To Blech or Not to Blech: This Is the Question

Question

Last Shabbos, my wife and I went to a tzimmer (an Israeli bungalow), and we forgot to bring a blech. We got to the tzimmer right before Shabbos, and my wife, who went to a choshuve seminary and knows halacha very well, ruled that we would have to forgo putting the half-cooked cholent on the fire that Shabbos.

I myself learned in yeshiva, and I never really studied halacha, but I did learn Maseches Shabbos with Daf Yomi. It seems to me that the halachos listed there about covering a fire only apply to a situation where there is a concern that one might stoke coals—e.g., old-fashioned stoves that were fueled by burning coals, which, as they burned, became coated with ash. As a result, the fire needed to be regularly stoked so that it could receive oxygen.

Seemingly, this should not apply to our gas stoves, which do not have coals and therefore do not need to be regularly stoked.

When I told this “lomdus” to my wife, it fell on deaf ears. She said that she never learned such a thing in seminary, and she was not willing to change her position unless a big rov said so, and we had cold cholent for Shabbos. It was not so tasty, and I hope this won’t happen again, but in case it does, can Rav Auerbach let my wife know if there is any validity to what I am saying?

Thank you.

D. R.

Rav Auerbach

One of the greatest lamdanim of the past hundred years was the Brisker Rov, and he said something along the lines of what you are saying. However, it is important to know that not all lomdus is halacha lemaaseh, as I will explain.

The Mishnah (Shabbos 36b) writes that one should not leave food on a stove on Shabbos unless it is garuf (the coals are raked) or katum (the coals are covered with ashes). The reason for this rabbinic decree is that since stoking coals was an integral part of the cooking process, we are concerned that if food is left on a stove fueled by coals, a person may become anxious to eat the food and be mechateh (stoke the coals), thereby transgressing the Torah prohibition of mavir, creating or enlarging a fire.

Based on this concern, you are seemingly correct that the rabbinic prohibition against leaving food on an uncovered fire should not apply today to gas stoves, which do not cook with coals. In fact, when the Brisker Rov first came to Yerushalayim, he left food on a gas stove on Shabbos without a blech covering the fire. Why, then, do the poskim require us to cover our gas stoves with a blech?

In certain cases, when Chazal enacted a decree and circumstances later changed, the poskim ruled that the decree no longer applies. One example is gilui, the issur against drinking water that has been left uncovered. This decree was originally enacted because snakes could inject poisonous venom into the water. The Rishonim explain that today, in most parts of the world, there is little concern that snakes will poison the water, and therefore many people are lenient regarding this decree.

(As a side note, my father-in-law, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, ruled that in Eretz Yisroel and other countries where snakes are prevalent, one should be careful not to drink water that has been left uncovered.)

However, there are other decrees enacted by Chazal where, although circumstances have changed, the underlying concern remains. One example is the issue you are asking about: leaving food on a gas stove for Shabbos without covering the fire first. In the times of Chazal, bellows were commonly used to intensify a fire, and because this was a normal part of the cooking process, Chazal prohibited leaving food on a fire unless it was covered.

Today, we do not use bellows on gas stoves to increase the flame. All we need to do is turn a knob and the fire becomes stronger. While it is true that stoking is no longer part of the cooking process, the result is exactly the same—the fire increases. Therefore, the poskim understood that this action remains included in Chazal’s prohibition against cooking on an open fire.

In fact, as soon as the Brisker Rov learned that the accepted minhag was to cover the fire before leaving food on it for Shabbos, he began doing so himself. Even though he disagreed with the lomdus behind the practice, the Brisker Rov understood that minhag is a major factor in determining halacha. For this reason, it would seem that your wife was correct, and from that perspective, you acted properly by eating cold, half-cooked cholent.

However, since cholent is such a central part of the Shabbos seudah, there is room to rely on a different minhag in this situation. If the food has already reached the stage of maachal ben Drusa’i—meaning that it is edible—the Rama (253:1) writes that the minhag is to rely on the opinion cited in the Gemara (Shabbos 36b) of Chananya, who holds that once the food is edible, we are no longer concerned that someone will stoke the fire.

Similarly, regarding our gas stoves, although one should certainly use a blech, if a person finds himself without one, as in your case, he may rely on Chananya’s opinion and leave the pot on the uncovered fire.

As a final note, it is critical that every Jew know hilchos Shabbos. The Chofetz Chaim writes in his introduction to the Mishnah Berurah that if a person does not know these halachos well, he will almost certainly violate Shabbos.

My rebbetzin and I study from a wonderful sefer called Orchos Shabbos every Shabbos. The halachos you are asking about are explained there with great clarity. If you establish a seder to study it at the Shabbos table each week, before long you will become proficient in hilchos Shabbos.