Q&A: The Labor of Building According to the Chazon Ish
The Labor of Building According to the Chazon Ish
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I read your article about the labor of building according to the Chazon Ish’s approach and its implications for electricity. I was very impressed, and the definition of building as an organism seems precise and compelling to me.
But doesn’t that definition imply that making black coffee, for example, would be forbidden on a Torah level? After all, the powder and the water create a new organism called “coffee,” and seemingly the labor of building is involved here. And really, any soft batter on the Sabbath would be the labor of building as well (thick batter too, seemingly, but that is forbidden because of kneading), since you are combining two materials that create a new organism, which rises above the sum of its parts.
Maybe I didn’t understand correctly the definition you proposed for the labor of building, but doesn’t it come out that it contradicts the Talmud itself, which does not impose liability for soft batter?
Answer
A very good question.
I would say this: if I had discovered that they prohibit soft batter under the category of building, I would not have fallen off my chair. But once I saw that they do not prohibit it, I can suggest a few possibilities: 1. There is no building with foods (really, with liquids, since making cheese is indeed considered building). Think about adding concentrate to water. It makes sense to say that this is not building even according to my definition. 2. There is not really a different entity here, but rather a good mixing of the two things. The hardening of a thick batter, which is required in order to prohibit it, is perhaps the indication that something different has been created here, and then there would also be a prohibition of building involved (but that is already forbidden on account of kneading).