Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 512 - Not to Cook for the Sake of a Non-Jew on a Festival

Beitzah 21a-b.

Shmos 12:16.

Beitzah 21b. As the Alter Rebbe states in sec. 325:1, this restriction does not apply on Shabbos, since in any case it is forbidden to cook on Shabbos.

The rationale for this ruling is that transferring an article from one domain to another involves the performance of a melachah (see sec. 495:2, sec. 516:1-5, and sec. 518:1-4). As mentioned in the previously in the main text, on a festival, it is forbidden to perform melachah for the sake of a non-Jew.

The Alter Rebbe states this principle in numerous sources, including in sec. 243:1 and sec. 495:10.

See sec. 345:19-26 where the Alter Rebbe defines the term karmelis.

From the Alter Rebbe's careful choice of wording, it is apparent that even when a Jew sends an item to a non-Jew via a karmelis, it is not permitted to have a Jew bring the item to the non-Jew. See the Kuntreis Acharon (note 1) to sec. 516, where the Alter Rebbe explicitly states this point.

See subsection 7, below, where the Alter Rebbe rules regarding transferring food for the sake of an animal via a karmelis.

The term shvusrefers to an activity that is not a Scripturally forbidden labor, but is forbidden by Rabbinic decree because it either resembles a forbidden labor, or may lead one to commit a forbidden labor (see Rambam, Hilchos Shabbos 21:1). The term shvus d’shvusrefers to a compound Rabbinic prohibition. In the instance presented in this subsection, both the prohibition against carrying in a karmelis and the prohibition against instructing a non-Jew to perform melachah are Rabbinic in origin.

As the Alter Rebbe explains in the main text here, in this instance, it is permitted to perform the shvus d'shvus on a festival because the Sages did not institute a restrictive decree with regard to transferring objects from one domain to another.

See sec. 516:3. See also the Kuntreis Acharon (note 1) to that section.

Beitzah 21b.

In his Kuntreis Acharon (note 1), the Alter Rebbe supports his ruling in the main text, explaining that this ruling is based on the rulings of Rambam (Hilchos Shevisas Yom Tov 1:13) and Turei Zahav 512:4. Although Tanya Rabosi (ch. 55) rules leniently and Magen Avraham 512:2 mentions that ruling of Tanya Rabosi, nevertheless, the Alter Rebbe explains that although Magen Avraham mentions the ruling of Tanya Rabosi, he does not accept it as halachah. Therefore, the Alter Rebbe states that the ruling of Tanya Rabosi should not be favored over that of Rambam and Turei Zahav.

As explained in those sources, although it is forbidden to cook on a festival for the sake of the coming weekdays, leniency is granted when the food cooked for the weekdays: a) is being cooked at the same time as the food being cooked for the festival, and therefore cooking for the coming weekdays entails no additional action, or b) the additional food in the pot enhances the flavor of the food being cooked for the festival.

One might think that the logic mentioned in the previous footnote regarding cooking extra food on a festival to be eaten after the festival could be extended, and used to justify a lenient ruling permitting one to cook meat for a non-Jew together with his own meat. However, as the Alter Rebbe proceeds to explain, this logic is not accepted with regard to cooking for a non-Jew on a festival.

When the Alter Rebbe mentions “servants and maid-servants,” he is not referring to avadim Canaanim or avadim Ivri’im, i.e., the Scriptural definitions of servants, for the laws pertaining to such servants are not practiced in the present age. Instead, the Alter Rebbe is referring to non-Jewish household workers whom the master of the home promised to supply with meals as part of his contractual agreements with them.

Beitzah 21a. See also subsection 7, below.

The Alter Rebbe is referring to the lenient ruling regarding adding meat to a pot of meat that is being prepared for a Jew, for the sake of one’s domestic help or to feed one’s dog.

In his Kuntreis Acharon (note 2), the Alter Rebbe explains that the ruling in this subsection parallels the ruling in sec. 503:5, where he rules regarding cooking meat on the festival for both the day of the festival and the following days. As stated in that source, although ordinarily, it is forbidden to cook on the festival for the days after the festival, leniency is granted because the flavor of the meat cooked for the festival is improved when the meat to be served after the festival is cooked together in the same pot. Similarly, in the instance presented here, although a person is not permitted to cook food for his household help on a festival, leniency is granted when doing so will also improve the flavor of his own food. As related in Beitzah 17a, the same laws apply with regard to baking more bread than is necessary for the festival together with the bread that will be eaten on the festival, because the flavor of bread is enhanced when it is baked in a full oven.

Nevertheless, as the Alter Rebbe explains in sec. 503, complete license is only granted when the person places all the meat in the pot before he places the pot on the fire. The rationale is that in such an instance, the melachah of cooking is only performed once. Similarly, on a festival, license is only granted to bake bread to be eaten after the festival together with bread for the festival if the person places all the bread in the oven at the same time.

However, more stringent rules apply when one places the pieces of meat in the pot one at a time, after the pot had already been placed on a fire. The rationale is that once the pot is on the fire each time the person adds a piece of meat to the pot, it is considered to be a separate task and a separate instance of performing melachah. (The same rule applies to placing loaves of bread in an oven one at a time after the oven has been heated up.) Hence, a person is only permitted to cook for his domestic help when the stipulations mentioned in the main text are met. (As the Alter Rebbe proceeds to specify, the same stipulations apply when a person prepares food for his pet.)

If the person could not eat the meat, it would be obvious that the extra melachah of cooking is being performed primarily for the sake of the weekday rather than for the festival.

In that source, the Alter Rebbe explains why, on a festival, it is forbidden to bake a non-Jew's dough together with a Jew's dough. The Alter Rebbe notes that although bread baked in a full oven is tastier than bread baked in a less full oven, nevertheless, that incremental benefit is not sufficient to permit a Jew to bake dough owned by a non-Jew together with his own dough. The rationale is that although the Jew benefits from baking the non-Jew’s bread, that benefit is minimal compared to the benefit the non-Jew derives from having the Jew bake his dough. Furthermore, even were the Jew to desire to partake of the bread baked for the non-Jew, he would be unable to do so, since the non-Jew owns the bread. Hence, there is not even a possibility that the Jew will derive significant benefit from baking the non-Jew's bread. Therefore, the activity is considered as being performed primarily for the benefit of the non-Jew.

Similarly, in the instance here, although the Jew receives some benefit from cooking the meat he will serve the servants together with his own meat, since the benefit from his melachah is primarily theirs, the activity is considered to be performed for their sake.

The rationale for this ruling is that since the person has other food that he could give his servants or feed his pet, the extra meat that he is cooking is not necessarily being cooked for them. Rather, the person could change his mind and eat the extra meat he cooked, and give his servants (and pet) the other food.

See sec. 507:18.

Talmud Yerushalmi, Challah 1:5. The Alter Rebbe bases this ruling upon the same rationale as the ruling in sec. 503:5. In that source, the Alter Rebbe permits cooking meat that one will eat after a festival on the festival, provided it is cooked together with meat that will be eaten on the festival. As explained there, the Alter Rebbe ruled leniently because the meat that will be eaten after the festival enhances the flavor of the meat to be eaten on the festival.

The Alter Rebbe is referring to the era when all the people in a town baked their bread in a large oven owned by one person. The people paid the owner of the oven a set amount of baked loaves of bread in exchange for the use of his oven. See Kuntreis Acharon, note 3. See also sec. 450:5.

One might wonder why the Alter Rebbe rules leniently here, when he issued a stringent ruling in subsection 4 above, regarding preparing food on behalf of a non-Jew on a festival. The Alter Rebbe addresses this point in his Kuntreis Acharon (note 3), explaining that in this particular instance, the Sages permitted a Jew to bake a loaf that he would give to the non-Jew, even if he did not have the alternative of giving the non-Jew other food.

The Alter Rebbe explains that according to Rama (Orach Chayim 512:1; Darchei Moshe, Orach Chayim 512:1, 3) a Jew is permitted to bake a loaf for a non-Jew, provided he bakes that loaf in the same oven, and at the same time that he bakes his own loaves, even if the Jew was unable to pay the non-Jew by giving him other food.

The Alter Rebbe then presents the view of Rav Yosef Caro (see Beis Yosef, end of Orach Chayim 512) and other Acharonim, who rule more stringently, maintaining that a Jew is only permitted to give a loaf baked on the festival to a non-Jew, provided it is also possible to pay the non-Jew by giving him other food.

However, the Alter Rebbe explains that even according to Rav Yosef Caro, leniency can be granted in this instance, when the Jew is unable to pay the non-Jew by giving him food other than this loaf. The rationale is that if the Jew does not give the non-Jew the loaf, the non-Jew will not allow the Jew to bake in his oven, and then the Jew will not have bread for the festival. Thus, the Jew is considered to be baking all the bread for the sake of the festival (see the following subsection).

The Alter Rebbe adds a further requirement in the main text – that the Jew not designate a specific loaf to be given to the non-Jew before all the loaves are baked. This provision ensures that the Jew is not performing any melachah specificallyon behalf of the non-Jew.

The Alter Rebbe is referring to previous eras, when citizens were often obligated to house soldiers in their homes. Laws pertaining to these soldiers are also mentioned in sec. 384:1, sec. 391:2, and the Alter Rebbe's Choshen Mishpat (Hilchos Nizkei Mamon, subsection 3).

Although the Alter Rebbe mentions giving a loaf of bread to a child, his intent is that one loaf be given either to a child or to an adult. Our Sages mention giving a loaf to a child, only because it is more likely that the non-Jewish soldiers would consent to giving a child one of their loaves.

Beitzah 21a.

See the Kuntreis Acharon (note 4), where the Alter Rebbe explains this ruling. In that source, the Alter Rebbe emphasizes that the person must actually have a child eat a portion of the loaf given to him by the soldiers. The reason for this is that, as the Alter Rebbe explains in sec. 503:4, when a person employs a ruse in order to cook or bake on a festival, he must carry out the intent on which the ruse is based.

One might wonder why it is necessary to employ such a ruse in this instance, when baking for the non-Jewish soldiers on a festival would be permitted in any case, due to the danger involved with not fulfilling their request. The Alter Rebbe addresses this point in the Kuntreis Acharon, explaining that performing melachah on a festival on behalf of a non-Jew is never a preferred option. Nevertheless, as reflected by some of the rulings above (see subsections 3-5), there are ways to cook or bake for a non-Jew which, although they are not the preferred scenario as an initial option, are nonetheless permitted in specific instances. Hence, the Alter Rebbe explains that since there is a way for the Jew to bake for the soldiers that is permitted – i.e., by giving one of the loaves to a child – that option should be employed, rather than baking solely for the sake of the non-Jews, an act that would be forbidden were it not for the extenuating circumstances involved.

As stated in that source, after the festive meal has been eaten, permission to cook or bake further was usually not granted, since it cannot be said that the person needs the food or bread for the festival.

See sec. 308:60, where the Alter Rebbe rules that food that is fit to be eaten by animals may be moved on Shabbos. The rationale for this ruling is that the food is not deemed muktzeh, and may therefore be carried on Shabbos. However, as mentioned in that source, although it is even permitted to move pods and bones that are fit to be used as animal feed on Shabbos, it is forbidden to do so on festivals because these objects are considered to be nolad.

See sec. 308:64-65, where the Alter Rebbe rules that it is permitted to carry food that is only fit to feed animals on Shabbos, provided there are animals that eat this type of food in the surrounding area.

See subsection 1 above, where the Alter Rebbe mentions a similar restriction regarding performing a Rabbinically forbidden act for the sake of a non-Jew.