Rabbi Mendel Agranovich
Shalom, dear readers!
Today we will discuss a very relevant topic: how to add salt to food on Shabbat?
Let us break down the question:
May we add salt to soup or cholent when they are:
1) still on the heat,
2) removed from the heat but still in the pot (the first vessel),
3) in a soup tureen (the second vessel),
4) in a bowl (the third or, sometimes, second vessel—see the article in issue 35)?
The passage from the Talmud cited in previous articles also discusses this topic. Thus, tractate Shabbat (42b): “Abaye said: They taught in Rabbi Chiya’s yeshiva: ‘Salt is not like seasonings, and it cooks (can be cooked) even in a second vessel.’ Some sages said otherwise (among the sages of the Talmudic era who discussed this topic and were cited by the Talmud’s editors and compilers, Rav Ashi and Ravina): Abaye said: They taught in Rabbi Chiya’s yeshiva: ‘Salt is not like seasonings and does not cook (cannot be cooked) even in a first vessel,’ and this is supported by Rav Nachman’s statement: ‘Salt requires cooking like the meat of an ox.’” This concludes the quotation in our translation.
Let us briefly analyze what is written. We have a dispute between two groups of sages who conveyed Abaye’s opinion to us. He, in turn, conveyed one of the conclusions reached by the students and teachers of Rabbi Chiya’s yeshiva.
1) According to the first opinion, salt is a food that “cooks easily” and cooks even in a second vessel.
2) According to the second opinion, salt cooks only over the heat, like a tough piece of ox meat.
3) The second opinion is supported by evidence cited in the name of Rav Nachman, who was considered one of the most knowledgeable and authoritative judges among the entire Jewish people.
Based on the last argument—namely, that the first opinion contradicts Rav Nachman’s clearly established opinion, while the second agrees with it—Tosafot concluded that the halachah (law) should follow the second opinion, meaning:
1) Salt can cook only in a first vessel that is on the heat.
2) Salt does not cook in a first vessel that has been removed from the heat, and obviously not in a second or third vessel either.
This opinion is the primary one, but anyone who is stringent in accordance with the first opinion deserves a blessing. Incidentally, many of us travel great distances to visit great rabbis and righteous people, while here the authors of Tosafot are giving us a “brachah”! We advise you not to disregard it, for these people were like living angels, and all the secrets of the Torah were open to them. Many of them sanctified the Creator’s name during the Crusades. Think about this.
What, then, does this mean? Not adding salt even to a second vessel as long as it is hot. As practical halachah, the Shulchan Aruch cites the second opinion, while Rabbi Moshe Isserles (the Rema) says that someone who is stringent will merit a blessing.
All of the above applies to rock salt, rather than table salt, that is, to salt rocks that have been collected and crushed without crystallization or evaporation.
As for table salt, it may be added to a first vessel that has been removed from the heat, according to the Mishnah Berurah. The Chafetz Chaim himself says that one may be stringent, since according to other opinions, table salt has an entirely different status.
Let us turn to the practical conclusions.
Unprocessed salt:
1. You may not use it to salt food in a pot that is on the heat. If it was added by mistake (that is, without knowing that doing so violates halachah), then:
a) if the food had already been salted to some extent before Shabbat and was essentially edible, it may be eaten, but:
b) if this is the first time salt has been added, the food may not be eaten before the end of Shabbat unless there is a special need (if a proper meal would be impossible without this food, or the woman of the house is very upset, the Mishnah Berurah, based on the opinion of the Vilna Gaon, permits eating it when necessary, despite the mistake).
2. If the pot has already been removed from the heat, adding salt is permitted according to the letter of the law, while anyone who wishes to be stringent deserves a blessing.
3. Soup poured into a tureen may be salted under the same rules.
4. All opinions permit adding salt to soup in a bowl.
5. Solid food on a plate may be salted with this type of salt. However, since the Mishnah Berurah cites opinions that consider solid food (in chunks) to be like a first vessel even on a plate, a reasonable but optional stringency is possible.
Table salt:
1. The Mishnah Berurah rules (reaches a conclusion based on all the preceding opinions, taking every nuance of the issue into account) that adding it to a first vessel is not permitted, though this is a stringency rather than the strict letter of the law.
2. It may be used to salt both liquid and solid food in a second vessel.
Salt processed by intense heating in ovens. Regarding this issue, the author and the editorial staff can say that it is better to refrain from using it on Shabbat, since the high processing temperature may change its status from a product that “takes a long time to cook” to one that “cooks easily,” like bread, which may not be placed even in a second vessel. This requires further clarification, so at this stage it is better to refrain from using it for hot food.
Sugar – both cane and beet varieties—is considered cooked.
The situation on the Israeli salt market is as follows: shulchani (table) salt is cooked, while cooking salt (bishul) is intensely heated in ovens. We do not know the situation in the CIS and the Baltic states. To clarify this issue, we recommend consulting Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt or Rabbi Moshe Lebel (Moscow), or Rabbi Yosef Brodbekker (Kyiv).