Eruv tavshilin
Encyclopedia
An eruv tavshilin for cooking refers to "mixing of [cooked] dishes", whereby one prepares a cooked food prior to a Jewish holiday
that will be followed by the Shabbat
.
Normally, cooking is allowed on Jewish holidays, but only for consumption on that day, and not for consumption after the holiday. Technically, if such a holiday occurs on Friday, cooking is allowed for the Sabbath, but the rabbis forbade this in order to prevent confusion on other years (when the holiday does not immediately precede the Sabbath) unless this ritual of eruv tavshilin is performed, which would remind the people of the reasons for the exception.
This ritual consists of cooking and baking some food for the Sabbath before the holiday begins. The food must consist of (a minimum of) an egg-size amount of bread of "Matzoh" and an olive-sized amount of cooked food. After being set aside, a blessing must be recited, and the food must be eaten with the festive meal on the holiday before the Shabbat starts. Because the "dishes" or "servings" are "mixed", meaning we have "mixed" the time of preparation between the day prior to the holiday with a food that may be eaten on the day after the holiday (which will be the Shabbat), this thereby allows for cooking to take place on the holiday itself which is not considered a "new" cooking, but rather a continuation of the "mixed" cooking that has already "begun" before the holiday started.
(Source: Chapter 1 of "Festivals & Fasts, A Practical Guide", edited by Yakov Blinder.)
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
that will be followed by the Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
.
Normally, cooking is allowed on Jewish holidays, but only for consumption on that day, and not for consumption after the holiday. Technically, if such a holiday occurs on Friday, cooking is allowed for the Sabbath, but the rabbis forbade this in order to prevent confusion on other years (when the holiday does not immediately precede the Sabbath) unless this ritual of eruv tavshilin is performed, which would remind the people of the reasons for the exception.
This ritual consists of cooking and baking some food for the Sabbath before the holiday begins. The food must consist of (a minimum of) an egg-size amount of bread of "Matzoh" and an olive-sized amount of cooked food. After being set aside, a blessing must be recited, and the food must be eaten with the festive meal on the holiday before the Shabbat starts. Because the "dishes" or "servings" are "mixed", meaning we have "mixed" the time of preparation between the day prior to the holiday with a food that may be eaten on the day after the holiday (which will be the Shabbat), this thereby allows for cooking to take place on the holiday itself which is not considered a "new" cooking, but rather a continuation of the "mixed" cooking that has already "begun" before the holiday started.
(Source: Chapter 1 of "Festivals & Fasts, A Practical Guide", edited by Yakov Blinder.)
See also
- Days of week on Hebrew calendarDays of week on Hebrew calendarThe modern Hebrew calendar has been designed to ensure that certain holy days and festivals do not fall on certain days of the week. As a result, there are only four possible patterns of days on which festivals can fall...
for when eruv tavshilin is prepared