Shabbos 38

“With regard to one who cooks on Shabbat, if he did so unwittingly, he may eat it, and if he cooked intentionally, he may not eat it.”

Intention matters. Today, we revisit the theme that has winded its way through the Talmud since the start of Berakhot. It’s not difficult. Honest mistakes are forgiven, while deceitfulness is not. 

Our Rabbis return today to their huddle over the stove. While they debate whether food can be eaten if a pot was intentionally or unintentionally left on a burner, the food is being over-cooked into a pile of mush. They debate if a pot can be returned to a burner after it is removed if it does not leave one’s hand or if it is placed on the ground before it is returned. We are told that that the Gemara says “overcooking improves the eggs” and a group of Rabbis found overcooked eggs that resembled crab apples so appetizing that they ate one after another. I assume they are referring to hard-boiled eggs, but if they are cooked to the degree suggested in the text, it is hard to believe how enticing they would be.

We dive into minute details on whether one can eat food unwittingly left on a burner to cook on the Shabbat. The Rabbis debate the details and there is some variety of opinion on the matter, but the determination on whether food left on a burner can be consumed is based on intentionality. We are told that if it is left there accidentally, the food may be eaten after the Sabbath is over, and if it was intentionally placed on the burner, it may not. Again, intention matters. However, if the incidence of intentional leaving on the stove increases even the innocent are penalized: “When the number of those who leave their pots intentionally and say we forgot to justify their actions, increased, the Sages then penalized those who forgot. Even one who forgets unwittingly may not eat it.”

Today’s text gives the impression that at the time it was written, there was a Rabbi in every kitchen.

Here is a refresher on the theme of intention from Berakhot 29: https://brokentabletsfrompennycagan.me/berakhot/berakhot-29