Losh: Difference between revisions
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One of the melachot in the process of preparing bread is Losh. The primary example of this melacha is kneading flour and water together to make dough. | |||
==Definition== | ==Definition== | ||
#The three criteria necessary in order to violate the biblical prohibition of Losh are: | #The three criteria necessary in order to violate the biblical prohibition of Losh are: | ||
##there is a mixture of two ingredients, | ##there is a mixture of two ingredients, | ||
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==Making a Thick Mixture== | ==Making a Thick Mixture== | ||
#Generally, it is forbidden to make a thick mixture on Shabbat and even pouring in a liquid without mixing is forbidden.<ref>Hilchot Shabbat Bshabbat 13:23 p. 713 based on Sefer Hatrumah cited in Shulchan Aruch 321:16</ref> | |||
#If one needs to prepare a thick mixture on [[Shabbat]] and one can’t make it completely before [[Shabbat]], then one should before [[Shabbat]] mix some liquid into the solid so that all of the solid is saturated. On [[Shabbat]] one may mix in more liquid as long as this doesn’t cause the mixture to thicken and one also does the two variations above (switch order and way it’s mixed).<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 8:10 </ref> | #If one needs to prepare a thick mixture on [[Shabbat]] and one can’t make it completely before [[Shabbat]], then one should before [[Shabbat]] mix some liquid into the solid so that all of the solid is saturated. On [[Shabbat]] one may mix in more liquid as long as this doesn’t cause the mixture to thicken and one also does the two variations above (switch order and way it’s mixed).<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 8:10 </ref> | ||
# | #In cases of need for this food specifically, such as baby food, and it can't be made before Shabbat, it is permitted to make it with two variations, one in the pouring and one in the mixing.<ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 8:11 based on Mishna Brurah 321:68 regarding charoset. For Sephardim see Kaf Hachaim 321:90-91, 113 and Yalkut Yosef v. 3 Tikkunei Maachal n. 31 fnt. 41.</ref> | ||
# Examples of variations in the mixing include: 1) mixing with a criss-cross and removing the spoon each time, 2) just shaking the bowl to stir the contents, or 3) mixing with one's finger and not a spoon.<ref>Hilchot Shabbat Bshabbat v. 1 13:23 p. 713</ref> | |||
# It is permitted to make a little bit of a thick mixture on Shabbat for immediate consumption. Some say that this only applies to dry ingredients that wouldn't form a dough (''lav bar gibul'') such as matzah meal or roasted grain flour. The amount of what is considered a small amount must be less than what is usually done so that it is clear that this case is different than usual. It can't be more than a meals worth. Also, it must be made for immediate consumption.<ref>Shulchan Aruch O.C. 321:14, Hilchot Shabbat Bshabbat v. 1 13:24 p. 714</ref> | |||
==Making a | ==Making a Watery Mixture== | ||
#It is permitted to mix solid particles with a lot of liquid if it will result in a very watery mixture such as making baby formula from powder and water. Nonetheless, one must be careful to pour in the liquid at once and not gradually. <ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata (in new edition 8:29), [[Shabbos]] Kitchen (Rabbi Simcha Cohen, chap 11, pg 147), Menuchat Ahava (vol 2, 9:13, pg 302) </ref> | #It is permitted to mix solid particles with a lot of liquid if it will result in a very watery mixture such as making baby formula from powder and water. Nonetheless, one must be careful to pour in the liquid at once and not gradually. <ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata (in new edition 8:29), [[Shabbos]] Kitchen (Rabbi Simcha Cohen, chap 11, pg 147), Menuchat Ahava (vol 2, 9:13, pg 302) </ref> | ||
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==Cooked Foods== | ==Cooked Foods== | ||
#Many hold that there is no prohibition of losh | #Many poskim hold that there is no prohibition of losh to add liquids into cooked foods. Therefore, one may mix margarine into mashed potatoes.<ref>Shulchan Aruch O.C. 321:19 rules based on the Rambam (responsa 109) that one may stir a dish of grits and meat and mash them so that they dissolve and form into one mass. Bach 321 questions the Rambam and says that one may only stir gently. Magen Avraham 321:28 agrees. However, the Taz 321:14 writes that since the meat and grits have been mixed with water and cooked before shabbos, there is no problem of losh in mixing it again. Chazon Ish 58:9 agrees if there is some liquid there from before Shabbos, one may then put in more on Shabbos. Biur Halacha 321:14 s.v. shema adds another reason to be lenient with stirring food that is already cooked; since it is already fit for eating, the kneading becomes part of the process preparing it for eating, ''derech achila'', and would be permitted if you stirred a little bit at a time. Mishna Brura 321:77 advises following the strict views of the Bach and Magen Avraham. Chazon Ish 58:9 allows stirring even vigorously. 39 Melachos (pg. 540) writes that you can mix margarine, butter, or oil into a baked carrots or mashed potatoes. Shemirat Shabbos Kehilchata 8:24 agrees.</ref> | ||
#Some say that it is permitted to mix a little amount of liquid with instant coffee or sugar and mix it gently. <ref>Menuchat Ahava (vol 2, 9:20, pg 308) based on the fact that the powders are precooked. </ref> | #It is permitted to mix cinnamon or raisins into a cooked cereal such as oatmeal.<ref>Shemirat Shabbos Kehilchata 8:25 cites Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach who based on Biur Halacha 314:21 s.v. shema's first answer thinks that there's no biblical losh on cooked foods permits even adding cinnamon or raisins into cooked oatmeal cereal. However, in the footnote he adds that raisins in cooked cereal doesn't become a dough unit and isn't losh at all.</ref> | ||
#Some say that it is permitted to mix a little amount of liquid with instant coffee or sugar and mix it gently.<ref>Menuchat Ahava (vol 2, 9:20, pg 308) based on the fact that the powders are precooked. </ref> | |||
==Practical Examples== | ==Practical Examples== | ||
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===Guacamole=== | ===Guacamole=== | ||
#If one wants to have guacamole on Shabbat and it wouldn't be fresh if made in advance one should mash the avocado with the handle of the spoon or the like. To add in onions, tomatoes, lemon juice, or spices and avoid the issue of losh, one would have to use a double shinui. That is, one should put in the lemon juice or spices first and then the avocado and mix it with the back of a spoon or with a criss-cross action.<ref>Or Letzion 2:33:5, [http://www.eretzhemdah.org/newsletterArticle.asp?lang=en&pageid=48&cat=7&newsletter=1058&article=4004 Rav Daniel Mann]. Orchot Shabbat 6:15:1 clarifies that even when discussing a belili avah we hold that if it would spoil if it was made before Shabbat it is permitted to be made on Shabbat. Nonetheless, one must use a shinuy in the mixing and it is preferable to make a shinuy in the order of how the ingredients are put in.</ref> | |||
#If one wants to | |||
===Yogurt=== | ===Yogurt=== | ||
