids?

Ritva's Cryptic Comment

	Surprisingly, except for the Ritva (Shabbat 39a), the 
Rishonim do not offer any explanation for the puzzling 
distinction between liquids and solids - and the Ritva leaves 
us only with a short, enigmatic statement.  Quoting the 
Tosafot, he says:  "'Basheil mevushal' (surely cooked) can 
apply to liquids but 'basheil mevushal' cannot apply to solids 
like meat and fish."  What does he mean by "basheil mevushal"?

	The expression appears in the Torah in conjunction with 
the Korban Pesach (Shemot 12:9).  The Torah requires it to be 
eaten roasted, not raw and not "basheil mevushal bamayim".  
The word "bamayim" is open to two translations:
	1. [cooked] in water; and 
	2. [cooked] with and by means of water.
Water is both a place or medium within which something gets 
cooked, and a cooking agent.  The Yerushalmi (Shabbat 7:2), 
basing the opinion that one cannot cook the Pesach sacrifice 
with the hot spring waters of Tiberias on the words "basheil 
mevushal bamayim," apparently translates the expression the 
second way - "with water," for clearly it meant to teach us 
something about the means of cooking and not merely the 
location.

	Liquids are not only cooked by fire, but they also become 
a partner with fire to act as a cooking agent.  A solid is 
passive in the cooking process; it can only be cooked.  A 
liquid, though, is an active participant in cooking the food 
which is in the pot with it.  It is heated by the fire below 
it, but  then it becomes that which cooks the meat, fish, or 
vegetables in its midst in a way which the fire itself would 
not have been able to.  

Cooking a liquid = Making it into a Cooking Agent

	Herein lies the distinction between liquids and solids.  
To cook a liquid, say the Tosafot, is to turn it into a 
cooking agent.  Once a liquid has cooled down, it ceases to 
function as such, but it will resume its role if reheated.  
Once a solid has been softened by heat, the change is 
irreversible.  Reheating it is thererfore permissible on 
Shabbat (at least on a Biblical level, though the Rabbis 
prohibit replacing it directly on a fire).  But every time a 
liquid drops below 45 degrees, its power to cook other foods 
is lost and, in effect, it becomes "uncooked."  Reheating it 
above that temperature is prohibited because this once again 
transforms it into a cooking agent.  

	With this approach we can answer a question that troubled 
the Acharonim.  Some Rishonim claim that the prohibition of 
cooking on Shabbat does not apply to fruit which is edible 
when raw.  Yet, the same Rishonim agree that it does apply to 
water (which of course is edible when raw)!  But now, the 
distinction is clear.  Water becomes a cooking agent when 
heated; fruit just become hot.  Since the heating does not 
essentially change the fruit - it was edible before - cooking 
does not apply to it.  Water, though, is qualitatively changed 
by the heating; it can now cook other things.

	The Ran (Shabbat Ch. 4) quotes Rabbenu Yona in explicit 
support of this idea (i.e. the prohibition of reheating 
liquids is based on returning to the state of a cooking 
agent).  Based on this assumption, he arrives at an 
exceptional conclusion; one may not pour boiling hot water 
from one "keli rishon" (= a vessel that was on a heat source) 
into another that has food in it, since there are views in the 
Yerushalmi that once poured from a "keli rishon," food no 
longer maintains its cooking ability (even if still boiling 
hot).  So "when water is poured, it immediately upon leaving 
the vessel, even if boiling, loses its ability to cook" 
("passak ko'ach retichatah mi-levashel"), and then once again 
is re-cooked by the receiving "keli rishon."

Three Approaches to Cooking Liquids

	We can now understand the different opinions regarding 
when it is prohibited to reheat liquids:

1.  According to the first approach, once it is below 45 
degrees ("yad soledet bo"), reheating it above that is 
prohibited because it becomes a cooking agent again.  This is 
how the Shulchan Arukh OC 318:4 rules.
2.  Rabbenu Yona only prohibits reheating above "yad soledet 
bo" if in so doing the food is actually improved, i.e. the 
liquid manifests its potential as a cooking agent.
3.  The Rema, who permits reheating as long as the liquid has 
not completely cooled down, is difficult.  Why ignore the 
relevant cut-off temperature of "yad soledet bo?"  His opinion 
can be understood if one views water that has once been heated 
as part of a "fire+water cooking system," to which it remains 
connected until the last remnant of heat is gone from it.  
Only then would one be prohibited to reheat the water.  This 
is reminiscent of the opinion of the Drisha (OC 253), who 
permits returning even a fully cooled liquid to the fire as 
long as one is still holding it and has not set it down on the 
ground.  This retention in the hand is enough to maintain the 
water's identity as an integral part of the "fire + water 
cooking system" and, as such, it may be reheated.


(This article originally appeared in Daf Kesher No. 63, vol. 1 
pp. 249-251.)


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