Preparing Food from Yom Tov to Weekday - Rabbi Eyal Peled shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the “Lema’an Yishme’u” podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Greetings to all our dear viewers. We’re discussing the laws of Yom Tov. There’s a very important halacha concerning Yom Tov, particularly when there are two days of Yom Tov, or Yom Tov and Shabbos, and so on. It’s called the prohibition against preparing for another day. This prohibition applies on Shabbos too: you may not prepare on Shabbos for a weekday, or on Yom Tov for Shabbos, for a weekday, or for another Yom Tov. It applies even on the two days of Rosh Hashanah, although we regard them as one continuous sanctity. That has a bearing on an egg laid on Yom Tov, but the Alter Rebbe writes in section 503 that we treat the two days as one sanctity only as a stringency, not as a leniency. In other words, we can’t say that the two days of Rosh Hashanah count as one day, with one sanctity, so it’s permissible to prepare on one day for the other. The prohibition applies on both days of Rosh Hashanah as well. When the preparation involves an activity prohibited by Torah law, the prohibition is also by Torah law. I may cook for Yom Tov, but not for a weekday. So if I cook on Yom Tov for a weekday or for the following day of Yom Tov, that is a Torah prohibition. But the prohibition against preparing is not limited to prohibited activities. It applies even to things with no connection whatsoever to such activities. All sorts of actions, even ones involving just a little effort, are forbidden if they’re done for the next day, whether a weekday or another Yom Tov. They’re forbidden by rabbinic law under the prohibition against preparing. Rabbi Akiva Eiger discusses an interesting issue concerning bein hashmashos, the twilight period, on Yom Tov. We have one day of Yom Tov followed by another day of Yom Tov or by a weekday. We’re at twilight as Yom Tov ends.

02:17 Speaker 2 Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s approach is that if I do some work, or make some effort or preparation, during bein hashmashos—even if I’m doing it for that very moment—there may be a problem. Say I want to wash dishes so I can use them right now. Since bein hashmashos is a time when we’re uncertain whether it’s still day or already night, I can’t know exactly when the preparation took place. It may have been daytime when I prepared the dishes, but a moment later it was already night, belonging to the second day of Yom Tov. In that case, I prepared on one Yom Tov for another, or on Yom Tov for a weekday, and so on. So he would forbid it. That is Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s position, and it’s an interesting novel ruling. In practice, though, we are not stringent about this, certainly not with activities prohibited by rabbinic law, and certainly not with ordinary preparations. So in practice we aren’t concerned about that issue. Similarly, if I want to cook at night for the following day, there’s no problem. Even if I could cook the next day for the morning meal—which might be a somewhat late meal—I can still cook at night for the following day. That’s preparing on Yom Tov for the same Yom Tov, not preparing on one Yom Tov for a weekday or another Yom Tov. So there’s no problem

04:09 Speaker 2 with that; it’s fine. There is a question whether I may prepare on one Yom Tov for a different Yom Tov. For example, I want to prepare on the first day of Sukkos for Shemini Atzeres. Is that also considered preparing on Yom Tov for a weekday, or something similar, or not? By the way, with the two days of Rosh Hashanah that we discussed, part of the issue is the uncertainty that perhaps the next day is a weekday. We don’t know which day is Yom Tov and which is a weekday. Although nowadays, with our fixed calendar, we do know, the prohibition remains. So I still have the problem of preparing on one day of Yom Tov for the other. But here we’re talking about two days that are definitely Yom Tov: the first day of Sukkos followed later by Shemini Atzeres, or the first day of Pesach when I want to prepare for the seventh day of Pesach. The question is whether there’s no problem because I’m not preparing on Yom Tov for a weekday, or whether there is still a problem because there are weekdays in between when I could prepare for the later Yom Tov. Some suggest that the Shaar Hatziyun in the Mishnah Berurah is uncertain about this. He raises the question but doesn’t decide it. But there are important halachic authorities who forbid it. The Terumas Dovid writes that it’s forbidden. He is an important halachic authority, and he rules that it’s forbidden. Others cite a Tosefta, in tractate Shabbos, chapter 13, halacha 19, as clear proof that it’s forbidden. The Tosefta says: “One may wash dishes on Shabbos for that same Shabbos, but not on one Shabbos for another Shabbos.” So you see explicitly in the Tosefta that it’s forbidden, and that is indeed how one should

05:53 Speaker 2 act. We said that one may prepare at night for the morning, and so on. But suppose I want to make preparations for a meal or something similar during the day, and they take time—preparing a meal for many people, for example, or arranging an entire hall. If I estimate that the preparations will go on so long that I won’t be able to benefit from them that same day, the Biur Halacha says it’s forbidden. That’s something to watch out for. If I begin preparing during the day and intend to use the results that day, but the preparations may take so long that I won’t be able to benefit from them that day, that too is forbidden, according to the Biur Halacha. Now let’s discuss a leniency cited by the Chayei Adam in the name of the Maharsha. First of all, they’re speaking about a pressing situation. They write that in a pressing situation, one may make a preparation that is forbidden only because of the effort involved—not one that involves a prohibited activity. That is the leniency they propose: preparation forbidden solely because of the effort involved may be done in a pressing situation. Let’s take an example that may help us and perhaps show us some other principles as well. A very common question concerns taking food out of the freezer. May I take food out of the freezer for a weekday? For the second day of Yom Tov, or another Yom Tov that’s coming up? Is that possible? There are several details to pay attention to that may allow us to do this. On Shabbos, they say that if

08:07 Speaker 2 I take it out of the freezer and it can thaw before Shabbos ends, that’s permissible. If not, it isn’t. On Yom Tov, there are several angles to consider. First, some maintain that preventing a loss is permitted. That is the Maharsha’s novel position. He proposes this principle: preparation was forbidden when I’m trying to gain something by preparing now rather than doing it at night. I want to arrange the house, bring dishes, bring wine, bring various items, and I do it now so everything will already be ready at night and I’ll spare myself that effort. That’s the problem with preparing for another day. But if there’s a possibility of a loss, I’m not trying to spare myself effort. I’ll simply suffer a loss if I don’t do it now and instead wait until the day ends. So he says that preventing a loss is permitted. But with what limitation? The action must not involve excessive effort. If it involves ordinary effort, nothing too demanding, and it’s done to save something from loss, it’s permitted. Where does he learn this? From another interesting halacha. We say that even on Shabbos, I may move an object whose primary use is permitted, even from the sun into the shade. What’s the situation? The object is standing in the sun and may be damaged. I want to save it from loss by bringing it into the house. Seemingly, I’m preparing on Shabbos for a weekday, since it’s an object I won’t use. No, no one will

09:55 Speaker 2 He said that this is specifically if I want to use it. Even if I will only use it on a weekday, I am still allowed to do it after Shabbos, and so on. So what do you see from this? That preventing a loss is permitted if it does not involve excessive effort. He wants to apply this discussion to Yom Tov as well. So if we take the case of taking food out of the freezer, we could also say: there is a kind of loss here too. If I wait until after Shabbos and only then take the food out of the freezer, I will have to delay the meal by an hour or two, and the children will go to sleep and the guests will not want to come, and so on. There is an element of loss here too, and he permits it. That is one reason to permit it. There is another principle brought by the Chayei Adam. He maintains that carrying things from one place to another is permitted if it is done for Yom Tov. He discusses bringing wine from one place to another. I want to bring wine, or perhaps other things, other food items, home to prepare them for a meal held that night, after Yom Tov. So he says it is permitted. He says it is permitted. This is not a kind of burdensome effort. It is done for the needs of Yom Tov. He permits it. Again, his basic point concerns carrying things from place to place. That is permitted. We have not permitted setting things up, preparing, cleaning, doing things like that. But carrying things from one place to another, he wants to say, would be permitted if it is done for the needs of Yom Tov, if there is a need for it, and so on. So he maintains that it would be permitted. It is needed for a mitzvah; after all, that is what this permission is about. It would actually apply only from one day of Yom Tov to the next, because

11:36 Speaker 2 the meal on the next day of Yom Tov is needed for a mitzvah. It is a mitzvah meal. There is a mitzvah need here, so he permits it. There is a basis for this approach too; you can also find support for it in the Alter Rebbe. In one place, there is a basis for it. So the same applies here. Now let’s take the case of removing something from the freezer. Since we are talking about moving it from one place to another, we can also rely on this permission. That is another reason to be lenient. Another point that can be considered in favor of permitting it is that there is no direct action involved. In other words, it happens on its own. I do take it out of the freezer, but ultimately I do not thaw it with my hands; it thaws automatically. So since there is no direct action here, it would seemingly be permitted. They also want to compare it to meat. We know that meat that has gone three days without being salted can no longer be salted, unless I soak it in water. So the Shaarei Teshuvah says that it may be soaked on Yom Tov. That is also a case where I am not directly performing the action; it happens on its own. Likewise, with taking food out of the freezer, there is room to apply this permission too: there is no direct action involved. There is another important permission that Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah writes about, which he also derives from the Maharsha. He discusses returning something to its place. Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah gives another important basic principle concerning these laws. He says that with any routine action done as a matter of course, a person is not thinking about its benefit; it is simply routine. You

13:25 Speaker 2 take an item and put it back. Returning things to their places is generally something done automatically, without thinking, “This will let me eat later; this will save me time,” or anything like that. It is done routinely and automatically, so he maintains that it is permitted. That is why you can bring your tallis back home even though you are not using it now, on Yom Tov. You are bringing it back and will use it only on a weekday, or the like. But since this is a routine action—a person takes an item and returns it—he does not see it as prohibited preparation. The same applies to returning food to the refrigerator or the freezer. People often ask whether it is possible to put food back in the refrigerator or freezer. According to this principle, there is no problem with it. It is a routine action, returning things to their places, so it is fine. Those are the principles that allow for leniency regarding the prohibition of preparation. So let’s sum up: when we are talking about preventing a loss, there is room to permit it if it does not involve excessive effort. When we are talking only about carrying things from place to place, there is also room to be lenient when it is for a mitzvah need, for the needs of Yom Tov. When the preparation does not involve a direct action but happens on its own, one may also be lenient when there is a need. Returning things to their places can also be permitted. Making the beds: As for making a bed, tidying it, spreading a sheet or blanket over it, and so on—this, too, cannot be done. I am not returning something to its place here; I am arranging things. So putting the bedding on the bed for the night would be prohibited. But there is another principle we need to bear in mind

15:09 Speaker 2 in many cases. Tidying up—any kind of tidying—can benefit me on Yom Tov itself. If the house is messy, the beds are unmade, or there are guests and it feels unpleasant and looks untidy, and it does not honor Shabbos or Yom Tov, then I may make those beds on Yom Tov itself. Tidying the house for the second day of Yom Tov is also permitted. The Nitei Gavriel also writes that one may tidy the house for the second day of Yom Tov. After all, a tidy house honors the day, honors Yom Tov, so the house may be tidied for the second day of Yom Tov as well. He writes explicitly that this is possible. Folding clothes: Again, if I have a pile of clothes and it does not look good, it does not look nice or respectful of Yom Tov and Shabbos to have clothes scattered around the house, then I can fold them. Whether I can fold them along their original folds or not depends on the type of clothing and so on; those are already laws relating to Shabbos. But the act of folding itself would be permitted if it is to tidy the house so that it looks nice and is respectful of Yom Tov. If not—if the clothes are in some corner and do not bother anyone—then I may not fold them. Even if I do not intend to fold them along their original folds, I cannot do it. It is preparation and is prohibited. Returning books to the bookcase can also be permitted for two reasons. One is that it is routine, as we said in the name of Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah. I take a book, use it and put it back. That is done automatically, without much thought, so

16:46 Speaker 2 it would be permitted. Besides, it is also respectful to the books for them to be in the bookcase. It is not respectful for books to be scattered across the table, so putting them away and arranging them in the bookcase honors the books. Dressing children in sleepwear is another question people often ask. Children may be dressed in sleepwear if it is not close to nighttime. If I do it a few hours before nightfall, dress the children, and eventually they fall asleep at some point, that is also possible. It is a routine, basic action done so the children will be comfortable and ready for sleep. It is also permitted if it is not done close to nighttime. This permission is also cited in the name of the Igros Moshe. There is an interesting point that perhaps people do not pay much attention to. Regarding immersion on Yom Tov for Shabbos, there is some discussion, you could say, or differing opinions about the obligation to immerse. Say I have Yom Tov followed by Shabbos. In the laws of immersion, the Alter Rebbe writes that the holiness of Shabbos is higher and that immersion is needed to receive the holiness of Shabbos. But setting aside the question of whether one needs to immerse, some want to say that this too is preparation. You immerse on Yom Tov for Shabbos; that is preparation from Yom Tov to Shabbos and could be problematic. If you immerse on one day of Yom Tov for the next day of Yom Tov—the two days of Rosh Hashanah—the question is whether it is permitted in terms of preparation. Some want to say that it is prohibited. In practice, when it comes to Shabbos and you have an eruv tavshilin, if you make an eruv tavshilin—and in general, an eruv tavshilin permits all these preparations, although some want to say that an eruv tavshilin permits only

18:49 Speaker 2 To cook. But in practice, the Alter Rebbe rules that it permits other things as well—in sections 527 and 528. The Alter Rebbe rules that an eruv tavshilin also permits other things, including washing dishes and so on, as we’ll discuss later. So, plainly, the eruv tavshilin also permits me to immerse in the mikvah. But suppose someone did not make an eruv tavshilin, or this isn’t a case of Yom Tov leading into Shabbos, so there is no eruv tavshilin. In those cases, you really do have to pay attention. I saw in one publication that discusses this and takes a stringent view: this immersion counts as preparation. It therefore suggests two options: either immerse at night, actually after nightfall, or accept Shabbos upon yourself beforehand, before the immersion. Then you are immersing for Shabbos. You’ve already accepted Shabbos upon yourself; it is as though you are already in Shabbos. As for washing dishes, we can also say that it involves the prohibition against preparing for another day. If I’m washing dishes after the evening meal because I want them for the daytime meal, there’s no problem. Even if I have clean dishes in the cupboard, it’s still permitted: I want to use these dishes, so I can wash them for tomorrow’s meal. Some would be stringent, but the straightforward ruling is that this is fine. But if we’re talking about dishes after the morning meal, and I know I’m not going to eat another meal, then I may not wash them so that I can use them on a weekday, or on Shabbos, or on Yom Tov—the second day of Yom Tov, and so on. I may not wash them for

20:38 Speaker 2 that purpose. But here, too, the same principle applies. If the kitchen is full of dishes, it’s unpleasant, there are flies and unpleasant smells, and it detracts from Yom Tov, then yes, I can wash them to preserve the dignity of the day, the dignity of Yom Tov. That’s if I want to wash them. But what if I don’t actually want to wash them, only to soak them in water so the dirt won’t stick? Shemiras Shabbos makes a distinction: if the dirt has already dried and become firmly stuck, and he wants to soak it, that is one case. But if the dirt is fresh, the dishes may be soaked to prevent it from sticking. If it has already stuck, the argument is that you are actually washing them; you’re performing an action. But when you put them in water before the dirt has stuck, you’re only preventing it from sticking, so that’s fine. You can also pour hot water over them. That’s another law that applies specifically on Yom Tov. I can pour hot water to make the dish fit for use. So if we’re talking about Yom Tov itself, I can pour hot water over it to dissolve the grease and so on. Why? Because dissolving the grease involves the prohibition of molid, and molid is permitted for the purpose of food preparation. The Alter Rebbe also rules this way in section 511, paragraph 7. He writes that molid is permitted for food preparation. Therefore, pouring hot water on the grease to dissolve it, despite the issue of molid, is permitted if it is done for food preparation, for the meal. That is fine; it is

22:36 Speaker 2 permitted. As for putting the dishes in the dishwasher, the same idea applies. If I just want to put them in the dishwasher, I can’t. But if the house is messy and, as we said, it looks unpleasant, and I want to put them in the dishwasher to give the house the proper appearance for Yom Tov, then I can put them in the dishwasher. There is another very important law concerning the prohibition against preparing for another day. We’re talking about a situation where I want to—here we’re actually talking about performing a melachah, not merely preparing, but an actual melachah. Say I want to prepare food. If I want to prepare it only for Yom Tov, for the meal I’m about to eat, a certain quantity is enough. But I want to make a larger quantity so that I can also use the extra tomorrow. The Alter Rebbe writes explicitly about this in section 503. He makes the following distinction: if you add to the pot before putting it on the fire, there is no problem, because you are not increasing the work for the sake of a weekday. You do it all in one effort. In other words, all at once: you put in more pieces of meat, more vegetables, and so on, and then you put it on the fire in one go. You haven’t performed any separate melachah for the sake of a weekday, so he permits it. He says it is permitted even if the extra food is for a weekday. The same can apply to water when I fill an urn. I know that for the rest of Yom Tov I need a certain amount of water, but I want

24:19 Speaker 2 to fill the entire urn so I’ll also have water for the next day and so on. The Alter Rebbe says that this, too, is permitted. Yes, but there is another point. The Alter Rebbe says that all of this is on condition that I don’t say so explicitly. I can’t come along and say outright, “I’m adding more now,” or tell a member of the household, “Add more so there will also be some for the weekday, for after Yom Tov,” and so on. That is forbidden. I can do it without explicitly saying that it is for the weekday or for tomorrow. There is another leniency that is somewhat disputed, but it can be used when needed. It is called ha’aramah, a legal stratagem—cooking by means of ha’aramah. Here’s the situation: I don’t need to eat anything now. I don’t need to eat on this day of Yom Tov at all. I only want to cook for tomorrow, for after Yom Tov, or for the next day of Yom Tov, such as the second day of Rosh Hashanah. So I use a stratagem: I say that I’ll eat a little of this dish, so that it will count as though I cooked part of it for Yom Tov. As for the extra, as we said, it is permitted to add more if I do so before the pot is on the fire, not afterward. We said that in that case it is permissible to add more even for after this day of Yom Tov, for the second day. So in such a situation it really would be permitted. But the question is whether I may use this stratagem. Can I act as though—what do I mean, “as though”? I don’t actually want to eat, but I say I’ll eat a little of this dish so that I’ll be allowed to make a larger quantity for

26:08 Speaker 2 tomorrow. The Alter Rebbe says that there is indeed an opinion that permits this. But again, even if we permit it, it is permitted only for the second day of Yom Tov, not for a weekday. Such a stratagem is not permitted for a weekday, but it is permitted for the second day of Yom Tov, provided I really do eat some of the food. The Alter Rebbe offers a very nice line of reasoning here, almost in passing. He argues: what difference does it make? After all, the Torah permitted cooking for the purpose of eating. Why should it matter why I eat—whether I eat because I want to, or because I’m trying to work out some arrangement? In practice, at the end of the day, I do eat. So I’m allowed to cook for that meal. That is the reasoning behind the opinion that permits this stratagem. But as we said, there are two restrictions—actually, three. The first, perhaps, is not to say explicitly that I’m doing it for after Yom Tov or for the second day of Yom Tov. The second is that it is done only for the second day of Yom Tov, not for a weekday. The third is that it must be done before the morning meal, when the stratagem is not obvious: I really might eat the food later in the day. But if I do it in the middle of the day, it’s obvious. What, you’re not going to eat now? Who are you trying to fool? So that stratagem doesn’t work. It has to be done before the morning meal. But since there is an opinion that disagrees with all this, the Alter Rebbe says it is permitted only when there is some degree of need.

27:50 Speaker 2 That doesn’t mean you can simply permit it across the board. But if there is a real need—you feel stuck and need to prepare something now for after Yom Tov—then you may use this workaround. As we said, you increase the quantity. You don’t actually want to eat any of it, but you say, “I’ll eat a little so that I’m allowed to add more.” That is possible if it is done solely for the second day of Yom Tov. You don’t say so explicitly, and you actually eat a little of the food you prepared. If you need it and there is a genuine reason to do so, it is permitted. One last point concerns asking a non-Jew to prepare something. Is there a prohibition against asking a non-Jew to do that? Again, if it involves a melachah, certainly there is. But here we’re talking only about the prohibition against preparation because of the effort involved—things that are not melachos, whether prohibited by rabbinic law or by Torah law. I saw in Rabbi Raskin’s book, [unclear] B’Sdei Hashlichus, volume 2, that he writes that it is permitted. Later, in volume 3, he mentions people who questioned him and his exchanges with them. But it seems that, in his view at least, there is certainly room to be lenient and have a non-Jew do these forms of preparation. If there is a need—at least some kind of need—one may rely on this and permit it.