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Parshas
Pinchas: Growing Good Corn |
| Rabbi
Mendel Safrin [Don't forget to see the Halacha
Encounters below!] Shlomo Hamelech
(King Solomon) writes in Mishlei (15:23) "Simcha
Lo'Ish B'Ma'aneh Piv - A person is brought to happiness by the answer of his mouth" The Gemara
(Eruvin 54a) explains
that when a person can answer other people's questions
this is a source of happiness. Providing others with a solution to their queries will make those people feel happy. In turn, the helper himself will derive
joy. This concept
of helping others is so fundamental it is found in
the Torah right at the beginning of our existence. Adam was placed in Gan Eden where he had at his
fingertips everything
he could possibly ask for. Yet, Hashem said (Bereishis
2:18) "It is not good for man to be by himself" Hashem then created Chava to be an "eizer k'negdo" a corresponding helper. Only through
helping each other could they possibly come to a sense
of fulfillment. The story is
told of a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each
year he entered his corn in the State Fair where it won a blue ribbon. When asked about his "secret" he responded that he shares his seed corn with neighboring
farmers. In response to
the astonished looks of his audience, he explained
his strategy. "All farmers know that the wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn,
cross-pollination will
steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn". It is well known
that our Sages (Yoma 9b) have attributed the destruction
of the Beis Hamikdash to Sin'as Chinom - baseless hatred. Particularly during this time of the year, as we mourn the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash,
let us increase our
efforts towards helping others. In this way, in addition to bringing ourselves joy, we will also be contributing to the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdash, Bimheirah
B'Yamainu. Rabbi
Safrin is a full time member of the Kollel. Halacha EncountersKeeping
the Kitchen Kosher - Part 2 Rabbi Ephraim
Friedman In a recent issue
of Halacha Encounters we discussed some basic
kashrus principles focusing primarily upon pots and silverware. This week I would like to explore the issues involved in using the same oven for milchigs
and fleishigs. While
the ideal kosher kitchen boasts two ovens thereby avoiding
all the potential problems that a shared oven present, many households are denied this luxury for a variety of reasons. It is therefore important that
we are familiar with
precisely how an oven may be used for both types of food. To begin with,
it is important to understand that there is a very big difference between a fleishig oven and a fleishig pot from the perspective of halacha. While
in the case of a pot
in which meat is cooked, ta'am (flavor) of the meat is implanted
into the pot walls through direct contact, in an oven this is not the case. If one cooks a roast or minute steak in a utensil inside an oven, the meat
never comes in contact
with any of the oven surfaces. Why then is the oven considered
fleishigs? The reason is that although the actual meat doesn't touch the oven walls, there is fleishig zeiah (steam)
which is released during the cooking and which rises and permeates the inside roof of the oven. When one then cooks milchigs in the same oven the zeiah,
which is released from
the milchig food, can draw out some of the original fleishig zeiah, causing it to condense into a liquid and fall down into the milchig food. This, in a nutshell,
is the main concern
involved in using an oven interchangeably for milchigs
and fleishigs. In truth, the
problem of zeiah is much more acute when dealing
with liquids or foods with gravy and the like. Dry items are much less likely to produce zeiah in the first instance. Secondly, there is a view in the
Poskim that zeiah produced
by solid food items does not have the halachic status
of the actual food and therefore would not impact upon the status of the oven. In practice, to avoid
confusion and errors
it is advisable not to distinguish between liquid and non-liquid
items and to follow the procedures which will be delineated when dealing with any type of item. A second concern
involves the possibility of milchig or fleishig
ta'am being implanted directly into the racks of the oven. This could occur by cooking or baking food directly on the rack without using a pot or pan, as well
as by a pot of food
overflowing onto the rack during the cooking process. Having mentioned
these two concerns, let us now attempt to clarify
the practical halacha. The best system to employ if you have only one oven, is to initially designate it when brand new as either milchig or fleishig, depending
on what you expect
to use it for most often. (If you move into a house
with a used oven, you can kasher it and then designate it as you choose. The process of kashering
will be explained later.)
Let us assume you have designated your oven as fleishigs.
Meat may be cooked freely in this oven, even in uncovered pots or pans. If at some point you wish to cook milchigs in this oven, you may do so provided
you are careful to
do so only in a closed pot or in a pan which is covered with aluminum foil or the like. As long as the milchigs is covered, no zeiah will escape from it and no
fleishig zeiah will
enter it. By following this procedure you will have eliminated
the first potential problem of a shared oven. In order to avoid any problems that could arise from using the fleishig rack for mlchigs, it is advisable
when cooking milchigs
to cover the rack with aluminum foil so that the milchig
pot will rest on this fresh sheet of foil and not on the used rack. Additionally, before cooking milchigs in the fleishig oven you should check that the oven
is clean from grease
or other fleishig residue. Covering
the rack with foil even when cooking fleishigs will be helpful
in avoiding the need
for major clean-up jobs. Just be sure to remove the fleishig foil before cooking milchigs. After cooking the covered milchigs, the oven may be used once
again for fleishigs
without kashering. Of course, if the milchig food spilled
over during cooking the spill should be cleaned up first. In the event
that you need to cook open milchigs in your fleishig
oven, the oven would have to be kashered first. The kashering process involves first cleaning the inside of the oven well with an oven cleaner, then, after
it sits idle for at
least twenty-four hours, turning it on to the highest temperature
setting for approximately one hour. At that point you may cook milchigs in the oven even in an open pot or pan. Afterwards the kashering process must be repeated
before using the oven
once again for open fleishigs. [It should be noted that kashering directly from milchigs to fleishigs or vice versa is permissible only in the case
of an oven and not with
pots, pans, or silverware.] If your oven
is self-cleaning you may kasher it by running it through
the "clean" cycle without manually cleaning it in advance and without waiting twenty-four hours from the last time it was used. The clean cycle of such an
oven is regarded as
libun chamur which is effective even on a soiled utensil since
it burns up any grease or residue, and which may be performed even when the utensil, or in this case the oven, is a ben-yomo. It should also be mentioned that
there is a view in
halacha that even a standard (i.e. non self-cleaning) oven can
be kashered - after a manual cleaning - within twenty- four
hours of the last usage. When necessary, one should consult
his Rav for guidance in this matter. If you wish to
cook pareve food in an open pot inside a fleishig
oven and eat that food together with milchigs, it would be preferable to first kasher the oven as above, or to at least wait until the oven is not a ben-yomo
before cooking. However,
even if the food was cooked in a ben-yomo fleishig
oven which was free of fleishig residue, it would technically be permissible to eat it together with milchigs. Cooking milchigs
and fleishigs simultaneously in an oven is fraught
with potential kashrus problems and should be avoided - even if the individual pots are covered. With regard to
the stovetop, the common, halachically acceptable
practice is to use the various burners interchangeably
for either milchigs or fleishigs. Being that the grates sit directly on the fire any food which spills over will be immediately burnt up. This notwithstanding,
it is a commendable
practice to designate separate milchig and fleishig burners for one who is able to. Everything we
have stated thus far applies to gas and electric
ovens and stovetops. Regarding microwave ovens, Poskim advise investing in two separate units, one for milchigs and one for fleishigs. Being that
microwaves are so easy
to use, and that even small children will heat up food in
them, attempting to keep a microwave kosher while allowing both types of food to enter it interchangeably
is very difficult.
Additionally, food which was placed in the microwave covered may become uncovered in the course of cooking. Also, because of its small size and
the particular way
in which it cooks, the issue of zeiah is even more serious
than in a conventional oven. For these reasons, using the same microwave for milchigs and fleishigs
is not recommended.
One who must do so should be sure to cover all food
items securely before placing them inside and to use separate microwave plates for milchigs and fleishigs.
Senior Kollel Member Rabbi Ephraim Friedman is Morah Hora'ah of Bais Medrash Mikor Chaim. Now Available Online! The Five Minute Hilchos Tefillah Shiur is available in Real Audio format on the Chicago Community Kollel website at: http://www.cckollel.org/halachashiur-fs.html Come and hear over 60 5-minute shiurim on the laws, customs and deeper meanings of our daily Tefillos. Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future edition of Halacha Encounters? Please email shiur@cckollel.org with your questions or suggestions.
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