Tea, Trash, a Bris, and a Bookshelf

Tea in a Kli Shlishi

Question

May I make tea in a kli shlishi on Shabbos?

Rav Auerbach

The Chazon Ish ruled that kalei habishul are cooked even in a kli shlishi. However, the Mishnah Berurah (318:47) rules that it is permitted to put bread into a kli shlishi, and we do not say that there is bishul after afiyah. There are those who claim that there is a difference between that halacha and the halacha of kalei habishul, bringing proof from the fact that the Mishnah Berurah (ibid. 39) does not suggest making tea in a kli shlishi. However, I do not see any difference, and I believe that the Mishnah Berurah permits making tea in a kli shlishi.

Reading From Discarded Packages

Question

Last Shabbos, I opened a package of food and threw the wrapper away. Afterwards, I checked the wrapper to see if the product contained an ingredient to which my wife was allergic. Was there any problem taking a discarded wrapper out of the garbage on Shabbos?

Thank you.

Henry

Rav Auerbach

Once a person throws away the wrapper from a package, it becomes muktzah. Therefore, even looking at the wrapper to check the ingredients would be forbidden. In such a case, you should look for an alternative food.

Filming a Bris on Shabbos

Question

This Shabbos, be’ezras Hashem, I am making a bris in my neighborhood in Eretz Yisroel. My non-religious sister-in-law told me that she is coming with her husband by car on Shabbos morning, parking the car on the highway, and walking to the bris. She also plans to film the bris with her phone. Can the rov advise me what I should tell her?

Thank you.

G. A.

Rav Zafrani

As far as driving to the bris is concerned, you should offer her accommodations so that she can stay in the neighborhood. If she refuses, you do not have to cancel the bris because of her.

As far as filming the bris is concerned, you can tell her that, as I am the rov of this shul, I do not permit it. Everyone knows that when entering the religious sanctuaries of any religion, there is a code of acceptable behavior. You can tell her that under no circumstances do we permit filming a bris on Shabbos, as this does not fall within the parameters of permitted activities at a Shabbos bris.

[Writer’s note: The sister-in-law did drive in on Shabbos but did not film the bris.]

Birkas Hagomel After a Bookshelf Collapses on a Boy’s Head

Question

Recently, my son experienced the following incident. There were two four-foot-long shelves filled with seforim above his head, situated a few feet above where he was sleeping. In the middle of the night, there was a loud crash and the wood supporting the shelves collapsed. The shelves, together with all the weight, appeared to have fallen on his head. My son ran out of bed completely disoriented and was unable to recall what had happened or speak coherently until the afternoon. His bed was covered with seforim and he was bruised all over. The weight was certainly enough to have caused serious harm. Should he recite Birkas Hagomel?

Rav Sternbuch

The rule is that one recites Birkas Hagomel only after having been in a life-threatening situation. Although I am sure that your son suffered a significant blow, unless a doctor tells me otherwise, I am not convinced that the scenario you describe rises to the level of a life-threatening danger. Therefore, until we receive a doctor's evaluation confirming that genuine danger existed in this case, Birkas Hagomel should not be recited.