[Avodah] Concern of bishul akum with coffee

[Akiva Miller]

.
According to the OU at the link posted,

> Nonetheless, the Pri Chodosh writes that brewed coffee need
> not be bishul Yisroel, since coffee is primarily water, and
> water does not require bishul Yisroel.

I have difficulty following that logic. Granted that if one looks at the
ingredients, coffee is indeed primarily water. But why is that fact more
relevant than the importance that society gives to this beverage?

R' Micha Berger pointed out that Chamar Medinah "seems to be a lower
standard" than Oleh Al Shulchan Melachim, and I'd agree. But I think it's
irrelevant, because it is obvious to me that coffee is Oleh Al Shulchan
Melachim. The dessert at a state dinner would not be s'mores and Slurpees;
it would be elegant cakes and coffee.

I suspect that for some reason (possibly the fact that Bishul Akum has
little to do with kashrus and much to do with limiting our social contact
with non-Jews), the rabbis went out of their way to find leniencies for it,
and drinks is an example of such a leniency; I suspect that it never
occurred to Chazal to extend the gezera beyond solid foods.

Akiva Miller
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20200824/a6d07f9f/attachment.html>