Thought for the Day: Making Instant Coffee on Shabbos is an Outstanding Lesson in Halachic Reasoning
I know this may come as somewhat of a shock, but the singing ("nigun", for my FFT [frum from Tuesday] friends) part of the worship service is not really my "thing". Baruch HaShem, the Aguda accommodates even recalcitrant misnagdim such as I and provides a plethora of divrei Torah -- in English, Hebrew, and even Yiddiush available to be studied during permissible intervals. Such as extended chazanus for Lecha Dodi. (One might argue that I seem to consider any singing -- especially responsive -- as extended chazanus. One might be correct.)
I usually read something from the Business Halacha Institute, which has a nice story to go along with an interesting monetary issue. I learn something and I also have a ready discussion for the Friday night table. This Friday night, though, a young man walked around distributing copies of the CRC Kosher Consumer, Sukkos Edition. As this has never happened before, I figured that HaShem was sending me a message and so I better read the bulletin -- not, of course, during davening. On the second page I saw something that made by blood run cold: "Regarding using Starbucks Via, some have ruled that it is permitted to use this product on Shabbos..." In fact, I had researched the issue some years ago when Via was first introduced and had been using it regularly (and quite happily) largely based on the recommendation of the CRC, so this statement caught me completely off guard.
Once I was able to catch my breath, I read the entire statement:
The term kli shlishi (literally: third vessel) means that the water must be twice removed from the vessel in which the water was originally heated. kli rishon -- that is, the vessel in which the water was heated -- is rarely relevant on Shabbos, since it is rear to heat only enough water for one cup of coffee (and using a microwave oven is forbidden for obvious reasons). kli sheini is cup into which the water has been poured from the kli rishon -- typically an urn, but could be a kettle. I could have made my coffee in there, but that would have meant adding the powder to the water -- thus coloring the water. While most poskim permit coloring food (especially when the coloring is not done just to make it prettier, but just because that's the way it works), it is better to be stringent. Therefore, I would typically put the powder into the cup from which I wanted to drink, then pour the water from my kli sheini onto it. That won't work now, because "poured from a kli sheini" is not as bad as the kli sheini itself, but also not yet kli shlishi. I could pour the water into yet another vessel and then onto the powder, but that's going to make my coffee cooler than I prefer. I opt for pouring the water into the kli shlishli before I add the powder, then adding the powder. It is worth it for me to be a bit lenient on the coloring issue to get a hotter cup of coffee. See more on that below, in response to question (1).
What does this do for me? Chazal tell us that a kli rishon (even if not on the heat source, but still hot enough to scald a baby's skin) has the umph to cook. The water in a kli sheini - even if a bit hotter than a corresponding kli rishon -- does not have enough umph to cook normal foods, but does have enough umph to cook easily cooked foods. Water in a kli shlishi and down never has enough umph to cook foods. When pouring from one vessel to another, there is enough umph left in it from the originating vessel that it can cook the outer layer of that same thing in the receiving vessel. I use the work "umph" because the temperature/heat of the liquid is obviously not the only criteria in what can be cooked. Apparently there has been some change to the manufacturing process of the Starbucks Via that has moved it from the status of "already cooked" (so recooking is irrelevant) to "not cooked, but easily cooked". Therefore we now need to use a kli shlishi to avoid cooking it. (Interesting stringency: you now can't warm of your coffee with water from a kli sheini because the coffee prepared in the kli shlishi still as the status of "not cooked and easily cooked.")
When I first saw this, I was able to clarify with R' Fishbane (yet another good reason to daven where I do on Friday nights) that this ruling of the CRC was not to be read as "really... you should not be using Via on Shabbos, but if -- nebbich -- you will really suffer without it, then at least use a kli shlishi". Rather, the CRC was saying that one my enjoy his Starbucks לכתחילה by simply using a kli shlishi. Whew.
But.... honestly... why get involved with all this? Have cooler coffee, or have regular instant, or don't have hot water at all. But I like hot coffee on Shabbos morning; and the Starbucks Via really tastes so much better than the regular instant to me. Is that a good reason to jump through all these hoops that require extra care? Yes. Why? Because there is also a mitzvah -- a real, live obligation -- to enhance one's enjoyment of Shabbos. Having special treats on Shabbos is so important, in fact, that the Mishna Brura (251:2, sk 5) says that one may even work up closer to sundown in order to be able to afford those treats.
Besides... look how much Torah I learned! Both this world and the next with one cup of coffee!
I usually read something from the Business Halacha Institute, which has a nice story to go along with an interesting monetary issue. I learn something and I also have a ready discussion for the Friday night table. This Friday night, though, a young man walked around distributing copies of the CRC Kosher Consumer, Sukkos Edition. As this has never happened before, I figured that HaShem was sending me a message and so I better read the bulletin -- not, of course, during davening. On the second page I saw something that made by blood run cold: "Regarding using Starbucks Via, some have ruled that it is permitted to use this product on Shabbos..." In fact, I had researched the issue some years ago when Via was first introduced and had been using it regularly (and quite happily) largely based on the recommendation of the CRC, so this statement caught me completely off guard.
Once I was able to catch my breath, I read the entire statement:
Regarding using Starbucks Via, some have ruled that it is permitted to use this product on Shabbos, but after carefully considering the issues, Rav Reiss Shlit”a has ruled that it should not be used on Shabbos, unless one uses a kli shlishi.Ah. That's different. Ok; this statement ought to engender a few question. (1) Is it better to not use Starbucks Via on Shabbos at all? (In other words does, "unless one uses a kli shlishi" mean, "if -- nebbich -- you will really suffer without it, then at least use a kli shlishi"?) (2) How does using a kli shlishi help? (3) How do I go about making my coffee on Shabbos now? Let's take those in reverse order.
The term kli shlishi (literally: third vessel) means that the water must be twice removed from the vessel in which the water was originally heated. kli rishon -- that is, the vessel in which the water was heated -- is rarely relevant on Shabbos, since it is rear to heat only enough water for one cup of coffee (and using a microwave oven is forbidden for obvious reasons). kli sheini is cup into which the water has been poured from the kli rishon -- typically an urn, but could be a kettle. I could have made my coffee in there, but that would have meant adding the powder to the water -- thus coloring the water. While most poskim permit coloring food (especially when the coloring is not done just to make it prettier, but just because that's the way it works), it is better to be stringent. Therefore, I would typically put the powder into the cup from which I wanted to drink, then pour the water from my kli sheini onto it. That won't work now, because "poured from a kli sheini" is not as bad as the kli sheini itself, but also not yet kli shlishi. I could pour the water into yet another vessel and then onto the powder, but that's going to make my coffee cooler than I prefer. I opt for pouring the water into the kli shlishli before I add the powder, then adding the powder. It is worth it for me to be a bit lenient on the coloring issue to get a hotter cup of coffee. See more on that below, in response to question (1).
What does this do for me? Chazal tell us that a kli rishon (even if not on the heat source, but still hot enough to scald a baby's skin) has the umph to cook. The water in a kli sheini - even if a bit hotter than a corresponding kli rishon -- does not have enough umph to cook normal foods, but does have enough umph to cook easily cooked foods. Water in a kli shlishi and down never has enough umph to cook foods. When pouring from one vessel to another, there is enough umph left in it from the originating vessel that it can cook the outer layer of that same thing in the receiving vessel. I use the work "umph" because the temperature/heat of the liquid is obviously not the only criteria in what can be cooked. Apparently there has been some change to the manufacturing process of the Starbucks Via that has moved it from the status of "already cooked" (so recooking is irrelevant) to "not cooked, but easily cooked". Therefore we now need to use a kli shlishi to avoid cooking it. (Interesting stringency: you now can't warm of your coffee with water from a kli sheini because the coffee prepared in the kli shlishi still as the status of "not cooked and easily cooked.")
When I first saw this, I was able to clarify with R' Fishbane (yet another good reason to daven where I do on Friday nights) that this ruling of the CRC was not to be read as "really... you should not be using Via on Shabbos, but if -- nebbich -- you will really suffer without it, then at least use a kli shlishi". Rather, the CRC was saying that one my enjoy his Starbucks לכתחילה by simply using a kli shlishi. Whew.
But.... honestly... why get involved with all this? Have cooler coffee, or have regular instant, or don't have hot water at all. But I like hot coffee on Shabbos morning; and the Starbucks Via really tastes so much better than the regular instant to me. Is that a good reason to jump through all these hoops that require extra care? Yes. Why? Because there is also a mitzvah -- a real, live obligation -- to enhance one's enjoyment of Shabbos. Having special treats on Shabbos is so important, in fact, that the Mishna Brura (251:2, sk 5) says that one may even work up closer to sundown in order to be able to afford those treats.
Besides... look how much Torah I learned! Both this world and the next with one cup of coffee!
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