Q&A: Washing Dishes on the Sabbath
Washing Dishes on the Sabbath
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I am in charge of kashrut on an IDF base.
After the Sabbath meal they want to place the dishes (plates, cutlery, etc.) on a dish rack and use a hose to clean them with water only, in order to ease the load on Saturday night, which is at 8:00 p.m., since in any case they already have a lot to do to begin preparations for Sunday and to wash pots. I have a kashrut supervisor on the Sabbath who will make sure that this is indeed all they do and nothing beyond that. Is this okay?
Answer
Hello,
It is permitted to soak the dishes in water on the Sabbath so that the dirt will not stick. But this permission is based on the fact that this is the normal place where the dishes are put anyway (the sink), except that one fills it with water. But if you do a special action that is done in order to soften the dirt, that is preparation from holy time to weekday, and it is forbidden. However, if there is a concern that the dirt will attract flies and the like, then it is permitted to remove it with water, because that is for the sake of the Sabbath.
In the army this is permitted on the Sabbath.
“Sabbath” is an acronym: on the Sabbath in the army, wash.
Or: on the Sabbath, spray the dishes, and then it is permitted for civilians too.