Preparing an eruv tavshilin for others

Hi,

Although the purpose of the Eruv Tavshilin is for each household to individually begin its Shabbat preparations before the preceding Yom Tov, one may actually create an Eruv Tavshilin on behalf of others who have forgotten to create their own.

When one does this, one includes an additional phrase in the Eruv dedication, stating that the Eruv is "for us and for all Jews living in this town," as noted in the Artscroll Siddur pg. 654. One must also give the Eruv Tavshilin to someone else to acquire on behalf of those other people.

However, those who forget to create their own Eruv Tavshilin may only rely on this on rare occasion; because this method really defeats the purpose of Eruv Tavshilin, one may not regularly rely on others' Eruvei Tavshilin.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 527:7; Mishneh Berurah 527:22)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Eruv Tavshilin as a guest

Hi,

First, a personal request: I would like to take a moment to ask everyone receiving this email/RSS feed for mechilah (forgiveness) for anything hurtful or offensive I wrote, or should have written and did not, in the past year. I know that people's sensitivities are varied, but I am not always as careful as I could be. If there was anything at all, please do let me know. I can grow by learning from my mistakes.

I will be a guest in someone else's home during the upcoming Yom Tov and Shabbos, and they will prepare meals for everyone in the home. Should I make my own eruv tavshilin, or may I rely on their eruv tavshilin?

The rule is that if someone does not prepare an eruv tavshilin, then others may not cook on Yom Tov for his Shabbos meal. However, those who are expected to eat their meals at another person's table are automatically included in the host's eruv tavshilin.

There are those who are strict and create their own eruv tavshilin, particularly if they will be lighting Shabbos candles in their own space. However, because the obligation is uncertain, they do not recite a berachah.

(Biur Halachah Orach Chaim 527:19 mi, Piskei Teshuvos 527:17)

כתיבה וחתימה טובה,

Mordechai

Relying on the Rabbi's eruv tavshilin

Hi,

I know that the Rabbi makes an eruv tavshilin and includes those who have forgotten to prepare one themselves. May I choose to rely on the Rabbi's eruv tavshilin from the outset?

The sage Shemuel once disqualified someone from relying on his eruv tavshilin, apparently because that person had repeatedly failed to prepare his own eruv tavshilin. There is some debate as to whether this was Shemuel's unique stance, or whether this disqualification is inherent in the laws of eruv tavshilin.

In practice, all agree that each household should set up its own eruv tavshilin, and not rely on another person having them in mind. Further, many halachic authorities write that one who intentionally skips preparing his own eruv tavshilin is not able to rely on the eruv tavshilin of the Rabbi.

One whose eruv tavshilin is eaten or goes bad before Friday may rely on the Rabbi's eruv tavshilin.

(Beitzah 16b; Rashi ibid l'didach assur; Rosh Beitzah 2:2; Rashba 1:683; Kol Bo 59; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 527:7-8)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

A durable eruv tavshilin?

Hi,

This year, we will need an eruv tavshilin for Rosh haShanah, the start of Succos, and Shemini Atzeres. May I create one eruv tavshilin and keep it through all three occasions?

In the Talmud, Rava explains that an eruv tavshilin ensures that we will have good food for the Shabbos following Yom Tov. Another sage, Rav Ashi, contends that an eruv tavshilin reminds people not to use Yom Tov to prepare for a weekday. Rava requires a new eruv tavshilin for each occasion, but Rav Ashi would permit us to recycle an eruv tavshilin.

In practice, we avoid relying on Rav Ashi's view; even one who sets up an eruv tavshilin with intent to re-use it should still set up a new one [without a berachah] for the following occasion. However, one who sets up an eruv tavshilin with intent to re-use it, and then forgets to set up a new one, may rely on Rav Ashi's view.

It is considered appropriate to eat the eruv tavshilin on Shabbos, especially within Rava's view. Some prefer to use the bread at seudah shlishis.

(Beitzah 15b; Rosh Beitzah 2:1; Kol Bo 59; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 527:14; Mishneh Berurah 527:45; Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 2:13)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Eruv Tavshilin for a non-Israeli in Israel

Hi,

When Yom Tov occurs on Friday, one may prepare food on Yom Tov for Shabbat only if one prepared an eruv tavshilin [described elsewhere on this blog] before Yom Tov began.

If the first day of Yom Tov is Thursday and the second day is Friday, then Israelis don't have Yom Tov on Friday, and they may cook on Friday for Shabbat. Non-Israelis, though, require an eruv tavshilin.

In such a situation, a non-Israeli who is in Israel, who will eat food prepared by Israelis on their own initiative, does not need an eruv tavshilin. However, a non-Israeli who will cook for himself, or who will have food prepared specifically for him, needs an eruv tavshilin.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:37:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Is Eruv Tavshilin a requirement?

Hi,

When Yom Tov occurs on a Friday, one may not prepare on Yom Tov for the ensuing Shabbos unless he creates an eruv tavshilin, setting aside two foods for use on Shabbos and reciting a text which declares this to be the 'down payment' on his preparations for Shabbos. [Click here for more posts related to eruv tavshilin.]

One who will not need to prepare on Yom Tov for Shabbos is not obligated to create an eruv tavshilin.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:26)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Eruv Tavshilin

Hi,

I should have posted this a few weeks ago, but I only noticed this morning that I had written on the topic: For information on the Eruv Tavshilin, which we will need to use (outside of Israel) this Wednesday, click here.

Good moed,
Mordechai

Rosh HaShanah and Eruv Tavshilin

Hi,

For posts on laws related to Rosh haShanah, click here.

Also, this year we will need an Eruv Tavshilin on Rosh HaShanah, and those who are not in Israel will need one on Succot and for Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah. For information on Eruv Tavshilin, click here.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Please don't eat the Eruv (yet)

Hi,

We have been discussing the Eruv Tavshilin.

As we have said, preparing the Eruv Tavshilin before Yom Tov is that start of one's general Shabbat preparations, and permits those preparations to continue on Friday.

The Eruv Tavshilin must remain intact in order to permit the continuation of those preparations on Friday; it may not be eaten before Shabbat. However, one certainly may eat it on Shabbat itself.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 527:15)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

What an Eruv Tavshilin does not permit

Hi,

We have said that one may use an Eruv Tavshilin to permit cooking on Yom Tov for the following Shabbat.

However: This only permits cooking on Friday for Shabbat. When Yom Tov is Thursday and Friday, one may not cook on Thursday for Shabbat, despite having prepared an Eruv Tavshilin.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 527:13)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Making an Eruv Tavshilin for others, Part II

Hi,

We have said that one may prepare an Eruv Tavshilin on behalf of others, who did not prepare one for themselves.

Those others need not even know about it, when one does it. One simply creates the Eruv Tavshilin, gives it to a third party who formally acquires it on behalf of those other people, then takes it back and recites the formula we have discussed.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 527:9-12)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Creating an Eruv Tavshilin for others

Hi,

Although the purpose of the Eruv Tavshilin is for each household to individually begin its Shabbat preparations before the preceding Yom Tov, one may actually create an Eruv Tavshilin on behalf of others who have forgotten to create their own.

When one does this, one includes an additional phrase in the Eruv dedication, stating that the Eruv is "for us and for all Jews living in this town," as noted in the Artscroll Siddur pg. 654. One must also give the Eruv Tavshilin to someone else to acquire on behalf of those other people.

However, those who forget to create their own Eruv Tavshilin may only rely on this on rare occasion; because this method really defeats the purpose of Eruv Tavshilin, one may not regularly rely on others' Eruvei Tavshilin.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 527:7; Mishneh Berurah 527:22)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The food of the Eruv Tavshilin

Hi,

What sort of food does one use for the Eruv Tavshilin, beyond the idea (noted yesterday) that it should consist of a cooked food and a baked food?

1. Each food item should have a minimum of an olive-sized volume, to be considered significant. Some prefer an egg-sized amount for bread, if bread is used, since that's the amount that triggers a biblical obligation for birkat hamazon.

2. The foods should be the sort of food you would eat with bread at a real meal, rather than snack foods.

3. The foods should be respectable food items, to honor the mitzvah.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 527:3-4; Mishneh Berurah 527:8, 11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Bread and a cooked food

Hi,

As we have already noted, the purpose of creating an Eruv Tavshilin is to permit cooking on a Friday Yom Tov for Shabbat, by beginning the cooking process before Yom Tov.

We try to set aside one cooked food and one baked food, since one may wish to either cook or bake for Shabbat on Yom Tov, and they are fundamentally different processes in the eyes of Jewish law. However, in practice, one who only set aside a cooked food may rely on that item for both cooking and baking.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 527:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Cooking early during the day on a Friday Yom Tov for Shabbat

Hi,

This one is complicated, but it's a worthwhile point:

The core leniency in the Eruv Tavshilin is this:

The prohibition against cooking on a Friday Yom Tov for the ensuing Shabbat is rabbinic, since on a biblical level one could argue that guests might still arrive on Yom Tov and eat the food that day.

Therefore, the rabbis were able to create an "Eruv Tavshilin" enactment circumventing their own rabbinic prohibition, permitting cooking on Yom Tov for Shabbat.

Based on this logic, one should only exploit Eruv Tavshilin to cook early in the day on Yom Tov for Shabbat, at a time when guests might realistically arrive.

(Mishneh Berurah 527:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Cooking on Yom Tov for after Yom Tov

Hi,

We have begun to discuss Eruv Tavshilin.

We have said that one may not cook on Yom Tov for another day, even if that other day is Shabbat. However, one who cooks permissbly on Yom Tov for Yom Tov itself, and produces leftovers, may use those leftovers for other days, Shabbat or otherwise.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 527:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

What's an Eruv Tavshilin?

Hi,

This year, Shavuot is Friday and Shabbat. Any time there is a Yom Tov on Friday, we enter an "Eruv Tavshilin" situation.

To introduce the topic: One may not cook on Yom Tov in preparation for Shabbat. However, one may cook on Yom Tov for Shabbat, if one began those Shabbat preparations before Yom Tov started.

Preparing an "Eruv Tavshilin" - literally, "mixture of cooked foods" - means that one sets aside a baked food and a cooked food, before Yom Tov, for Shabbat. There is a specific declaration to be recited, designating these foods for this purpose - see the Artscroll Siddur, pg. 654.

Gd-willing, we'll discuss this more in the coming days.

Have a great day,
Mordechai