The general rule of bishul Yisroel is that food which is not “pas”, is not edible raw, and is sophisticated enough to be served at shulchan melachim (literally: a King’s table), is (mid’rabannan) only permitted if a Jew participated in the cooking of that food. [If the Jew did not participate, then the food is referred to as bishul akum.] In the coming weeks we will explore the details of this general rule.
The term “pas” refers to bread-like foods, and to qualify as pas the food must meet the following three criteria: it must contain one or more of the five major grains (wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt), it must have tzuras hapas (the “form” of bread), and it must be baked. Thus, “pas” includes bread, cake, crackers, cookies, pizza, and many other foods, even if their bracha is not hamotzi. Those foods are not subject to the halachos of bishul Yisroel; whether they require “pas Yisroel” was discussed in a previous set of posts. Foods which are not pas are categorized as “tavshil” and potentially require bishul Yisroel whether they are cooked, fried, or baked.
Bishul Yisroel is only required for foods which are prepared for eating via fire, such as by cooking, frying, or baking. However, food made edible via pickling, salting (anchovies), smoking (lox), fermenting, or other methods that do not include heat, does not require a Jew’s participation. The cRc’s policy is that food prepared via direct steam (e.g., potato dices) do not require bishul Yisroel since that is treated as a form of smoking, but foods cooked with an electric coil (e.g., in an electric oven) or in a microwave do potentially require bishul Yisroel.
Bishul akum is permitted for cholim under certain circumstances. Accordingly, there may be situations when Rabbi Eisenbach and Rabbi Katz will allow food to be certified in a nursing home which is not up to the same bishul Yisroel standards employed elsewhere. When bishul akum is permitted for a choleh, others who are not cholim should not eat from that food, but the dishes in which the food was cooked do not have to be kashered.
In standard situations (i.e., not for a choleh), any dishes or other items which were in contact with hot bishul akum food, must be kashered before they are used for regular kosher food. For example, if a non-Jewish chef broiled a steak and the Mashgiach did not participate in the cooking, the pan used for broiling and the plate on which the meat was eaten must be kashered. That said, there are leniencies to the way in which one kashers after bishul akum. Namely, (a) if the plate (or other item) was ceramic or glass, it can be kashered with three hag’alos even though we usually cannot kasher ceramic or glass, and (b) the pan can be kashered with libun kal even though it was used directly on the fire such that libun gamur would usually be required.
In the coming week’s posts, we will IY”H discuss when bishul Yisroel might not be required due to the food being edible raw or not fit for shulchan melachim. In practice, those distinctions are most relevant to industrial factories, where a decision must be made whether to require bishul Yisroel or not. However, due to the subtlety of these halachic details and the fact that there is a Mashgiach temidis in every food service establishment, the standard practice is that the Mashgichim must participate in the cooking of all foods – via lighting pilots, turning on fires, etc., as we will see in future posts – which are cooked, baked, or fried at a caterer, restaurant, or other food service establishment.
The first of the two primary conditions of bishul akum is that a Jew’s participation is only required when the food is not edible raw (ne’echal chai). For this reason, bishul Yisroel is not required for most fruits and vegetables, and many other foods. At the same time, meat, poultry, rice, potatoes, pumpkin, and eggs, are examples of foods which are not edible raw and therefore potentially need bishul Yisroel.
Three reasons are given to explain why fish is still not considered “edible raw” in spite of the popularity of sushi: [1] Foods aren’t considered “edible raw” until the majority of people in a city or country would eat it that way. One would have to study the situation more carefully to decide that most people are actually willing to eat sushi made with raw fish, or if more of them are like my children who all like sushi, but only eat the types that are fish-free and made with vegetables. [2] Even in sushi that contains fish, the fish is merely one ingredient together with the other (cooked) ingredients. [Eating pure raw fish – known as sashimi – is quite uncommon in the USA.] As such, even if people are willing to eat raw fish when it adds a tanginess or spice to their food, that does not yet mean that it is considered “edible raw”. [3] Only the freshest and finest fish is suitable for use in sushi, while the fish used for smoking, canning, etc., are generally not “sushi-grade”. Thus, even if sushi-grade fish is edible raw, the other forms are not and they require bishul Yisroel if they are cooked.
Sweet corn is perfectly edible on the cob even if it is not cooked, but most people prefer it in its cooked-form. Shach rules that such foods are considered edible raw, even though the majority of people only eat it after cooking. However, Shach is limited to situations where at least some meaningful minority of people actually eats the food in its raw form. To determine if that is true of sweet corn, we polled Jewish consumers and found that although 79% of people never eat sweet corn without cooking, 13% said they eat it that way “once in a while” and 6% do so “all the time”. Accordingly, sweet corn appears to qualify as “edible raw”. [Field corn, a.k.a. cow-corn, is used for many corn-based products and it is definitely not edible raw, but the foods made from it commonly qualify as not being oleh al Shulchan melachim.]
A soup or other food which is made of multiple ingredients is judged based on the majority. If most of the ingredients are edible raw (e.g. carrots, celery), then the overall soup is considered “edible raw” and bishul Yisroel is not required, but if the majority are not edible raw (e.g. potato, sweet potato) then a Jew must participate in the cooking. If a food is first salted or brined to the point that it is edible and then it is cooked, the cooking of that food does not require Jewish participation because it was edible before the cooking began; this is the basis for permitting many forms of hot-smoked salmon without bishul Yisroel.
The second primary condition of bishul akum is that Jewish participation in the cooking is only required if the food is oleh al shulchan melachim. The literal translation of that term is “fit for a royal table” and is understood to mean that is the type of food would be served to a President or King when they are serving in that capacity, such as when they are hosting a state dinner, but foods which the King eats at his private breakfast are not included. On a practical level, foods which are served at a wedding (including the smorgasbord) or formal banquet are considered oleh al Shulchan melachim, but foods like pancakes or waffles which are served at an informal brunch are not.
Whether a given food is considered oleh al shulchan melachim is determined based on the method in which the food is actually cooked. For example, baked potatoes are served at weddings and are therefore oleh al shulchan melachim even when they are prepared by someone who is not skilled enough to actually prepare up to the standard expected at a wedding. However, potato chips and cooked tuna (i.e., canned tuna) do not require bishul Yisroel because in that method of preparing the foods they are never fit for formal dinners; this is true even though there are ways of preparing potatoes and fish (e.g., broiled tuna steaks) which are oleh al shulchan melachim.
The Gemara says that there are three ways to create pas Yisroel – a Jew can (a) light the fire in the oven (even if the non-Jew puts the food on afterwards), (b) put the food onto an existing fire (even if a non-Jew had previously lit the fire), or (c) stoke the coals of a flame. [Pilot lights will be discussed in a coming post.] Ashkenazim are of the opinion that all three of these methods can also be used to create bishul Yisroel, while Sephardim take the position that bishul Yisroel requires that the Jew put the food onto the fire (choice “b”). As an “Ashkenazi Hechsher”, the cRc follows the more-lenient approach on this matter. If, however, a Sephardic customer requests “bishul Yisroel for Sephardim”, the Mashgiach should put the food onto the fire – after the fire was already on.
In order to use the method of “light the fire”, the Jew must make it that the fire (or coil) goes from being off to being on. In an oven that means that if a non-Jew turned it on at 200 degrees and the flame is currently on, a Jew who turns the oven’s set point to 300 degrees will not have created bishul Yisroel. Since the flame was already on, that adjustment of the flame did not turn the flame on, and is therefore not sufficient. Rather, the Mashgiach must wait until the flame is off, and then raise the oven’s set point in a manner that causes the flame to actually go on. When dealing with a stovetop, this is not an issue, because every time someone turns the knob to a higher setting, the fire immediately becomes larger which is enough to create bishul Yisroel for food cooked there.
The Poskim tell us that there are a few other ways in which food can be bishul Yisroel even if the Jew did not actually light the fire, put the food on, or stoke the coals. One way is for the Jew to light a pilot light from which the non-Jew lit the main flame (aish m’aish). When a stovetop or oven has a standing pilot, the Mashgiach should take advantage of this and be the one to light it, as a method of creating bishul Yisroel. [Even if the Jew also lights the actual flames, he should light the pilots as a backup for bishul Yisroel.] The pilots should be extinguished and relit by the Mashgiach from time to time.
Another method of creating bishul Yisroel occurs when a fire lit by a Jew was extinguished, but before the chamber cooled off a new fire was lit by a non-Jew. Although the food cooked in the non-Jew’s fire, the fact that there was residual heat from the Jew’s fire is enough to consider that the Jew participated somewhat in the non-Jew’s fire. [This is a form of hashlachas kisem.] This halacha has a very practical application in a convection oven. In most convection ovens, the fire (and fan) turn off when the doors are opened, and then go back on when the doors are closed. If a Jew turned on the oven and then the doors were left open, the food subsequently cooked in that oven will only be bishul Yisroel if either (a) a Jew closes the doors (thereby turning the fires back on), or (b) the oven remained warm the entire time. In short, if the doors of a convection oven stay open for more than a few minutes, the Mashgiach should be the one to close the doors.
The simplest, and most appropriate way, for a Mashgiach to create bishul Yisroel in a food service establishment is for him to turn on all fires first thing in the morning (or as they are needed), and not allow the non-Jewish staff to turn on any fires. In addition, as noted, pilot lights should be lit by the Mashgiach. In some establishments, it is possible for the Mashgiach to create bishul Yisroel via a glow plug or by turning on the boiler that supplies steam for the kitchen; those situations are not so common for a food service location, and should only be relied upon after consultation with Rabbi Eisenbach and Rabbi Katz.
Controlling bishul Yisroel in a microwave is more complicated than in an oven because, unlike an oven, there is no way to “turn it on” once for the entire day. On the other hand, food which is already cooked can be defrosted or rewarmed without any Jewish participation, and this means that most times a microwave is used, a Jew does not have to be the one turning it on. Accordingly, the most common use of a microwave which requires bishul Yisroel is when it is used for cooking potatoes. Rabbi Katz’s innovative solution for that application, is to have the Mashgiach par-bake a number of potatoes each morning in the oven, such that they are already bishul Yisroel, and then when a customer orders a potato, anyone can put one of them into the microwave to finish the cooking.