[Avodah] Microwave Ovens on Shabbos

[rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com]

> and that the issur of cooking on shabbos applies to cooking with
> fire exclusively

Who says only cooking by fire is cooking?
EG Any kli rishon cooks mid'oraisso even when off the fire!

The only exemption is cooking by Sunlight which as per Rashi, BY et
al. Is pattur because it's not a normal derech bishul.
And even "to'dah d'chama" is assur mid'rabbanan.

Any derech Bishul otherwise would constitute bishul. IIRc RMF/IM has
a t'shuva based upon this Rashi when microwaves were new.

As far as Shas and Posqim saying "fire", that's because it's what
they had. Only a strict fundamentalist interpretation would restrict
Bishul to davka combustion. And iiuc Shabbos has toldos to cover the
non-strict cases. In general, anything resembling a m'lachah - that's
not a kil'achar yad - is at least a tol'dah.

Now Imagine if someone nuked a potato and then reheated it on Shabbos
on a fire. If the nuking was NOT construed bishul, then the reheating
could be a d'oraisso mamash because it would not be exempted by ein
bishul achar bishul.

KT
RRW
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