[Avodah] Definition of Religion

[Akiva Miller]

Prof. Levine wrote:

> I fail to see how you deduce from here that "We are supposed
> to cook all our food before Yom Tov."  It says, "Food whose
> taste will not deteriorate at all if it is cooked on the day
> before the Festival (for example, fruit soup) should be
> prepared before Yom Tov.
>
> Fruit soup is a far cry from all food!

I do agree that "Fruit soup is a far cry from all food!", and that perhaps the original quote should not have included the word "all".

On the other hand, try looking at it this way: Fruit soup is a very unusual case. It is cooked, but it is served chilled, and that's why it doesn't need to be cooked fresh. I'm having trouble thinking of other examples; jello is the only one that comes to mind. Everything else tastes better straight off the fire.

Thus we have a very odd halacha: The general halacha is indeed that everything should be cooked beforehand. But, oddly, almost everything falls in the exceptional category of tasting better when cooked fresh, and therefore may be deliberately put off to be cooked on Yom Tov itself.

(Disclaimer: I asked my wife for more examples beyond fruit soup, and it turns out that she disagrees with this entire post. She says that stuffed cabbage and thick soups (such as pea or vegetable, but not chicken) taste better when reheated. I imagine she'd say the same about meat balls, lasagna, and many other dishes. I suggested that our family is weird in preferring leftovers to fresh food, but she thinks most families would agree with her.)

Akiva Miller

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