[Avodah] Just How hot is Yad Soledes Bo anyway?

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Micha Berger commented on "kol shecreiso shel tinok nichveis":

> Which is an odd test, since I'd be much less likely to
> actually try that on a baby or toddler than to actually
> see if an adult's hand would recoil. ...
> Even with Rashi's explanation of added precision, since
> it's assur to burn someone, but it is mutar to make your
> own hand recoil, how could that more accurate measurement
> ever be obtained? You would end up using an approximation
> ... and thus losing the precision anyway.

My understanding is that Chazal did not decide, on the basis of scientific experimentation, how to define bishul. Rather, the definition of bishul is a Halacha L'Moshe MiSinai, just like for all other shiurim.

The true definition of the critical temperature is "kol shecreiso shel tinok nichveis", and to say otherwise would be a falsification of the Torah, chalilah. Chazal had no choice but to point out that this is the technical definition.

But that was, as we say, "L'Halacha". They understood also that in the "L'Maaseh", the above was a rather useless definition, for exactly the reasons that RMB points out. So they also specified that for practical purposes, "yad soledes bo" is an adequate approximation.

It is unfortunate that the phrase "yad soledes bo" is used so frequently, and in such contexts as would lead us to believe that it is the true definition. But it is not. It is only a reliable approximation.

I'm not sure if this answers the question.

Akiva Miller

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