Baking Bread on Shabbat

[Mark]

In Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16), the example is given for us to not gather bread for ourselves on the Shabbat; but to gather a double portion (which is provided by Adonai) on Friday. Is it the baking of the bread or the gathering that is prohibited? And does this mean, we must not prepare our meals on Shabbat (with the exception of the Passover meal, where specific instructions allow us to prepare the Feast). The command to not kindle a fire on the Shabbat does not come until Exodus 35; therefore, it may be reasonable to assume that the prepariung of the food may have been allowed at this time- thus the command is to not gather (for which a young man is later executed for gathering firewood on the Sabbath).

Here's the question: how far do we prepare the Sabbath meals and to what extent is it necessary? Is it part of the mitzvot to eat only cold-cuts on Shabbat, or is a crock-pot, or electrically heating food okay? Is it okay to fix our peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches on the day of Shabbat or should they have been spread before? To what degree do we take this? If we are having crackers with cheese, can we place the cheese on the cracker on the day, if we decide that spreading peanut-butter is khahtaw (sin)?

Please bear in mind that the purpose of our observance is worship and relationship with Adonai through the Messiah- not Sunday-school rank and achievement awards. Consider what is more to the command: to rest, to remember and to revere.

[Prodigal Girl]

I think about this a lot. I am actually fascinated with Orthodox practice in this respect. I think perhaps we have trained by the churches some of us have come from to automatically discard any practices taught by the orthodox community. At this point, I do not automatically dismiss, because I think a lot of the practices have logic in them.
I know for a fact, that the minute you start cooking, spreading, mixing, etc. you end up doing a lot more work than you intended, due to the clean up that goes along with it, as well as more opportunities for something to go wrong which would entail more unintended work Like you cut yourself with the knife by accident, then have to drive to the hospital, or spill something on the floor so then have to mop, etc.
The point of Shabbat, is to sweep your platter clean of normal responsibilities, so you can spend quality time with Hashem and your family. That means do not get caught up with other time-consuming stuff. Pick certain food that requires no work to eat, and don't choose food that would require spreading, mixing, cooking, etc. on the day.
"Preparation Day" is great. It gets you in the mood, ready. Amazing, really.

[Nachshon]

I think that the mitzwa forbids food preparation on the Shabbat. Part of the point of the Shabbat is to live off the bounty of the week, just as the Shabbat year is partly to give the land rest, but partly to remind us that God provides, and so we live off the bounty. The two are one.
Remember that the command is not just to not gather the man, but also to bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil on the sixth day, and then eat it on the sixth day and the Shabbat.
True, the point is to focus on Elohim. It is also to highlight His role in our lives. I think that the Orthodox have really hit the nail on the head in this case. Fix a bounty on the sixth day, and then eat off of it all Shabbat. This not only gets rid of the responibility of cooking, cleaning, etc. and allows you to focus on God, it points out to us that He is providing for us in six days what others can't accomplish in seven. He is giving us the provision by His power so that we can rest in Him.
Practically speaking, though, I think it would be permissable to start a crock-pot on Friday and then eat on Shabbat. Just make sure, though, that it will cook long enough. We made the mistake once of cooking lentils for too long. I have to say, Lentil mush isn't as bad as it sounds. lol.

[Mark]

How much preparation is okay versus not okay? Is spreading peanut butter and jelly on bread preparation? Is laying a slice of cheese on a cracker preparation? How about moving food from a serving dish to one's own plate? I'm not trying to disqualify the commandment by making it sound rediculous. The root question is rather, at what point does our observation of the mizvah cease to become worship and instead becomes burdensome and a distraction from worship?

Depending upon when you place Passover in the year of Messiah's sacrifice and resurrection, John 12:1-2 may be significant.

Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
(Joh 12:1-2 KJV)

If Passover occured on Friday, as many traditionally suppose; six days before would have been the preceding Sabbath: at which "Martha served". The easy explanation is that this is not what was the case; but what if it was?

[Prodigal Girl]

My understanding is, that Thursday of that week was the day Jesus and his fellow Galileans celebrated Passover. Judeans however celebrated it on Friday. This was because of a dispute over the calendar. A compromise was reached, and the lambs were sacrificed from Thursday to Friday, to accommodate both practices.

[Mark]

I realize that this is a valid position; though not one that is completely agreed upon. I was just wondering, for the sake of argument, what if it was on Shabbat that Martha was serving. What would that look like and to what degree would it be considered appropriate?

[Prodigal Girl]

DEFINITELY not baking bread! Making bread is WORK, no doubt about it. Cooking in general is work. I really really suspect that a number of the Orthodox traditions related to Sabbath keeping are pretty close to right on (with the exception of having to pre-rip toilet paper, IMHO).

[Long777]

Great topic as it will relate to Pesach this year if you follow the calendar. Pesach immediately follows a Shabbat, so when do we prepare for the Seder? Friday before or wait until after or both? I have been wondering about this and trying to figure the best way to do this.

Also Prodigal Girl: do you have a reference I can go to for more info on a 1st century calendar debate as the reason that we seem to see Messiah having Pesach before the rest of Israel? If you do I would love to read about it..

Shalom

Jeremy

[Otto]

Many modern ovens contain a feature that is called “Sabbath mode”. This allows the oven to be turned on before Shabbat and maintain temperature whether or not you open the door. The light is also turned off inside the oven so that even if you open it, it won’t come on. Food is put into the oven before Shabbat. It is fully cooked before Shabbat and then kept warn until desired.

Pulled out your oven manual, you might be surprised to find that this feature is on many ovens! Anyway I thought this was pretty cool how much has actually infused in our culture without us even knowing, Right under our pots and pans.

For a complete listing of ovens with this feature click here. www.star-k.com/cons-appl.htm

[Otto]

I am a stay at home husband thanks to an automobile accident. I find it a pleasure on Shabbat to have everything in order and finished for Shabbat.

House is clean, Landry finished, Meal & bread is cooked, coffee pot set up, and table is set with nice paper goods, [For Sabbath I pay a little more for paper plats, plastic wear, napkins, & cups. 8 people, clean up easy.] There is nothing to do on Shabbat but to relax, have services, praise, & study G-ds word.
I believe we live in a time when life is easy and we chock on things that we should not chock on. Should we not start a car because it’s starting a fire, light switch, toaster, and coffee pot. It took more work and effort to get, and talk the boy into turning the switch on than it would have been to just turn the light on. How about not turning your furnace back on because it went out on Sabbath night in the dead of winter?
Shabbat is to be HOLY! Set apart, separate from the other days of the week, in order to spend time with our creator. If were making bread, cutting up and cooking, washing cloth, cutting grass, were not spending time with our creator.
I love Shabbat!

Passover at the end of Shabbat. I will prepare what I can on Friday then place it in the oven to warm it up, set the table with our nice silver wear, and glass settings. And enjoy Passover. It is “my” opinion that I can do as much as I can in preparation beforehand and then put it all together when it needs to be. My wife is taking off from work that Friday to help make the preparations.

Here are recipes “I” prepare for Sabbath.

Crock Pot recipes for Shabbat.

Beans, Chips, & Cheese.
1 large Onion chopped fine
3 cloves garlic crushed or chopped
1 Jalapeno chopped, Opt
1 bag Tortilla Chips
Grated Cheddar Cheese

Directions: On Friday; In a frying pan Sautee Onion, garlic, & Jalapeno. Empty into Crock pot 3 or 4 canes of black beans; add Onion, garlic, & Jalapeno and mix into black beans. On Shabbat place crock pot into liner with timer set. When beans are hot.
Put on a plate Tortilla Chips, top with Cheddar Cheese, add hot black beans to this and enjoy. Other toppings can be added: Sour cream, chopped tomatoes, pickled Jalapeno, Salsa.

Hotdogs & hamburgers
On Friday; Grill hotdogs & burgers. in bottom of Crock pot place a wire rack to keep food off the bottom of Crock pot, or use crumbled up Heave duty Aluminum foil. Add just enough water to touch the bottom of wire rack or foil. Place the cooked hotdogs on wire rack / foil, then burgers. Cover hotdogs & burgers with Heave duty Aluminum foil and with a sharp knife punch holes all over the Aluminum foil. Now place Hotdogs & hamburgers buns on top of this Aluminum foil. When your timer clicks on one hr before you eat, the steam from the water will steam your food warm.
Alternative to water, this is what I do: I grill my burgers and boil my hotdogs in beer. Then in the bottom of my crock pot I put the boiled beer instead of water.
Serve with chips.

Other Shabbat foods that can be heated for Saturday.
Corn on the cob [add a little water to crock pot will steam precooked corn warm]
Vegetation Baked beans [precooked hotdogs can be laid on top of Vegetation backed beans and heated]
beef stew

[Prodigal Girl]

long777 said:

Great topic as it will relate to Pesach this year if you follow the calendar. Pesach immediately follows a Shabbat, so when do we prepare for the Seder? Friday before or wait until after or both? I have been wondering about this and trying to figure the best way to do this.

Also Prodigal Girl: do you have a reference I can go to for more info on a 1st century calendar debate as the reason that we seem to see Messiah having Pesach before the rest of Israel? If you do I would love to read about it..

Shalom

Jeremy

Hello Jeremy,
The name of one reference is "Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ" by Harold W. Hoehner. In particular, look at the chart on page 89 which is entitled "The Reckoning of Passover". It compares the Galilean Method of Synopitic Reckoning, used by Jesus, His Disciples, and Pharisees, and the Judean Method, used by the Sadducees.

[Prodigal Girl]

torah said:

Many modern ovens contain a feature that is called “Sabbath mode”. This allows the oven to be turned on before Shabbat and maintain temperature whether or not you open the door. The light is also turned off inside the oven so that even if you open it, it won’t come on. Food is put into the oven before Shabbat. It is fully cooked before Shabbat and then kept warn until desired.

Pulled out your oven manual, you might be surprised to find that this feature is on many ovens! Anyway I thought this was pretty cool how much has actually infused in our culture without us even knowing, Right under our pots and pans
For a complete listing of ovens with this feature click here. www.star-k.com/cons-appl.htm

Hello Otto,
Wow, I never knew that about ovens. Thank you for all your helpful tips.
One thing that I think is so awesome is the care shown in which the makes clear that servants in the household are also not to work. Day long holiday for EVERYONE!

[Prodigal Girl]

mark said:

I realize that this is a valid position; though not one that is completely agreed upon. I was just wondering, for the sake of argument, what if it was on Shabbat that Martha was serving. What would that look like and to what degree would it be considered appropriate?

This actually is an interesting line of thought. Perhaps Yeshua was actually correcting Martha because she was working on Shabbat, getting all fussed about the guests, instead of just spending time with Him? Wow, I am getting convicted here. Because when unexpected (non-messianic) guests drop by on Shabbat, what do I do? I tend to react similarly to how Martha did. I freak out and start cooking. If I know ahead of time, I generally try to plan a little better. And I live in a modern society with all the kitchen conveniences; I can't imagine how it must have been for Martha.

[Mark]

Messiah Yeshua, in Mark 3:4, asks the question, "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?" In answering this question, we must understand that there are different kinds of work in the Hebrew language. The prohibition is consistently the word melah-kah, meaning one's vocation or emplyment. It is never "abad" which is the word we think of: the physical act of doing something, (the creation or destruction that has become the prominent rabbinical definition). Would Martha have been wrong to serve her guests on the Shabbat?

I think the right answer is... it depends. Yet, the problem is that we want an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) and not a course of intimate relationship. It's not a matter of grey area but rather an area of grey matter. We must engage ourselves in our relationship with Adonai, each moment asking Him His will for that moment. I've done a number of jobs on the Sabbath, and probably my close to my share of the dishes- not because it was a burden to me (slob that I am) but knowing that it was a service or ministry to someone else. Everyone wants me to help them move on Saturday. Is that appropriate? Sometimes I believe that it is. Sometimes it is definitely not.

[Prodigal Girl]

Wow, thanks. I agree that we should not get all tied up into all the rabbininal decrees about it. I did not know that about the word melah-kah.
However, that being said, I myself feel it is perfectly appropriate to try to not cook on the Sabbath. I do not say I never cook, I just merely attempt to arrange things so I can keep it to a minimum. As someone mentioned earlier, it is to allow time to spend doing more relaxing things.