Q&A: The Prohibition of Cooking
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
The Prohibition of Cooking
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi,
Is it permitted to place cold soup on top of a hot plate before the Sabbath begins, so that it will warm up after the Sabbath begins? After all, for the law of leaving food on the fire, two conditions are required: a covered flame and food that is fully cooked. Seemingly, this is not considered fully cooked according to the Sephardim, who rule that there is cooking after cooking in a liquid.
Answer
https://www.yeshiva.org.il/ask/36691
Rabbi Ovadia permits, on the Sabbath itself, placing soup on a cold hot plate that will turn on with a Sabbath timer, combining indirect causation with the doubt whether the Jewish law follows those who say that there is cooking after cooking, or those who do not say that there is cooking after cooking.