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Thought for the Day: Disposable Cups for Kiddush

R' Fuerst is presenting a series of shiurim on medical/hospital issues that can arise on Shabbos. Not: "Hmm... well I guess if that ever happens, I'll just call my rav for instructions" kinds of issues, but: "Oh no, oh no, oh no... what do I do now?!" kinds of issues.

These shiurim can be found both on TorahAnytime and psak.org. The shiurim are packed with practical answers to many common halachic questions regarding medical issues -- such as taking medicine, when/how to go to the hospital, and conduct in the hospital -- that arise on Shabbos. The learning of these halachos should be a merit to never need to apply them in practice.

Spending a Shabbos in the hospital is never great (unless, perhaps, you are mother of n+1 children, and this is your chance to gather your strength before returning home; ha'meivin yavein). Many of the questions that arise are unique to Shabbos -- using a call button, having food prepared, helping/participating in having your vitals taken -- just to name a few. Other issues have a broader application. Making kiddush when you don't have your usual becher, for example, comes to mind.

Making kiddush, of course, requires drinking wine. (In halacha, even unfermented grape juice is called "wine". Yes, I know there are authorities who say you can make kiddush on schnaps.) To drink, of course, means that you need to transfer the liquid from a substantial container -- aka כלי -- to your mouth. "Duh", you are thinking. True enough, except the fact that a כלי needs to be a substantial container is not just being pedantic. Imbibing wine falling from sky -- ala Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs -- would not make for a halachically valid kiddush. Neither would (and this is more realistic) drinking from a cup that dissolves in one's hand as he is drinking.

This, of course (goodness me! lots of "of course"s here!), brings us to the well known macklokes of R' Moshe and (among others) R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. Namely, the lore goes, R' Moshe says that that a disposable cup is not a כלי with regards to hilchos kiddush, so may not be used; while R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach permits use of disposable cup.

I say "lore" because R' Fuerst, shilta, related the actual situation. First, it is certainly true that R' Moshe writes in Igros Moshe not to use a paper cup for kiddush (though does say it might be acceptable if nothing else is available). However, R' Fuerst relayed that  he asked R' Moshe in person some time after the original t'shuva had been written and R' Moshe then agreed that using a disposable cup was acceptable.

Interesting! Had the situation changed? Had R' Moshe changed his attitude toward disposable cups? Nope. R' Fuerst said that, in fact, there was no machlokes. The issue is really why the cup is considered disposable, and there are two possibilities: (1) the cup will be so unusabley soggy after use that it must be disposed; (2) the cup is so cheap/the person is so rich, that it is not worth the time to clean it, so it is disposed. In the t'shuva, R' Moshe was talking about a cup that can really only be used once, because by the time one would fill it with wine say kiddush, and drink the contents -- that cup is really unusable for a second use. That is unacceptable for kiddush and even R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach would agree. On the other hand, a cheap metal or even plastic cup that is considered disposable only because it so cheap certainly may be used for kiddush, and even R' Moshe would agree.

In fact, the original t'shuva in Igros Moshe -- Orach Chaim III, siman 39 -- was written dated Apr 10, 1968. The t'shuvah there clearly says נייר/paper, not   חַד פַּעֲמִי/disposable. Moreover, for those of you who don't remember 1968, I can assure you that paper cups were just that; thin paper and meant to last long enough to have a single drink. (I can remember needed to pull a second cup from the water cooler if I wanted more water than fit in one of those flimsy -- and relatively tiny -- cups.)

Two take aways: 

  • Don't buy into the lore until you've checked the sources yourself. 
  • You need to have a rav; a rav who himself is part of the chain of mesora.
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