Tag: Berachos

  • Waffles, Crepes, Triscuits and Biscuits Hilchos Berachos & Rav Gissinger tz”l

    November, 2020

    Parts 1 & 2

    Part 1

    Last week I shared several stories about food and kashrus; specifically relating to Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt stores.

    We ended with my  assisting of a former assistant of mine –now a rav on his own of a community within the New York City area. His name is Rabbi Daniel Rosenfelt, and his shul is the Fleetwood Shul in Mount Vernon, NY, a beautiful tree-lined community just outside New Rochelle.  

    We explained how his area of the city has few kosher options –outside of the supermarket –so when the Indian owner of the local frozen yogurt shop approached him to see what it would take to make his store kosher he was ecstatic.

    “How complicated would this be for me as the shtut rav to offer my certification to this store?” he asked.

    Last week we explained how we discovered and got around an issue of tummas meis (of all things!) so to allow entrance inside this frozen yogurt store.

    I concluded the column by stating: “As I entered the yogurt shop I saw something; something else that would throw a monkey-wrench into this rav’s ability to certify this store”.

    Just what did I see?

    Well, let me first start at the beginning.

    When a rav hamchshir –in this case the local rav –first walks into a store he should view it as a riddle to be solved.

    I remarked to Rabbi Rosenfelt, “Always imagine that there is a major issue, and you have to find it”.

    The first question I asked the kind proprietor was, “Where do you store the food and your bulk ingredients”. Knowing the storing location is vital, for an owner shows the customer only that which he wishes them to see.

    A storage area leaves little to the imagination. 

    Before going to a storeroom area, always bring a menu from said store. Everything on the menu should have a match, if it can’t be found this means it is stored somewhere else; or worse bought in small packages and put away from the rabbi’s view.

    Once that is complete, one must discover when and from whome deliveries are. This is important information for a number of reasons. First, and just one example, knowing who a supplier is can tell the rav hamachshir if an ingredient under a generic label must always be checked. Certain restaurant supply chains change their manufactures frequently, so, say, a parve whip cream one month could be dairy (not cholov yisroel) the next, or not kosher at all –and all with very similar packaging.

    The above is strongly suggested when it comes to factories a great tool; a mashgiach should collect all the ingredient panels from their packaging labels before checking the ingredients. This way he can then make sure that he has accounted for every single item listed on their own packaging as being in their product.

    When I once made a bakery in a supermarket kosher and pas yisroel, I didn’t bother to check if they changed their computerized ingredient panel to reflect the new suppliers. 

    The first week they went kosher I had knocks on my door throughout Shabbos. It turned out that their bilkilach had on their ingredient panel ‘milk’ – as that was indeed in their old product! Of course, now they were parve –as was their oven –but I was impressed with carefulness of these consumers!

    Once a rav hamachshir feels that all all ingredients have been accounted for, he can move on to various other issues.

    It was at this latter stage when I saw the concern with which we opened this column.

     Coming up from the basement to the main area I saw a large flattop cooking area.

    It was here –we were informed – that they made crepes –a huge seller.

    “Oh boy” I thought to myself, “this is not good”.

    To understand my worry, a short halachik background is crucial.

    The Shulchan Aruch rules (beginning of siman 112 in yoreh deah) that while some only eat pas yisroel, others are not as careful, especially in a place where no pas yisroel is available. The Rema adds that this lenient view is even activated in a place with freely available pas yisroel product – or even if one already has a pas yisroel product but would prefer the pas palter (see Badei Hashulchan ibid biurim for a discussion refarding the last statement).

    The above lenient minhag –we should point out –is only true by bakers or stores, whereas a privately baked bread or bread-item by a non-Jew reminds forbidden for all (how to define these two catergories is beyond the scope of this week’s column).

    Based on the above, many vaadim certify non pas yisroel products for the who eat them. (The issue of certifying something that the rav hamachshir himself would not eat for others–and if this is lfnei iver –will be bl’n returned to in a future column –see this writer’s article in Yarchon Ha’emek, Toronto, 5768).

    Both the Shulchan Aruch and the Rema recognize an important distinction that now must be made.

    Whereas some may allow the eating –and the giving hashgacha –of pas palter, no one would sanction eating or giving a hechasher to bishul akum.

    It is therefore essential to establish which foods are considered baked –and therefore pas, and consequently have the potential to receive a hashgacha -, and which are considered halachikly as cooked –and therefore forbidden to be given a hashagacha (unless a frum person turned on the cooking devices). 

    In the examples given of which foods are considered baked and which food are cooked, the Rema even mentions ‘kichilach’!

    The reader can pause reading for a moment, put down the magazine and try to create in their own minds how they would define these two terms.

    Now, with this introduction to the issue, we can return to crepes.

    Waffles, for example, are according to many poskim a baked item. 

    Therefore, a store that wishes to be certified can make and serve waffles even if cooked –or should I say baked –by a goy. While it will be labeled as pas palter, it still will be kosher (some poskim may disagree, and the reader is remnded that just because a store has a reliable hashgacha does not mean that his own rav will necessarily agree with all decisions).

    But what about crepes? Would one consider those baked or cooked?

    This is not a small question. This owner spent thousands on this flat top, and a not insignificant part of his business comes from the sale of crepes. 

    There was also another issue to figure out. Let us assume for a moment that a crepe is not considered a pas item but rather a cooked item. There are still options to allow the proprietor to serve it. A frum jew could come in every morning to turn it on –which is, of course, not so simple.

    Next week I will continue this story with how these issues were resolved.

    For now, let me end with the following.

    I told this rav that the issue of the crepes is a serious one, and he should speak to a major posek. He should do so both for hadracha, and so he has a name he can quote should anyone question him.

    I suggested a posek.

    That week he called to inform me that while he spoke to the suggested posek –and had a wonderful first conversation –the posek said he wanted to think about the crepe issue a little more and that he would get back to him in a day or so.

    “It has been three days, and now he is not returning my calls” he explained to me.

    This seemed odd.

    This posek understood that time was of the essence in this case. 

    We are always told to judge everyone l’zechus, sometimes we forget that our leaders are included in the above rule.

    Ten minutes after that phone call, my wife texted me. 

    You see the posek recommended was none other than Rav Gissinger from Lakewood, who had advised many kashrus agencies –especially the Kof-K.

    The text said he was just niftar.

    Instead of wondering why he didn’t call back, we were both now amazed that in his last days of his illness he took a call from a small –town rav. More, he hoped to have the time to think more about the issue.

    Next week I will share what Rav Gissinger was able to share on that first phone call and how this issue here –and in other similar establishments –was resolved.

    To Be Continued iy’H…

    Part 2

    This week, like last week, I will begin with a perhaps apocryphal story. 

    Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (d. 1940) was known as a unique iloy among gedolim. While we have all heard stories of genius about our leaders, Rav Chaim Ozer was in a league of his own. I recall as a child hearing that he was able to write two teshuvos in halacha, at the same time and with two different hands, while on the phone and also answering a shailah being asked in person. Of course this is an exaggeration (as he also did not have a phone on his office!) but they do not say such stories about anyone but him.

    During one of the first Agudah conventions Rav Chaim Ozer was staying in a hotel under a pseudonym. He was understandably exhausted after a long journey and needed the time and space to consider the many decisions that were facing the klal.

    However, a determined young yeshiva bachur did not wish to allow an opportunity to meet this gadol b’torah slip by him, and was able to discover where he was staying.

    The young man knocked on his door. Rav Chaim Ozer knew that he could not simply send this young man away, and asked him to be brief. 

    “I just wish to discuss a sugya” said the young man. 

    “On what topic?” asked the gadol hador.

    “Hilchos berachos” the bachur replied.

    Rav Chaim Ozer responded, “I just came from a very long journey. Please, choose another sugya other than hilchos berachos”.

    I always share this story with the balla battim in my shul, as it best illustrates how complex these particuler laws are, even to a great iloy like Rav Chaim Ozer.

    All the more complicated when writing a brief article that touches on many of these issues –the reader is now warned!

    Several years ago I had to take a trip for the vaad to Bangor, Main. There was a company that we certify who had purchased several blueberry farms as well as a manufacturing facility. They wanted to pick, wash, and freeze the blueberries and then sell them to companies with our certification. Although this was pretty much an innocuous enterprise in terms of kashrus, we needed to make an initial inspection at this facility to make sure that what they had described was in fact what they were doing. In addition, there is a minor bug issue with blueberries and I wanted to make sure that before our imprimatur went on any packaging that I was confident that their ‘quality control’ had a system to seek, find and eliminate any infestation. Lastly, we had to verify that the equipment they were using, if bought already used, was cleared from any cross-contamination.

    While the above reasons were enough to justify this trip, I did have another, personal, reason for wanting to go. For a number of generations there has been some debate as to what the proper beracha is for blueberries, as the issue of what is considered a pri etz and what is a pri adamai brings one into a thicket of opinions.

    There are many indicators that could help determine the appropriate beracha of a fruit or vegetable (for a complete list of criteria, as well as the many differing views regarding them, see V’sen Beracha by Rabbi Bodner pages 422-423). The most critical information needed for this determination in the eyes of halacha is to know if its tree or bushel –roots and trunk (or shoot) – remain alive from year to year. The strawberry plant and the banana tree whose roots remain alive during the winter whereas its visible portion dies off during the winter would then require a haodama (cf. the opinion of Rosh and Rabeinu Tam who believe that the fact that the underground roots stay alive would suffice and would therefore actually require that a haeitz be made. Due to their opinion if one accidently made a haeitz on a banana he fulfills his obligation). 

    Now, the custom (see Igros Moshe, orach chaim 1:85; Mishna Berrura siman 203:3) is to make a hadamo on all berries, regardless if its roots and stems last from year to year, so long as they grow under three tefachim in height (between 9-11 inches) so the next step was to determine the height of the bushels on which blueberries grow.

    To my surprise, in every one of the blueberry fields I inspected the bushels were very low-lying; meaning their beracha would be a hadoma. Interestingly most modern sefarim (see the wonderful The Laws Of Berachos, Rabbi Forst, page 282) assume that the blueberries we eat today grow on tall tree-like bushes. While it may be true that most commercially sold blueberries is of the “high-bush” variety (haeitz), as just demonstrated this is not always the case and one should check with their rav as to the final halacha.

    Over the last few weeks I shared a story of one frozen yogurt shop that I rav friend of mine wished to certify. We shared all the complexities involved –from, of all things, tumas meis, to strange and questionable toppings.

    Last week we ended with a shaila that he posed to Rav Gissinger the week of his pertira about crêpes –and if these items are considered pas akum (allowing the rav to certify them without turning on the stovetop) or bishul akum (which would demand that they turn on the ovens each and every day!).

    Let us continue from there.

    I often share in shiurim that there is no such thing as a pure chumra or a kula, rather, and only, consistency.

    Crêpes is a great example of this.

    In one of the most confounding simanin in Shulchan Aruch (orach chaim, 168) we are explained what makes an item hamotzi, mezonos and all points in-between. The popular questions of croutons, pizza, and washing for a shul kiddush are all to be found here. 

    So imagine you go to your rav and explain that you wish to eat several delicious crêpes for breakfast. The halacha is that for most mezonos items, should one be koveah seudah (have it as their meal) they would need to wash and bentch (ibid sif 6). When it comes to crêpes one would like to be told by their rav that they need not worry because crêpes are to be considered a cooked item. 

    Most ‘cooked’ items that are mezonos do not require hamotzi and benthcing even when eaten as a meal (e.g. pasta). Even though it may be cooked through heat, depending on the thinness of the batter, or how it was or was not kneaded could impact this halacha greatly.

    Ah, but here is the catch. Should a rav pasken that bentching is never required for crêpes may cause the petitioner to think that  they received a kula; but it is in reality also a chumra –because now a restaurant that wishes to serve crêpes needs to worry about bishul akum –as it is no longer considered a pas palter product! (See Magen Avraham ad loc, 40 and 41; and from a conversation with Rav Binyamin Cohen of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin and the author of the famed Chelkas Binyamin on these halachos who shared with this writer that indeed the poskim tie these two halachos –berachos and bishul/pas akum – together).

    Indeed, many hold that thing blintzes, and likely crêpes are indeed mezonos always, even if one is koveah seuda on them (see Magen Avraham ibid, Be’er Heitiv 34, and Mishneh Berrura 38, et al). 

    The above would then mean that this frozen yogurt shop would need to have their oven turned on daily by a shomer Shabbos!

    In fact, when Triscuits became certified by the OU the question was posed if such items would require washing and bentching if enough were eaten. Furthermore, would the OU need to turn on the oven each day? Now we understand how both of these questions are related to each other!

    Rav Belsky and, lhb’ch’lch Rav Shachter disagreed on the matter, however, and for differing reasons, agreed that whether due to it not being kneaded or to it being considered a mere ‘biscuit’ one would never bentch on it (the OU website also directs the reader to see Shu’t Shoel U’meishiv, telisa 230 to understand why they do not demand a mashgiach turn on their ovens).

    There is a lot more we can talk about – like if a vaad hakashrus should allow ‘glow lights’ in cases such as these when it may be a question of bishul akum.

    But for now, I hope, the reader has a headache, and better understands the complexities of the world of kashrus and halacha.

  • Pringles, Berachos and Sefardim

    Pringles, Berachos and Sefardim

    May 2016

    Let me begin this ‘Pringle Discussion’ with a personal and demonstrative recent story.

    Walking into one of the high school classes that  I teach, a young student raised a bag of snacks she was eating and asked if I could tell her what beracha to make on them.

    The bag was for a type of tortilla chip, where they start with ground corn, after which it is then shaped, baked and spiced.

    It was a heimeshe brand, the student explained, and the beracha was noted on the back of the bag.

    “Be careful Rabbi Taub!” the student warned, “I have the answer in front of me!”

    It is a popular idiom among yeshiva bochurim, “On Pringle potato chips one does not make the beracha of ha’adama rather one makes a shehakol”. This, they will likely volunteer, is because these particular chips are not made from slices of whole potatoes, rather they are shaped and baked from ground, dehydrated potatoes.

    Of course, if someone is repeating this because they heard it personally from their rav then indeed it would automatically be correct. Otherwise, however, such a ‘fact’ is highly questionable and indeed hotly debated.

    In case the reader questions this last sentence, let me offer a challenge: does anyone make a shehakol on kugel? Why not, it too is made from ground, crushed potatoes, especially today when many use a food processor? And what about latekes? They too are processed!

    In fact, Rav Wosner (Shu’t Shevet Halevi 10:46) rules that the beracha on these last two common dishes is in fact a shehakol!

    Rav Elyashiv however rules like most of us that on these two items the beracha is a ha’adama.

    Some years ago Rabbi Yisroel Pinchas Bodner of Lakewood, and the author of the highly popular ‘Halachos of Berachos’ for Feldheim visited with Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach and showed him Pringles and he in fact ruled that the beracha is as well a ha’adama! (ad loc.p. 407 note 39.2)

    So, back to my story.

    I asked another student to run upstairs and retrieve a Mishna Berrura chelek beis. Upon their return, I opened to siman 202, 203, 204 and 208.

    (Yes, this question involves four different simanim!)

    The basic issue is this: when one crushes, say, apples, at what point does the beracha shift from a haeitz to a shehakol?

    To simplify the discussion, and as I explained to these teenagers: the Shulchan Aruch rules that when one crushes dates to a pulp they still retain their original beracha rishoneh and achroneh.

    However the Rema disagrees, strongly urging one to make a shehahol on such an item.

    The achronim debate the precise rules of this intricate debate. The upshot, as recorded in the Mishneh Berura, goes something like this (everyone is strongly encouraged to speak to their personal rav): When an item is crushed beyond all recognition –like manufactured apple sauce –then the beracha would be shehakol; however should a fruit or vegetable be crushed but not to a pulp, and their form is easily recognizable, then the beracha, even according to the Rema, would be retained (either a haeitz or ha’adamah depending on the item under discussion).

    What comes out from all of this is that if one has a pureed jam made from raspberries, and one only knows that they are raspberries only because of the label, then the beracha would be shehakol. However, if it is not crushed beyond recognition, and one can decipher that these are indeed raspberries even without the label, then the beracha would be haeitz.

    As I recounted all of this in front of the class –where everyone but me knew what beracha was written on the back of the bag –I gave my psak.

    As opposed to Pringles that are brought back into the shape of a potato, and dehydrated potatoes that become reformed when water is added (where at least according to Rav Shlomo Zalman and the simple reading of the Rema the beracha is retained as ha’adama), these crushed corn that are shaped into an unnatural triangle should be a shehakol.

    They all clapped, as the student turned around the bag for the big reveal…where it stated in lashon kodesh, “birchaso Shehakol” its blessing is shehakol).

    The students were surprised at my look of disappointment.

    I explained that the reason for my disappointed continence was due to the fact that the student who asked me this question was a sefardi! For this particular student the beracha should be ha’adama!

    This is because everything we have been discussing until now –how crushed the item is, if it re-forms, or is noticeable –is only according to ashkanzaim and the Rema! However, for sefardim, who follow the Shulchan Aruch they would have to follow his basic rule mentioned above (202:7) that all crushed fruits retaining their beracha! (See Rav Ovadia Yosef, Yalkut Yosef 202:22).

    The class could not understand how I could say such a thing, after all the bag said shehakol! How could I argue with a snack bag from Lakewood?!

    So, to teach the class that not everything they see printed is necessarily a universal opinion (even things written in this column!) I took out my phone, put it on speaker and called the Lakewood company.

    The secretary who answered the phone seemed a bit taken by my question and explained that their posek is in charge of such matters. I then asked if I can be given his number.

    After a short time on hold, she was kind enough to come back on the line with his phone number.

    Now taking the phone off of speaker –after all, this should be a phone call between two rabbanim – I explained to him my concerns.

    The rav explained that based on the Rema his psak was correct. But I explained that many sefardim are also eating this snack. He understandably explained that they can’t list every permutation and psak on their bags.

    Perhaps this is true, but the reader can learn from this a valuable lesson: just because it is printed does not mean all would agree.

    I remember hearing a story as a child regarding how Rav Chaim Ozer –legendary for his unique genius-was once travelling, and in the course of this long journey was stopped by a yeshiva bachur. The young man wishedto speak in learning with the gadol hador. “What would you like to speak about?” asked Rav Chaim Ozer. “Well I have been studying hilchos berachos…” began the student. Before he could even finish the sentence Rav Chaim Ozer stopped him. “I have been traveling for days, and I do not wish to make an error, please choose a topic other than the intricate laws of berachos”

    If even Rav Chaim Ozer in his brilliance appreciated the complexity of these laws, all the more so us.

    In fact, the gemara (Berachos 35a) cautions us to avoid the high crime of a mistaken or unmade berachos and instructs each of is to learn these halachos from a proficient rebbe. The Maharsha (ad loc.) asserts that the chazal here are referring specifically to the complex laws of birchas hanehenin –the berachos we make on food before we consume them.

    Let us take the time to review these important halachos, and never assume anything.

  • Is Snow Muktzah on Shabbos & other Sundry Snow Halacha

    Is Snow Muktzah on Shabbos & other Sundry Snow Halacha

    Let’s First Share Some Quick and Basic Rules

    1 – While it’s best to salt snow and ice before Shabbos, one may salt snow and ice on Shabbos if needed.

    2 – Shoveling soft snow is permitted for areas needed on which to walk. 

    3 – Shoveling hard and packed snow should be avoided if possible. 

    4 – Either way, one should seek to avoid any strenuous shoveling.

    5 – It is better to be safe and at home than in shul and putting oneself in any danger. 

    6 – Please check on neighbors and friends to see if they are in need of any aid and Stay Safe!

    …. And now, for the interesting background!

    (The Following Was Written In 2015 for Ami Magazine by Rabbi Moshe Taub)

    “Chateichem kashanim kasheleg yalmbinu…your sins shall become white as snow” (Yeshayahu 1:18; see Tehhilim 51:9)

    Everyone complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it!

    Attributed to Mark Twain

    Just as Nachshon ben Aminadav (see sota 37) had to ‘take the plunge’ into the yam suf with the faith that Hashem would protect and save him from its elements, so too many of us must brave the storm to make it to shul -while others should rather stay home.

    During such weather events, anyone who is ill, has a medical condition, or is otherwise not confident in their walking mustn’t try to be a hero.

    Let us discuss snow in Talmudic lore, leading us to its many fascinating shailos.

    The gemara (yoma 35b) famously tells us of the time two great leaders, Shamayah and Avtalyon, were learning until the morning. When the beis hamedresh was not becoming lit at daybreak, they looked up at the skylight expecting to see a cloudy morning. Instead they saw the image of a man! Hillel, after moving to Yerushalaim at the age of forty, famously had climbed to the roof so as to hear their Torah, for he could not afford to enter that day.

    As Hillel lay there, a sudden storm arrived during the night and buried him!

    Already in mishanyos (e.g. Mikveos ch. 7) we find discussion of a mikveh made out of snow.

    Rav Zevin zt’l, in his celebrated sefer ‘L’Ohr Halacha’, dedicates a whole chapter on snow in halacha. In fact, there is an entire sefer dedicated to snow in halacha, titled ‘Hanosein Sheleg’ (by Rabbi Yishai Mazlomyan)!

    This sefer includes over one hundred questions posed to Rav Chaim Kinievsky regarding snow.

    I recall as child wondering if a beracha would need to be recited on snow.

    It may surprise some readers to learn that there is no beracha on snow! (Please do not try it for yourself!)

    Rav Chaim Kinievsky was further asked why it needs no beracha of special praise, whereas other natural phenomena has unique berachos. He responded, “Because it is just hardened water!” (Hanosen Sheleg p. 194).

    Nevertheless, there still may be another, special, beracha. The Shulchan Aruch (siman 227:1) rules:

    “…on lightning and on thunder and upon winds that blast mightily one makes an oseh maaseh Bereishis (beracha). If one wishes they may make shekecho u’gevuroso maleh olam”

    { -see Mishnah Berrura regarding our present minhag of making only ‘maaseh bereshis’ upon lightning and only ‘shekocho’ upon thunder}

    So while snow would not, in-and-of itself, require a special beracha to be recited, major storms may. Each rav, during each storm, would need to decide if that bar had been reached.

    Perhaps one could argue that this is not considered a food and as such would require no beracha. In fact the gemara(Nidda 17) says just that –snow is neither a food or a drink!However, even that gemara points out that intent matters.

    Some point to a midrash (Eichah Rabba4:10) where it discusses those who drank snow, giving it a food status, neccesitating a shehakol(for other views, see Kol Tzvi, vol.11).

    As for a borei nefashos according to this view, likely one would not make any beracha achronah as one does not eat/drink a shiur within a single halachik eating session (I hope!).

    See also shu’t Btzel Hachachma 3:114.

    More questions abound regarding snow, some often coming from children.

    Let us briefly discuss the most common shailos:

    May one make snowballs on Shabbos?

    Shemiras Shabbos K’Hilchosah says it is forbidden, being similar to boneh. Others are lenient. Rav Chaim Kinievsky writes that it is worthy to refrain.

    My own youngest children –being loyal Buffalonians – were so excited when they saw the snow one Shabbos morning that they asked to play with it in the backyard –making ‘snow-angels’ and the like.

    Is this allowed? The truth is that this question in not merely ‘child’s play’, as it brings up the allowance of even walking in the snow on Shabbos!

    It would seem the answer depends on which of two views one holds by. Allow me to briefly explain.

    The gemara (Shabbos 51) teaches us that one may not ‘crush snow’ on Shabbos for its water that will come out (the rishonim debate the reason for this law, which is beyond the scope of our purposes here).

    This prohibition is called ‘risuk’.

    However one is allowed to cause ice to melt by, say, placing it into a cup of soda.

    Furthermore, the Shulchan Aruch (320:13) rules that one may walk upon snow on Shabbos even though this will certainly crush/melt it.

    The Mishneh Berrura offers two reasons for this last leniency:

    • Either this is allowed because there is no intent to melt the snow, or
    • (quoting others) it is because since the prohibition of risuk is merely m’derebanan, and since not allowing us to walk outside would be impossible for many to observe, chazal purposefully limited this injunction to exclude walking on snow.

    So, as for kids playing upon the snow in the backyard, if we accept that chazal were only not gozer regarding walking on snow – then playing may be forbidden. However, if the reason that walking is allowed is because the intent is not to melt the snow then for kids playing too it would be allowed.

    Often with storms there is an assumption –based on an estimate made by the rav –that the eruv is down.

    Is, then, the snow gathered on clothing and shoes on the way to shul a problem if there is no erev? So long as one does not draw the snow purposefully on oneself this would not be an issue.

    Is Snow Muktzah? May One Shovel It?

    The status of snow on Shabbos begins, in a sense, with the great Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank.

    Rav Frank was one of the leading poskim of the last generation. Arriving in eretz yisroel in 1892, he had already studied under the greatest minds in Europe, including being zocheh to once attending a shmuez given by non other than the venerated Rav Yisroel Salanter.

    Eventually he became the rav of Yerushalim. Rav Frank’s biography as a posek and a rav-to-be-emulated deserves its own entry, but for the purposes of ‘snow’ we will look at but one incident with which he had to wrestle.

    It was February 2, 1957.

    The United Nations, on this date, called for all Israeli troops to leave Egypt after ‘Operation Kadesh’ (yes, named after the same Sinai peninsula, ‘Kadesh’, found throughout the Torah)

    It was also Rosh Chodesh Adar.

    It was also Shabbos.

    It also snowed heavily in Jerusalem.

    This was not your average Jerusalem sprinkling of snow; this was a real storm, a blizzard perhaps.

    In fact, I found The Associated Press’ archive footage and pictures of the day after this storm: cars stuck in snow banks, kids making large snowmen, and makeshift tools being used to clear the roads.

    This was an event.

    The morning of Shabbos rosh chodesh Rav Frank was besieged with one question more than all others: “Is snow muktzeh?”

    In particular, as he writes in his Shu’t Har Tzvi page 288, after this “sheleg gadol“, many wanted to know ascertain if they may shovel on Shabbos, specifically their roofs that were not built to handle the weight of such snow.

    At first this may seem like a simple question –one that must have been discussed numerous of times throughout the generations, and to which there is an accepted practice.

    But this would be incorrect, as there’s a paucity of early sources discussing the issue.

    Rav Frank begins his response by proving from numerous sources that snow –even freshly fallen on Shabbos –is not deemed muktzeh or nolad (a previously ‘non-existing’ item).

    For one, he points to the gemara, quoted above, discussing the prohibition of risuk – crushing ice and snow on Shabbos.

    After disallowing that act, the gemara goes on to say that one may however place snow or ice into a beverage – even though this will cause it to melt.

    Clearly, then, the gemara was not concerned abut handling snow so long as one is not crushing it for its liquid.

    The Chofetz Chaim comes to the same conclusion regarding rain, even fresh rain that fell on Shabbos.

    But, as we already alluded to, although few discuss this issue, not all agree.

    While this may confuse rabbanim, what is worse is that this debate bleeds into another debate; one that is between two of the greatest research tools of our time…Artscroll and Feldheim.

    These two acclaimed publishers each have a wonderful sefer–written in English for the layman and rabbi alike –on the laws of muktzeh.

    Imagine you are stuck in your house on Shabbos due to a storm. Unable to contact a rav, you may look to your English lukuttei halacha.

    So, you open Artscroll’s ‘Hilchos Mukzteh’ by Rav Simcha Bunim Cohen where he writes, “Snow is not muktzeh even if it fell on Shabbos” adding the caveat “so long as it has some use”.

    To be double check if there are any other views, you then open Feldheim’s  “Tiltulei Shabbos’ by Rav Pinchas Bodner. Although he brings two opinions, he spends much of the space focusing on the view that snow is indeed muktzeh, supporting this strict view by quoting HaRav Moshe Feinstein, who paskened (to him) that snow is muktzeh. In fact, this was later published in his teshuvos (5:22:37).

    So, to end your confusion, so you take out Feldheim’s Hilchos Shabbos by Rav Eider z’l -so to be ‘machriah beineihem’. He writes (emphasis mine), “Although rain or snow that fell on Shabbos is not muktzeh…” bringing this psak from none other than Rav Moshe Feinstein himself!!

    (How to explain this seeming contradiction in Rav Moshe’s rulings is beyond our purposed here)

    At the end of the day, most rabbanim I have spoken to seem to rule that snow is not mukzteh. This is supported by Rav Frank, Rav Elyashiv and most who discuss this issue.

    Yet the question remains: Even if not muktzeh, would shoveling be allowed?

    For one, there is this from the BBC:

    “A study looking at data from 1990 to 2006 by researchers at the US Nationwide Children’s Hospital recorded 1,647 fatalities from cardiac-related injuries associated with shoveling snow.”

    I always believed that the reason why shoveling poses such a health risk is due to sweating. The chochmas hobrai olam made it so that our bodies will inform us when we are overworking ourselves. The most obvious sign is sweating. 

    Hence the risk, as shoveling is done in the cold and one’s body does not react as it would if this activity was done indoors, thus potentially causing people to overlook their limitations.

    Based on this study it would seem that shoveling is indeed a strenuous activity, and perhaps the type of which one can’t perform on Shabbos. For this reason one who does shovel on Shabbos would have to limit it to a basic, simple path. If this path is long, and the snow deep, then help should be delegated out so that one person does not do such work.

    Speaking of sweat, there is a prohibition of exercising on Shabbos. As brought in Shulchan Aruch, one cannot work his body in a way that produces sweat. Shoveling will likely not fall under this law because the person who is shoveling is not doing it for his health, rather for his peace of mind. The exercise prohibition is only activated when it is the intent.

    Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank does have a caveat to his allowance: He explains that one may only shovel if the snow is soft. Once it hardens it may be deemed as part of the ground, resulting in the prohibition of soseir (destroying), according to some views.

    There are many more questions: May one ski to shul? What about sledding? If the roads are icy, may one skate on Shabbos?

    These too are discussed and debated, and will be left, perhaps, for another time.

    Let me end with an amazing story about shoveling snow, as told by the Brisker Rav, who would cry each time he said it:

    In Volozion, each time there was a heavy snowfall –even if all the roads were closed, the path to Yeshiva was always clear.

    The bachurim were perplexed and set out to investigate the matter. The next time there was a snowstorm they would wait out and see how this comes to be.

    Sometime later a blizzard hit. The boys set out and waited. Suddenly, before dawn, an image appears…it was their holyrosh yeshiva Harav Chaim Volozion with shovel in hand!

    The navi tells us “chateichem kashanim kasheleg yalmbinu…your sins shall become white as snow” (Yeshayahu 1:18; see Tehhilim 51:9).

    It is interesting that snow is used as a reference to purity but also as a symbol of sin (by tzaaras). Perhaps it is because even something that is to be pure, if used in the wrong way, can be a path to sin.

    Through our observance of halacha during such a challenging Shabbos may we be zocheh to the whiteness of purity, and, if we experience snowfall again, may it be with all of us together in Yerushalaim habenuyah.