At a Shabbos event, no preparation may begin before the arrival of the Mashgiach. It is within the caterer’s discretion to decide how long before Shabbos the food must arrive at the hotel or shul, but they generally come about 3 hours before Shabbos which gives them time to set the tables and warm the food. The Mashgiach should be aware of what time the caterer plans on coming, and he (the Mashgiach) should arrive before that time.
If the event is being held in a non-Jewish/non-kosher facility, such as a hotel, then any time the Mashgiach leaves the kitchen for an extended amount of time (e.g. to go to sleep on Friday night or Shabbos afternoon) the kitchen and all food must be locked up and/or sealed. If the event is in a shul or some other Orthodox Jewish venue there is no need to seal or lock up the food, even if the non-Jewish custodial staff has access to the kitchen or food.
As with all events, foods cooked at the commissary must be delivered with proper seals, and food prepared by guests in their home kitchens may not be served or used. The Mashgiach should also check that the only food and equipment available in the kitchen, are those which belong to the caterer or have been approved/kashered.
All food and equipment must be on the premises before Shabbos; anything which arrives on Shabbos cannot be used under any circumstance. No transportation of food or equipment is permitted on Shabbos prior to or after the event, whether via a vehicle or truck even if operated by a non-Jewish employee or delivery man.
If an event will occur exclusively on Motzai Shabbos, no food preparation may begin until 52 minutes after sunset and no food may be served until at least 2 hours after sunset. If the caterer was servicing the guests for the entire Shabbos (or even if food service began with shalosh seudos which was before sunset), then some food preparation may begin on Shabbos, food warming may begin 52 minutes after sunset on Motzai Shabbos, and food may be served 1 hour after sunset. [Speak to Rabbi Eisenbach or Rabbi Katz for details of which types of preparations the non-Jew may do on Shabbos for a Motzai Shabbos event.]
If a kitchen or food-related shailah arises on Shabbos and the Mashgiach is unable to contact a cRc Rabbi, he should attempt to find a qualified Rabbi among the guests and address the question to that person.
A non-Jew may perform melacha on Shabbos if he is doing so for his own benefit (adatah d’nafshey), and the Jew merely has tangential benefit. That said, our very simple two-part rule about amirah l’akum (having non-Jews perform melacha on Shabbos) at cRc events, is as follows: (A) Anything that a Jew is not allowed to do on Shabbos, a non-Jew may not do. (B) Anything that a Jew is permitted to do on Shabbos, a non-Jew may do in any manner which the non-Jew chooses (even if that involves melacha), because he is choosing to perform it via a melacha for his own benefit. We will see 5 examples of this in the coming posts. An exception to the above is that a non-Jew may not do melacha adatah d’nafshey on a Jew’s property, because people who see him doing the melacha will think the Jew specifically told him to do it on Shabbos. In this context, the areas of the kitchen which are not open to the public (the “back of the house”) are NOT treated as being a “Jew’s house”.
Examples: [1] If the fan and/or flame of a convection oven turn off and on every time the door is opened or closed, the non-Jew may not open or close the door because doing so is forbidden for a Jew. In order to use this type of oven on Shabbos, the door-activated switch must be disabled before Shabbos. [2] A Jew is permitted to slice meat, wash dishes, or clean floors by hand on Shabbos, and therefore a non-Jew assigned to one of those tasks may choose to use the electric meat slicer, dishwasher, or mop to make the job easier for him. However, they may only do so in the recesses of the kitchen or in a locked ballroom, but not in the public areas of a hotel or in other areas where hotel guests may be present. In contrast, there is no way for a Jew to puree vegetables on Shabbos, and therefore he may not ask a non-Jew to do so (even in the recesses of the kitchen). [3] Non-Jewish waiters may not write down guests’ meal orders in the dining room, but they may write notes after walking into the kitchen.
Examples: [4] Jews may not wash dishes or pack them up if they do not need the dishes until after Shabbos but the non-Jews may do so if that is more convenient for them. [5] A non-Jew may drive between home and an event on Shabbos because it is his personal choice to drive instead of walk. However, he cannot be assigned to two different events on the same Shabbos if they are not within walking distance of one another because there is no way for him to attend both without chillul Shabbos. Similarly, he can only use the elevator to bring food from the kitchen to the dining room if it is reasonably possible for him to transport the food in a timely manner using the stairs.
Although the principle of adatah d’nafshey might, at times, permit a non-Jew to deliver food or equipment to an event on Shabbos, as a matter of policy the cRc does not permit this. Accordingly, anything which arrives on Shabbos cannot be used under any circumstances.
If the Jewish hotel guests have started Shabbos “early” (before the required time), the non-Jewish kitchen staff may operate as if it was still weekday until 10 minutes before the time when the guests return from the shul to the dining room. At that point, the kitchen staff must act as if it is Shabbos.
We cannot allow a caterer to employ Jewish staff who will be mechallel Shabbos as part of their duties, even if that staff is irreligious. Therefore, Jewish waiters must stay within walking distance of the event, and may only work on Shabbos if the cRc representative first clarifies with the owner exactly which tasks the Jew will be permitted to perform.
C. Food Preparation & Service
No carving or sophisticated shaping of food may be done on Shabbos. Some examples of this are: (a) fruits and vegetables may not be made into flowers, and (b) chopped liver, egg salad or other foods may not be put into a mold to form a design or shape. Simple shaping of foods is permitted. For example, a regular knife may be used to create a crown or watermelon basket, and one may use a pastry tip for margarine.
Hand/manual peelers may be used “close to the meal” for food to be used at that meal. For example, if the Shabbos morning seudah is scheduled for 11 AM and it takes 3 hours to prepare for that meal, 8-11 AM is considered “close to the meal” for that situation. Peelers could be used during that time for salads to be served at the morning seudah but peelers cannot be used (a) during that time for salads that will be served at shalosh seudos nor (b) before 8 AM. Non-Jews may dice vegetables finely if they do so “close to the meal” for food to be used at that meal (as explained above).
Whip cream may be sprayed from a can on Shabbos. Checking vegetables for insect infestation must be completed before Shabbos, because cleaning and checking methods often lead to the killing of insects. Non-Jews may remove ice from the ice machine, even though that will lead to new ice being produced.
Words on cakes (e.g. birthday cake) should not be cut. One solution is that instead of writing the words directly onto the cake, they should be written onto a piece of plastic (before Shabbos). This allows the plastic/words to be removed (on Shabbos) so that the cake can be sliced without cutting the words. If the words were mistakenly written directly onto the cake and it is important to have it cut on Shabbos, a non-Jew may cut the words.
Slotted spoons should not be used for salads or other foods which are a mixture of solids (vegetables) and liquids (dressing). Tablecloths and “skirts” may be pinned to the tables on Shabbos. Lemon wedges may be put out on the tables, under the assumption that the guests will know how to use them without being mechallel Shabbos.
Individual packets of packets of coffee, sweetener, whitener whose packaging has many words written on it should not be used because it is virtually impossible to open these packages without cutting through words. One alternative is to use pourable containers of sweetener or creamer instead of individual packets. Cans may not be opened on Shabbos. Whenever possible, bottles should be opened before Shabbos, but if not, a non-Jew may do so on Shabbos. The same applies to aluminum foil, Saran Wrap, and disposable tablecloths. Twist ties may be opened.
There are five possible reasons to prohibit cooking or warming food on Shabbos: [1] הבערה/Havarah, kindling a fire, [2] בישול/Bishul, cooking, [3] שהייה/Shehiyah, leaving food on the fire, [4] הטמנה/Hatmanah, insulating, and [5] חזרה/Chazarah, returning food to the fire. Each of these will be discussed in detail in the coming weeks.
Havarah and bishul are assur mid’oraisah. Chazal forbade the other three because of one or more of the following reasons: שמא יחתה, the person might adjust the flame to hasten the cooking, or נראה כמבשל, the person appears to be cooking and that might leads others to mistakenly violate the issur d’oraisah of bishul.
As we will see, there are many details of how food may be warmed and served on Shabbos. It is therefore worthwhile for the Mashgiach to check the menu before Shabbos to avoid concerns (e.g. gravy at the daytime meal) and plan appropriately.
E. Havarah
Kindling or raising the temperature or size of any heat source including a flame, electric coil, thermostat, boiler, or steam table is a violation of havarah. A similar prohibition exists for lowering or extinguishing any of the above. Turning electrical appliances (lights, fans, slicers, dishwashers) on or off or adjusting their settings is also forbidden. Some of these may only be assur mid’rabannan and may be permitted for a non-Jew to do (see earlier posts regarding amirah l’akum).
The following halachos and policies are followed in order to avoid havarah: [1] Hot food preparations which require an open flame, adjustment of temperature, or setting of the range, oven or any other electrical unit, may not take place after candle-lighting time on Friday. [2] No adjustment of fires or other heat source heat may be made on Shabbos. [3] Temperature control knobs should either be taped over before Shabbos or completely removed so that no accidental change will be made in the settings.
It is permitted to open a standard oven or refrigerator even though there is a possibility that that may cause the flame or motor to turn on. If the fan and/or flame of a convection oven turn off and on every time the door is opened or closed, even a non-Jew may not open or close the door because doing so is forbidden for a Jew. In order to use this type of oven on Shabbos, the door-activated switch must be disabled before Shabbos.
F. Bishul
The definition of bishul depends on whether one is discussing a solid or liquid food, as follows: For solids, bishul is the act of heating a raw food for long enough to make it edible. For liquids, bishul is the act of heating the liquid from below yad soledes bo (120-160° F) to above that temperature. Thus, the halacha is stricter regarding liquids in that it is possible to violate the issur of bishul even if the liquid had previously been cooked. In this context, a liquid is defined as any food that is not dry. Cholent, soup, and gravy are examples of liquids. Kugel, mashed potatoes, pre-cooked vegetables, and blintzes are examples of solids. Small amounts of congealed fat which collect on the side of a piece of meat are not considered liquids. To avoid concerns of bishul, the policy is that only precooked and ready-to-eat foods may be put on the fire or blech on Shabbos.
Instant coffee and tea may be used because the powder has already been cooked in the factory. Similarly, liquid coffee concentrate may be added to hot water (which is off the fire). However, one may not brew coffee or use a tea bag because that would be cooking the coffee grinds or tea leaves for the first time. Tea may be served in one of three methods: [1] Instant tea powder (as above); [2] Tea essence (a small amount of hot water into which tea bags were steeped before Shabbos) poured into hot water; [3] Tea bags in a kli shlishi, as follows: Hot water is drawn from an urn into a carafe, pitcher or other container (kli sheini), water is poured from the carafe into a third utensil (kli shlishi), and then tea bags are added to the third utensil.
Automatically refilling water urns (single or 3-compartment) cannot be used on Shabbos because the fresh water flowing into the urn is being cooked. The urn can only be used if the automatic refill feature is disabled by closing the valve which allows fresh water to enter the urn. [A future post will discuss covering the urn with towels or other forms of insulation.] If the urn has an external water-level indicator, the water in that indicator might not have become “cooked” before Shabbos. To avoid this concern, the Mashgiach should let out approximately 1 cup of water from each urn (before Shabbos, but after the urn has come to a boil) which will flush out the uncooked water with cooked water from the urn.
The modern methods of processing salt render it cooked to the extent that one may add it to any food which is off the fire. The same applies to ketchup and other sauces. Spices are not cooked and may only be added to hot food if that food is not in the original pot it was cooked in and is not a solid food (דבר גוש).
Ladles or other utensils used for serving soup should be completely dry before they are put into the soup pot. Once the ladle has been used to serve soup it may be reused even if is wet, if the liquid on the ladle is still warm. Knaidlach (matzah balls) or noodles which were cooked before Shabbos may be added to hot soup after it is removed from the fire. Deep fried croutons may be added to soup. The same applies to baked croutons, assuming the soup was removed from the pot with a ladle and the croutons are put in after the soup.
Heating of liquids, including soups and gravies, is absolutely prohibited on Shabbos, even if they were cooked before Shabbos. Rather, they should be left on the blech or in a hot-box from before Shabbos until they are served. Room temperature gravies may be put on hot food before serving. If gravy is placed on food, such food may not be placed in warmers or on any heated area.
A person may leave food on the fire when Shabbos begins if either the fire is covered by some sort of blech (and some hold that the knobs should be covered as well), or the food has been sufficiently cooked. There is a machlokes whether the food must be 1/3 cooked or fully cooked to qualify for this latter leniency.
Therefore, the cRc policy is that all three of the following are required: (a) All lit stovetop fires must be covered with a blech. For a crockpot, the base should be covered or lined with aluminum foil, which will serve as the (makeshift) blech. (b) Temperature control knobs should either be taped over before Shabbos or completely removed. (c) All food must be fully cooked before Shabbos begins.
[Clearly, Sternos cannot be used on Shabbos morning as there is no way to light them.] For Friday night events, Sterno warmers may be used in a hot-box under one of the following conditions: Either the Sterno is extinguished before candle lighting time, or the Sterno is on the bottom shelf and that shelf is covered on all sides by a makeshift blech.
One may not wrap (hot) food in a manner that insulates it, but exactly what is forbidden depends on whether the wrapping was done on or before Shabbos, as follows: On Shabbos, one may not wrap food in a manner which maintains or increases the temperature of the food. Before Shabbos, one may wrap food to maintain its temperature but not in a manner which increases its temperature. For example: If an urn is plugged in and one covers it with a towel, that is considered hatmanah that increases the temperature of the food, since the joint effect of the urn’s electric coil and the towel is that the water will become hotter. This would be forbidden on or before Shabbos. If pans of food are taken out of the oven and put into insulated bags (e.g. pizza bags), that is a form of hatmanah which maintains the food’s temperature. It would be forbidden on Shabbos but permitted before Shabbos.
Whether a given act is or is not hatmanah depends on the intention of the person at the time he wraps the food. For example: Kishka may be wrapped in foil before it is put into the cholent because the wrapping is done to protect the kishka from disintegrating into the cholent and not to insulate its heat. A pan of food may be wrapped in foil and placed in the oven if the foil’s role is to protect the food from spilling out but not if it is put on to make the food hotter. A crockpot may be lined with a plastic bag/liner since its role is to keep the pot clean rather than to make the cholent hotter.
Two notable exceptions to the prohibition of hatmanah are that it only applies if the insulation (a) comes into direct contact with the food (or pot) and (b) covers a sufficient portion of the pot. The following are examples of these two exceptions: The walls of the oven do not come in direct contact with the food, and therefore putting food into an oven is not hatmanah. Most crockpots consist of an insert/pot which fits into a base that surrounds 75-90% of the height of the crockpot. Enough of the pot is exposed that there is no concern of hatmanah. A similar halacha applies if one covers only part of an urn with towels.
The prohibition of chazarah is that, as a rule, one is not permitted to put food onto the fire or blech on Shabbos even if the food is fully cooked. As we will see in the coming posts, there are situations when this is permitted, but under no circumstances may any food, which has been removed from the oven before or during Shabbos, be returned to the inside of an oven.
Warming of – dry, fully-cooked – food on Shabbos is permitted via any of the following methods: [1] A pan of hot water is put onto the blech before Shabbos. On Shabbos, pans may be placed on top of (but not inside) the hot water pan. [2] Similarly, pans of food may be placed on top of an overturned sheet pan which is, in turn, on top of the blech. That sheet pan may be put onto the blech on Shabbos. [3] Food may be put into a hot-box which (a) cannot get hotter than 225° F (a minimal cooking temperature) and (b) has its temperature control knobs removed or covered. Any combination of the above methods may also be used so that, for example, after warming a pan of chicken on an overturned sheet pan it can then be placed in the hot-box to make room for a second pan.
If cholent is (a) fully cooked, and (b) is on a fire (or in a crockpot-base, that is on), which (c) is covered with a blech, one may add water on Shabbos using the following procedure (which may require more than one person): Uncover the pot and pour water directly from a hot urn into the pot, or pour water from the urn into a dry cup and then pour the water into the pot. While the cholent is off the fire, it may be stirred, if so desired. Cover the pot and return it to the blech. If the cholent is not fully cooked or is off the fire, then the above procedure should not be followed.
We have noted five cooking-related prohibitions that are relevant on Shabbos: [1] הבערה/Havarah, kindling a fire, [2] בישול/Bishul, cooking, [3] שהייה/Shehiyah, leaving food on the fire, [4] הטמנה/Hatmanah, insulating, and [5] חזרה/Chazarah, returning food to the fire. The latter four of these do not apply at all on Yom Tov (as long as the preparations are being done for the “same day”). Technically, havarah also does not apply on Yom Tov, but there is a Rabbinic prohibition to create a “new” fire on Yom Tov even if that fire will be used for cooking. As a result, one may not turn on a new flame on a stovetop unless there is a working pilot light (in which case, the “new” flame is merely seen as an extension of the existing pilot).
On Shabbos, Jews and non-Jews may not “carry” anything directly related to a catered event outdoors unless there is an eruv. A suitable eruv is either a community-based eruv which has specifically been approved by the cRc office, or a specially-built eruv constructed around the general area where the event will take place. The construction of an eruv – the “poles and strings” and also the eruv chatzeiros – requires special expertise and should only be done under the guidance of Rabbi Eisenbach or Rabbi Katz.
From a halachic perspective, there is nothing wrong with a caterer working out of a parked truck (if there is an eruv). However, uninformed individuals who see people loading and unloading dishes and food from a truck will think the hashgachah allowed the truck to drive to the location on Shabbos. To avoid such a misconception, the truck should be parked away from the street in a place where it is not visible to passersby.