TIP YOUR CUSTOMER

Selected Halachos from the “One Minute Halacha” project

By HaRav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, Shlita,
Mara D’asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights

MAY I USE A WARMING DRAWER ON SHABBOS?

One of many conveniences of a modern kitchen is the increasingly popular warming drawer, which functions as a separate unit or as part of a cooking range. Some warming drawers actually operate as slow-cookers (raw food can be inserted and will be ready to eat many hours later). There are specific issues with slow cookers that are beyond the scope of our current discussion; warming drawers that are also slow cookers have their own set of rules.

Warming drawers that function only to keep cooked food warm are permitted for Shabbos use—they are not considered muktzah (forbidden to be handled on Shabbos)—provided that certain precautions are taken.

Electric Bulbs, Digital Displays & Thermostats: An electric bulb or digital display that is triggered by opening the warming drawer must be disabled before Shabbos; otherwise it cannot be used. Additionally, opening the drawer causes the internal temperature to drop, thereby engaging the thermostat, so a Shabbos user should wait until the heating element is running before opening the door.

Shehiyah (placing food on the fire before Shabbos to remain there on Shabbos): If there is no possibility of increasing the temperature on Shabbos, there are no restrictions of shehiyah in a warming drawer, just as with a special Shabbos hotplate. However, if the warmer has knobs designed to raise the temperature, the food that is placed inside before Shabbos must be at least k’ma’achol ben d’rusoi (edible to robbers’ minimal standards, i.e., half-cooked).* Others argue that the warming drawer differs from the norms of shehiyah, because not enough heat is generated by a warming drawer to actually cook food, and therefore these precautions are not necessary.

Nesinah Batchillah (placing food to be heated on Shabbos): Some poskim allow placing hot food or fully cooked dry food directly in a warming drawer (like a hotplate) on Shabbos, though some are machmir (stringent) to place the food only on top of a pan already being warmed—both in a warming drawer and a hotplate.

Chazarah (returning) items to the warming drawer: All the usual conditions for chazarah must be met, as well as taking care to avoid engaging the heating element, as discussed. There are halachic restrictions with placing food in the oven (chazarah l’tochah) versus on the fire on Shabbos, but these do not apply to a warming drawer, since the heat merely warms the food. There is also no concern of hatmanah, since there is space between the food and the walls of the warming drawer.

* An alternative is to cover the stovetop with a blech (aluminum sheet), so the fire is not inadvertently adjusted on Shabbos.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE IN MONEY MATTERS

The Gemara states, “Lo charvah Yerushalayim elah al shehemidu dineihem al din Torah” (Yerushalayim was destroyed only because they acted in accordance with the letter of the Torah and did not go beyond it). The concept of going lifnim meshuras hadin (beyond the minimum required of us by Torah law) is rooted in Torah. According to some early authorities it is to be counted among the 613 mitzvos.

Acting lifnim meshuras hadin in money matters entails paying out in a situation where the defendant is not obligated to according to the strict interpretation of the law. This is illustrated in the Gemara concerning Rabba Bar Bar Channa, one of the Amoraim (sages of the Talmud) who paid workers for carrying his load even though they broke his barrel in the process, for the sake of “l’maan telech b’derech tovim” (so that you may go in the way of the good and upright).

Lifnim meshuras hadin would also be returning a lost object even when the finder is not obligated by halacha to return it. In certain cases* halacha grants homeowners the freedom to use their property at their discretion, even if the usage might indirectly damage a neighbor’s property; but a person who acts lifnim meshuras hadin would refrain from doing so.

Some poskim say that a Beis Din (Jewish court of law) may compel a litigant to pay another, even if the judges ruled lifnim meshuras hadin—and not strictly according to Torah law. Others state that force—physical punishment—may not be used in such a case, but other methods of coercion may be employed. There is even more reason for the Beis Din to rule lifnim meshuras hadin if the plaintiff is poor and the defendant is an adam chashuv (an important person) or a community entity.

THE TORAH PERSPECTIVE ON CLONING

With scientific advances new issues pertaining to both the letter and the spirit of Jewish law arise, with little or no halachic precedent. The topic of human cloning is one such burning issue; as with any prospective innovation, it would have to be categorized either as a mitzvah (whether obligatory or voluntary), an aveira (and therefore forbidden), completely neutral, or as something to be discouraged.

The Me’iri (13^th century Talmudic commentator) mentions the possibility of chachmei hateva (scientists) creating an entity shelo mizivug hamin (not a result of a normal relationship). The existence of such a being, he states, would not be halachically prohibited; as a product of science, it would not be considered kishuf (witchcraft)—which would be expressly forbidden by the Torah. In modern scientific terms, cloning a human being would entail producing a person using the DNA of another person, resulting in something akin to an identical twin. Aside from the question of ethics, what would the halachic implications be?

At this point in time this is all theory. If human cloning were to become a reality, there are many halachic questions that would arise: To what extent is a human clone a person? May he be counted in a minyan (quorum for prayer)? Were a clone to be murdered, would the killer be deemed to have slain a human being?

There is discussion among poskim whether a creature created through Seifer Yetzira—such as a golem—is considered human. We can extrapolate that if a human/spiritual being of Seifer Yetzira can be considered human, a human clone would certainly be considered to be so. A clone could therefore be counted in a minyan and considered human in the case of murder.

Another question that arises concerning a clone is their lineage: Does a clone have a mother and father or other familial relationships? If yes, who would be considered the parents? Parentage is crucial in many instances in halacha—Kohanim, for example, have special laws in general, and specifically pertaining to marriage; one is not considered a Kohen unless his father is (or was) a Kohen. Additionally, there are laws regarding forbidden relationships (such as marrying siblings) to take into account for all Jews. One historical precedent in this situation might be the creation of Chava, Adam Harishon’s wife, who was made by Hashem from her husband’s rib. Adam was not considered Chava’s parent or twin, so the cell donor arguably would not be considered a halachic parent or twin to their clone.

All these halachic issues would be even more complicated if a human were to be cloned from a combination of many people’s cells or from a dead body. Poskim would have to address all these issues were human cloning to become a reality.

A VIRTUOUS VENDOR WORTHY OF HIS WEIGHTS

In addition to the mitzvah in Parshas K’doshim, Moznei tzedek v’aifas tzedek yihiyeh lachem (You shall have true scales, true weights, a true eiphah) as well as the lav (Torah prohibition) of Lo sa’asu avel bamishpat, bamidah, bamishkal u’vamesurah (Do not commit a perversion of justice with measures, weights, or liquid measures [by using false weights]), a merchant or storeowner has the additional obligation to “add extra” to the scale. This practice is derived from the positive mitzvah in Parshas Ki Seitzei: Even shlaimah v’tzedek yihiyeh lachem, which Chazal interpret to mean, Tzaddeik mishelechah v’ten lo (be extra-scrupulous from your own, and give him [the customer] more). The merchant is obligated to give the customer extra by adding a small amount of the product or deducting a few cents from the price.

Today we use electronic scales for these types of transactions, which round off the numbers somewhat. Halachically this is not considered having false scales and cheating the customer, because hiskimu alav b’nei hamedinah (all citizens agreed to it); these scales are universally accepted—by customers, too.

But what about being scrupulous regarding the added responsibility of tzaddeik mishelechah? Some contemporary poskim are melamed z’chus (defend the practice) for those who are lax in adding extra in a transaction: perhaps it doesn’t apply in the current day and age, when people are mochel (forgive) each other the small change. Alternatively, this obligation applied before digital scales were introduced—when scales could not be relied upon to be totally accurate—and the seller had to add some of the product to avoid inadvertently cheating their customer.

Other poskim maintain, however, that this practice instituted by Chazal stands today, as always. A storekeeper who is a yerei Shamayim (G-d-fearing person), they say, should be sure to “tip” the scale in the customer’s favor.

“One Minute Halacha” is a succinct daily presentation on practical Halacha in video, audio, and text formats, and can be accessed by phone at 718.989.9599, by email, halacha2go@gmail.com, or by WhatsApp 347.456.5665.