Q&A: That Red Red Stuff on the Sabbath..
That Red Red Stuff on the Sabbath..
Question
A question of Jewish law:
Is it permitted to peel a raw beet on the Sabbath, cut it up, pour salt and oil on it, and eat it?
[It’s tasty and very healthy; you don’t have to cook it..] a0
Is that considered pickling, which is like cooking and therefore forbidden?
This is a practical question for me [and maybe for many others] for the Sabbath.
Why was this question deleted? What was wrong with it? Or not nice, or not appropriate about it?
I would be happy for the honorable Rabbi’s answer, if possible, please.
Answer
The question was deleted because it appeared four or five times, and the last time included changes and joking around.
If you want to ask a question, focus it and explain what you are asking. Once is enough for me. There is no need to copy it again and again.
I don’t see what would be forbidden here. How is this different from any salad? What does it have to do with pickling? Pickling is done in liquid and over a long period of time.
Discussion on Answer
With God’s help, 2 Nissan 5781
From the plain sense of the Talmud it appears that it is forbidden to salt several pieces of vegetables together, “rather, he dips each one separately and eats,” and so it is ruled in the Shulchan Arukh: “It is forbidden to salt four or five pieces of radish together because it looks like pickling pickles, and pickling is forbidden because it is like cooking. Rather, he dips each one separately by itself, but eggs may be salted” (Orach Chayim 321:3).
In the Mishnah Berurah sec. 12 it explains: “And the same applies to anything that requires salting, onions, garlic, and ugerkes [= raw cucumbers…]. Nevertheless, it seems that something which is not normally pickled is permitted” (Pri Megadim).
And in sec. 14 he cites the later authorities’ difficulty with the practice: “Our custom is to cut radish very thin on the Sabbath, put it in a bowl, salt it, and pour vinegar over it and eat it. Seemingly, this is similar to many pieces, which is forbidden by law even if one eats immediately, and the only permission is by dipping each one separately?”
And the Mishnah Berurah justifies the custom (based on the Taz and Magen Avraham): “It appears that since they do not leave it at all to sweat, but rather pour in the vinegar and also other ingredients, it is not similar to processing. And all the more so if they immediately pour oil there, for the oil weakens the force of the salt.”
But I am unsure whether raw beet is similar to an ordinary vegetable salad, since with other vegetables the salt is added only for taste, and therefore when they immediately pour oil and vinegar, it is evident that he is not doing it for pickling. But with raw beet, which is hard, perhaps the salt is also added in order to soften it, and therefore it would need to remain in the salt until it softens, just as the Mishnah Berurah forbade there regarding radish when one leaves it in salt until it sweats, and likewise lettuce when it is left in salt, “since he waits for it to absorb the salt well.” This requires further clarification.
Best regards,
Yaron Fishel Ordner
Paragraph 4, line 3
… “for the oil weakens the force of the salt.”
Many thanks for the answer.
Because I seem to remember there are things that are forbidden because it’s processing. So oil before the salt or something like that…
By the way, maybe a little less strict judgment… after all, it was just an Enter-key problem. It got pressed again and again… and there’s no option to delete…
The last question was different…