Dedicated in memory of Rachel Leah bat R' Chaim Tzvi

Volume 2 Number 44 Brought to you by Naaleh.com

Reheating Food on Shabbat

Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rabbi Shimon Isaacson
Chazal forbade putting fully cooked food on takes a middle position and rules that a dry top of a pot filled with food, since it is not a
the fire on Shabbat because one could come food with liquid gravy may be placed near the normal way of cooking.
to stoke the coals. Additionally it is mechzi fire, but a liquid is prohibited. The Shulchan
k'mevashel, it appears as if one is cooking. Aruch rules like Rashi who holds that yesh A “kediera” blech is a wide pot filled with water.
However, if one satisfies five requirements, bishul achar bishul b'davar lach (cooked Some maintain that you can put food on top of
then bishul becomes chazara and is permitted liquids can be recooked – and therefore, it is this and some say since it does not contain
l'chatchila. asur to do so on Shabat). The Rama notes food, it is has the din of a regular blech and
that the custom is to be lenient and one may has not solved the problem.
The five conditions are, return liquid to the fire as long it did not cool
1. the flame must be covered, down completely. It seems like the requirement The Shulchan Aruch notes that warming food
2. the food must be fully cooked, of it not cooling down does not belong to the near a fire is permissible because it is not
3. it must still be warm, trilogy distinction between chazara and mechzi actually putting the pot on the flame. If the food
4. one may not release one's hold on the pot, k'mevashel. The Gra and the Rama maintain will not reach yad soledet (boiling point) it is
and that putting cold cooked liquid back on the fire permitted.
5. one must have intention to return the pot to may be a prohibition of bishul d'oraita. Rashi
the fire. and the Shulchan Aruch hold that this require- Can one do chazara by putting food back in an
ment pertains to chazara. According to the oven on Shabbat? Rav Moshe Feinstein held
Two issues arise with reheating food on Magen Avraham, the condition of lo nitzanzen that to satisfy all five requirements of chazara
Shabbat. The food is no longer warm and it is (not having cooled down) applies equally to one would need to use an oven insert to
no longer in hand. The Magen Avraham liquids and dry foods. The Gra maintains that it conceal the heating source. Rav Aharon Kotler
explains that chazara is permitted because it only pertains to liquids. ruled leniently as long as the knobs are
is a continuation of the original act of putting covered.
the food on the fire, rather than an initial According to the Ran as quoted by the Rama,
placement on the flame. The first three all five requirements of chazara only apply if Does a hotplate have the same din as a
conditions create this distinction. Therefore, one took the food off the fire before Shabbat. stove? Rav Moshe maintained that if one
the Mishna Berura rules that bdi'eved if one Therefore, if the pot was on the flame when cannot cook on it and it only has one setting
does not have one of the last two conditions Shabbat began and you served from it on one may do chazara. Rav Elyashiv rules
one may still do chazara. Friday night and then put it down, you could stringently against this. One can place an oven
still return it to the stove if it did not fully cool rack to make a hefsek kedeirah on a hotplate
The Biur Hagra notes a disagreement down. and then put food on it to rewarm. Differing
between Rashi and the Rosh whether the rule circumstances and situations may vary.
of ein bishul achar bishul (cooked foods The Mishna Berura says there is a basis for Therefore, all questions should be addressed
cannot be recooked) applies only to solid this leniency but it is better to be stringent as to a competent Rav for a final decision.
foods or also to liquids. The Rambam holds many poskim disagree. The Shulchan Aruch
that it applies equally to both. The Rama writes that it is permitted to rewarm dry food on

Rebbetzin Perspective: Class #6

Excerpted from Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller’s Question and Answer series on Naaleh.com

Question: self-esteem tend to give in, because they can't consistently asks you to drive them somewhere
Can you explain the proper boundaries of being bring themselves to suffer even momentary at that hour, you have to learn to say no.
a vatran (giving in)?. disapproval from another person.
A definable mitzva cannot be forfeited at the risk
Answer: There is a huge difference when there are other of doing an aveira. For instance, if right before
Vatranut begins by seeing the other person as alternatives and when you are giving in because Shabbat a friend requests a favor that might
an extension of yourself. Parents instinctively do of unhealthy reason. Martyrdom isn't good for cause you to violate Shabbat, you are obligated
this with their children. You have to learn to anyone. The boundaries of vatranut have to do to decline. Obviously, real emergencies and
bring more people into your picture. Being a with halachic priorities. A mitzva comes before saving lives take precedence over almost
shmatta means resentfully giving in when there other obligations. Something only you can do everything else.
are other possibilities. I would call this comes before something other people can do.
intentional martyrdom, which is what people For example, only you as your children's mother Learn to use your good judgment and common
choose because they enjoy making others feel can put your kids to bed in a way that will make sense. Giving in is laudable, but never at the
guilty and beholden. People with low them feel loved and cared for. If someone expense of neglecting your priorities.

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 Principles of Faith: A Deeper Glimpse Into Prayer #7
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller
Shacharit begins with the morning blessings within himself through self-control and many times we try but do not succeed. We ask
that relate primarily to the world as we know overcoming his ego. Yaakov experienced Hashem for physical and emotional energy to
it. Psukei D’zimra, a selection from Psalms, Hashem as awesome. This does not mean effect change. Whether it is by meeting
follows. These poems are meant to express scary, where one anticipates something bad, inspiring people or dealing with life altering
who we are in a greater context. Next comes but rather overpowering. situations, we need to take the first step. The
Shema and its blessings, which move us a rest is up to Hashem.
step higher. Shema tells us that Hashem is The second blessing is Gevurat Hashem. It
one in the world and that the world has no describes how Hashem conceals Himself The third blessing deals with forgiveness. True
existence without Him. We are totally within nature. He created death, which forgiveness means that the damage was
dependent on His will for our present and conceals His presence, and rainfall, which completely rectified and ultimately only
continued existence. We are now ready for allows us to see life as seemingly continuing Hashem can grant that.
the pearl of prayer, the Shemoneh Esrei. on its own.
Everything that is recited prior to this is only a In the next group of blessings we ask Hashem
preparation for this. The third blessing is Ata Kadosh, which for material things. We ask Hashem to see our
depicts Hashem’s holiness. Holiness means pain and redeem us. This is not about our
The Shemoneh Esrei consists of praise, above everything and not limited to the collective exile but about our own personal
request, and thanks. We begin with praise. On mundane. Hashem is transcendent. A person pain and exile. Some of us are entrapped in
a human level, blessing is about letting the who recognizes Hashem and is grateful for all difficult relationships, bad financial decisions,
person know who they are. Praising Hashem His goodnes will be happy all his life. This is or corruptive desires and ego. We ask
means letting ourselves know in whose because one naturally rejoices more in a gift Hashem to release us from our individual
presence we are. The first blessing is called received from a loved one rather than prisons and help us confront our struggles.
Avot because we attempt to see Hashem something received from someone he does
through the eyes of our forefathers. The Avot not know. Likewise, if we recognize Hashem We then pray for healing. We need to
lived spiritual lives that were so vast that as the author of all our challenges, our recognize that some effort must be invested to
Hashem promised them that their spiritual responses change. If we learn to perceive heal ourselves, but ultimately the results are
message would endure with their descen- Hashem as holy, we can see holiness in other up to Hashem. The Rambam teaches us that a
dants. people and ourselves. Our lives then become person can relate to illness in three ways. He
very different. can say he is a victim and the illness just
Each forefather had a different glimpse of happened to strike. A different response is to
Hashem, just as a circle of dancers see the The blessings of requests are divided in four think whether or not he recovers is up to the
same center from different angles. We groups, spiritual, material, requests for skill of the doctor. Alternatively a person could
describe Hashem as hagodol hagibor meaning in our lives, and requests for the sake respond by realizing that if this happened to
v’hanora, great, powerful and awesome. of the Jewish people. We first ask for me it has something to do with me. Some
“Great” means that everything in the world consciousness and insight because without people handle grave illnesses by becoming
has one source, Hashem. Avraham was the that, nothing Hashem gives us has value. Daat more humble and appreciative. Others
first to recognize this. Yitzchak continued is the ability to know what to do practically. become embittered, angry, or suicidal. A
where Avraham left off. He saw Hashem as One should concentrate on asking Hashem for person must acknowledge that challenges are
powerful, as one who constrained himself the intellect to make the right decisions. tailor made for us and the one thing one
within time, nature, and the possibility of should not do is remain the same.
distance. Yitzchak developed this strength In the next blessing we ask for redemption.
The only way to change is by changing and
Parshat Mishpatim: The Seventh Point
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur on Chassidut by Rabbi Herschel Reichman
The eved ivri (Jewish slave) was a rare This is why he is set free in the seventh year. At Matan Torah, when the Jews said naaseh
occurrence during the Temple era and is v'nishma they became entirely sanctified. All
certainly not relevant today. Why then is it What is the secret of this indomitable inner seven levels were freed and no nation could
discussed first in this parsha? core? At Har Sinai, Hashem said, “Anochi dominate them. After cheit haegel, the six
Hashem Elokecha.” I am Hashem who external sides were contaminated again, but
Chassidut teaches that space consists of six redeemed you from Egypt. This seems the seventh inner core remained pure. This
sides, namely: up, down, left, right, front, and strange. The redemption was certainly state has stayed with us until today. The
back. There is an epicenter within this three incredible, but the creation of the world was vagaries of life cannot affect us because
dimensional cube, which is the seventh point. even more so. Why does Hashem specifically inwardly we are eternally free. Even the eved
This parallels the human experience. Most of introduce himself as our redeemer rather than ivri retains his pure core. Externally, he may
our life encounters touch us externally. our Creator? have been broken, but his inner seventh point
However there are certain experiences that remained untouched, and that is why he is
are so profound that they affect our inner The Shem MiShmuel notes that in halacha eventually set free.
core. This, the Avnei Nezer explains, is why something that is hekdesh (sanctified) is not
the eved ivri works six years and goes free in subject to human claim. When the Jews Similarly, the Rambam notes that the world will
the seventh year. The eved ivri is a common became a nation, they reached the level of exist for six thousand years. In the seventh
criminal or at best a social outcast, sold into hekdesh, and therefore the Egyptians could no year, we will be redeemed. Mashiach will come
slavery to repay his debts. He is bound to longer have a hold on them. Our special and the world will finally recognize the unique
serve his master six years, signifying the six relationship with Hashem over and beyond the bond between us and Hashem that has kept
external points of his life that have experi- other nations is the kedushat yisrael, the us strong and indestructible throughout our
enced a terrible breakdown. Yet his inner seventh inner indestructible point which long exile.
seventh point remains pure and indestructible. connects us as a people to Hashem.
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