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Meaning in Mitzvot -
Lesson 50

The Symbolism Of Cooking In Halakha

21.09.2014
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While there are thirty-nine different forbidden melakhot (categories of labor), the average Jewish family is concerned most of all with the labor of cooking. Other labors can be entirely avoided on Shabbat, but we are anxious to have hot food on Shabbat in order to fulfill the mitzva of oneg (enjoyment of) Shabbat. (Indeed, there is an actual requirement to have hot food on Shabbat - not only because of Shabbat indulgence, but also in order to demonstrate that the Torah forbids only lighting a fire on Shabbat, and does not forbid having fire in the house (Rema OC 257:8).)

 

Since cooking is so important in our daily lives, it is not surprising that the idea of cooking is a critical one in many areas of halakha. For example, meat and milk are forbidden by the Torah particularly when they are cooked together, food prepared by a non-Jew is forbidden if it is cooked, cooking is forbidden on Shabbat, and so on. The Chasidic masters discussed the inner symbolism of cooking in halakha. Let us contemplate their insights.

 

COOKING = COMPLETION

 

Cooking exemplifies taking something unfinished or in disarray and bringing it to a state of completion and unity. We speak of an idea that hasn't been thought through as being "half baked," or refer to an inexperienced person as being "raw." Since Shabbat is the day when we refrain from acts of completion and repair, it is only natural that cooking is forbidden.

 

Rav Nachman of Breslav extends this metaphor. Cooking renders our food more edible or tasty by breaking down the undesirable aspects of the food and eliminating them or even transforming them into something delicious. Being exposed to the Divine light, to the fire of holy devotion, is like passing through a refinery or distillery in which our negative traits are burned up, broken down, or even rectified, turning us into more refined, spiritual beings.

 

Rav Nachman also points out that COOKING food is only a preparation for EATING it. And a carefully cooked meal is typically prepared not merely for nourishment, but rather as the focus of a social gathering. In every culture, human fellowship is especially cemented through enjoying a meal together. Likewise, our spiritual refinement is not an end in itself. It is not a "trip," as many imagine. It is the preparation for creating intimacy with God (Likutei Halakhot, Meat with Milk; Ma'akhalei Akum).

 

 

COOKING IS ONLY THROUGH FIRE

 

A critical aspect of the melakha of "cooking" on Shabbat (and regarding the other areas of halakha mentioned as well) is that it exists only when there is heat or fire. Preparing food without heat is not a Torah prohibition; conversely, completing non-food metal or clay items by heat CAN fall into the category of "cooking" (MB 318:1).

 

The Alter Rebbe (the first Lubavitcher Rebbe) applies this insight to human character. Adopting an approach similar to that of Rav Nachman, he writes that a person who wants to repair and transform his character can do so only through the fire of inner enthusiasm (Likutei Torah, Matot 3). If we really want to change and renew ourselves, we need to set our hearts ablaze. Just as heat is necessary to forge a utensil, it is necessary for forging our characters.

 

COMPLETION FOR GOOD OR FOR EVIL

 

Sometimes the "repair" of cooking can actually spoil it from a halakhic point of view. In chapter 38 we learned that food cooked by a non-Jew is forbidden. Rav Nachman draws a parallel to the distinction between the cleansing fire of God, which refines us, and the superficially similar enthusiasm of pagan worship - which generates heat but not light. Pagan rituals, and their modern-day equivalents, can get us excited and even inspired, but they do not light the way to a better, more elevated way of living.

 

Here is another example of destructive cooking: In chapter 116 we learn that pots can absorb the taste of forbidden foods, and can then transmit these forbidden flavors to food. This also takes place only in the presence of heat. When a person decides to transform his character, he needs to choose his environment very carefully. Otherwise, this transformation may make him into a more refined human being overall (process of cooking) only at the expense of imbuing him with dangerous traits and opinions (absorption of forbidden flavors).

 

(3) COOKING AFTER COOKING, COOKING AFTER BAKING

 

The defining element of the melakha of bishul (cooking) is that the food is completed or transformed. The Torah prohibition is not transgressed when the food is merely heated but is never actually cooked. Conversely, once the food has been cooked, re-cooking is not considered cooking.

 

(Halakhic note: It is forbidden to reheat liquids once they have cooled. Furthermore, putting even cooked solid food on the fire is subject to certain restrictions.)

 

Even after food is cooked, there is an additional stage called "mitztamek veyafeh lo" - continued cooking still improves the food. (See SA OC 253:1.) Cooking such food is not forbidden - even though it improves the taste. Afterwards comes a further stage where additional cooking only damages the food, making it overcooked.

 

An intense experience can not only reshape a person's character (original cooking), it can also continue to benefit him afterwards ("mitztamek veyafeh lo" - continued beneficial cooking). But some influences can be overdone, reaching a stage where they do only damage (overcooking).

 

Although according to halakha there is no cooking after cooking, food that has been cooked in one way is still subject to being prepared in a completely different way. As the Kitzur points out in se'if 3, food which has been baked is still forbidden to be boiled, and so on. Applying the metaphor of human character, this can symbolize that a prolonged and intense new experience can transform us even when our personalities have already been shaped.

 

(26) KLI RISHON, KLI SHENI

 

The main prohibition of cooking involves food heated directly by the fire (Yerushalmi Shabbat 3:5). But cooking can still take place in a pot that was heated by the fire and then removed. This is called a kli rishon - a "first vessel" that was heated directly on the fire. However, when this pot is in turn emptied into a second pot - a kli sheni - then cooking can not in general take place. That is why the Kitzur permits washing dishes in such a pot, even though there may be uncooked food or water on the dishes.

 

Motivation for change ideally comes from within, when we have a fire in our hearts. Even so, a fire from outside can also make an impact on us. However, this process has its limits. Just as heat can reach food directly, or through a "first vessel" or a "second vessel," so too inspiration can originate within our hearts or reach us first or second hand. Just as second-vessel cooking is in most cases considered not cooking at all, so too second-hand inspiration has the ability to stimulate only a lukewarm reaction. There is no substitute for a first-hand encounter with a person of vision.

 

(22-24) SALTING AND PICKLING

 

According to Torah law, cooking exists only when there is heat. Salting and pickling, though these also can prepare food and make raw food edible, are not forbidden on Shabbat. Although in the case of food the end result is similar, salt does not come close to embodying the immense power of fire.

 

We pointed out above that pagan worship, which is negative spirituality, produces heat but not light. There are also secular forces for personal change that do have the ability to improve a human being, but don't embody any overarching spiritual powers at all. These influences have a place in a Torah lifestyle, but ultimately they leave us cold.

 

Just as pickling is not the real cooking forbidden by the Torah, so too reading Dale Carnegie (or Stephen Covey) is not the true personal transformation that God's word  - which is likened to fire (Yirmiyahu 23:29) - represents. True character change can occur only through Torah, not through the "cold processing" of various secular ideologies.

 

Even so, salting and pickling are considered cooking as a Rabbinical prohibition. Our Sages do recognize the lasting influence of other sources of character growth, even though their overall power can not be compared to that of Torah.

 

(27) LABOR OF A NON-JEW

 

At the beginning of the chapter, we explained that forbidding everyday labors on Shabbat because these labors were done in preparing the Sanctuary (Mikdash) hints that our everyday activities are not spiritually neutral. On the contrary, these everyday labors are our way of "building the Sanctuary," of making the world a fit place for God's presence to dwell.

 

Non-Jews are our partners in the material improvement of the world, but their mundane actions are not in the category of "creating a Mikdash." Since they are not subject to Torah, non-Jews do not bring Godliness into the world through everyday activities, but only through specific consciousness of the Divine. It follows that for them to refrain from work on Shabbat would not recall and re-enact God's rest on the seventh day of creation.

 

However, work they do on behalf of Jews does contribute to our service of God, and so we do not ask non-Jews to labor on behalf on Shabbat. (The main discussion of this topic is in chapter 73 above.)

 

 

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