Q&A: Ice Cream Made on the Sabbath from Kosher Ingredients
Ice Cream Made on the Sabbath from Kosher Ingredients
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Near my home there is a branch of Golda that is not kosher, but I was told that the ice cream is made from kosher ingredients (sometimes on the Sabbath). That is, there are ingredients like milk, flavoring powder, etc., which are themselves kosher, and they mix and knead them (sometimes on the Sabbath) to make ice cream out of it. Is it permissible to eat such ice cream?
Answer
In principle, food that was cooked or prepared on the Sabbath in violation of Jewish law is permitted to others after the Sabbath. Certainly if the cook acted unintentionally or under compulsion. But if you buy from them, that involves the prohibition of assisting a transgression. One could engage in some halakhic hair-splitting about this and perhaps be lenient in pressing circumstances. But ice cream can be obtained from a place that operates properly.
Discussion on Answer
That is part of the hair-splitting I was talking about. The more people buy, the more they need to produce. If the ice cream for Tuesday is made only on Monday, then maybe there is no problem, but then in fact we are not talking about buying food that was prepared on the Sabbath.
According to your view that there is no “do not place a stumbling block” with regard to a secular person, does the prohibition of assisting apply to him? After all, he is not subject to the category of transgression.
I answered, and for some reason it didn’t go up.
Indeed, that too is an issue one can debate, if we are in fact dealing with such a secular person (not all of them are like that). Beyond that, if I pay him, that already borders on coercing him directly.
Food cooked on the Sabbath in violation of Jewish law is also forbidden to others if the one who cooked it did so knowingly for them, no?
And that is the case here, isn’t it?
It is forbidden to others only for that same Sabbath.
Why is this considered assisting a transgression if they make the ice cream whenever it suits them? Maybe someone who buys on Saturday night encourages them to make ice cream on the Sabbath itself, but if someone buys on Tuesday, for example, is he still considered to be assisting?