Done with "Lace Sheitlach" & Smart Phones Now NO CHULET EXCEPT FOR SHABBOS!

DIN: Yes you read the headline right! It's not a Joke!!!!

This story comes in a very bad time as a young soldier who lives around the corner from my home, Moshe Shmuel Null hy"d, was murdered by Hamas, and in a couple of minutes, I'll be heading to the funeral! 

New widows, new orphans, grieving parents and siblings, and the Chareide leadership shows that it is totally disconnected and aloof to what is going around them, and instead puts out a psak against eating chulent during the week, and drags the likes of the Yam shel Shlomo, Chasam Sofer , the Ari z"l into this quagmire!

 I'm going to stay away from the validity of the stories, which I think someone made up. Rav Zilberstein says that the Yam Shel Shlomo writes that  "it is preferable not to eat fish on Friday Night, so that one can enjoy them during the Shabbas meal," and from this Yam Shel Shlomo, Rav Zilberstein prohibits chulent on Thursday night, through a "Kal Ve'chomer"?? .... 

He further writes that the Baal Shem Tov (who grew up as a hungry orphan,) chastised a little child because he was eating  “eggs with onions” (ei mit tzvibel), during the week, to which he supposedly told the child, “Jewish children eat that only on Shabbat.”

Anyone believing this story needs their head examined! 

In a bizarre twist, Rav Zilberstein adds that "Chulent" is not healthy!

 I don't know where he gets this, as any nutritionist will tell you that "Chulent" without fat is one of the healthiest foods! It is loaded with vitamins! Beans, Barley, Potatoes etc! 

It is the theatre of the absurd!

What about "Challah?" Specifically made for Shabbos! So now we shouldn't be serving this at a wedding or a bar-mitzvah?

 In the “Divrei Chemed” bulletin, a fascinating halachic ruling was published, especially relevant for yeshiva students and the general public, regarding eating cholent on Thursday night. According to the posek Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein, doing so undermines the honor due to the Shabbat morning meal.

A number of yeshiva students sent a question to Rabbi Zilberstein, writing as follows:

“It is well known that there is a significant value in eating chamin (cholent) on Shabbat Kodesh. Throughout the years, it was a special dish eaten specifically at the Shabbat morning meal, and many would fulfill the mitzvah of ‘Toameha chaim zachu’ (‘Those who taste [Shabbat early] merit life’) by tasting this delicacy on Friday.”

They continued:

“However, recently, many have begun to be machmir in tasting this dish already on Thursday night, to the point where some now prepare this dish in large pots specifically for Thursday night—not just to taste a bit of Shabbat food, but to indulge themselves on Thursday night. And some even go so far as to eat it on Thursday during the day or throughout the week.”

“Our question is: Is there anything inappropriate in the fact that a dish originally created for Shabbat is now being eaten on weekdays? Or is there no fault in this? And is it considered an act of piety to refrain from eating a dish that, throughout generations, was reserved for Shabbat Kodesh, and continue to eat it exclusively on Shabbat, and not during the week?”

Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein, who regularly receives interesting and complex halachic queries due to his broad and deep knowledge, responded with the following explanation:

“There is great importance in honoring and distinguishing Shabbat with special foods, and weekday meals should not resemble those of Shabbat.”

Among the sources cited by the rabbi are: Midrash Tanchuma (Parshat Bereishit, Siman 2), Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 21 and Tikkun 48),Ramban (Leviticus 23:2), Radak (Isaiah 58:13)

He further cited the Yam Shel Shlomo (Gittin 38b), who rules:

“It is preferable not to eat fish on Friday night, so that one can enjoy them during the Shabbat day meal—since ‘honor of the day is greater than that of the night.’ From this we learn a kal vachomer: If one should refrain from eating a beloved dish on Friday night to honor the daytime meal, all the more so one should refrain from eating such dishes on weekdays in order to honor Shabbat properly.”

Rabbi Zilberstein also brings testimonies from various sages:

The Arizal was very strict not to prepare any dish during the week that was customary for Shabbat, such as kugels and the like.

A story about the Baal Shem Tov: He was once hosted and served a meal while a child stood nearby eating “eggs with onions” (ei mit tzvibel), to which he told the child “Jewish children eat that only on Shabbat.”

A similar story about the Chasam Sofer, who was once served tzimmes during the week and refused it, saying: “That’s a Shabbat dish,” adding in Yiddish: “A Shabbos-essen est men nikst in der vokh” – “Shabbat food is not eaten during the week.”

Rabbi Zilberstein further emphasized:

“Especially with cholent, a dish originally created specifically to honor Shabbat—so that people could eat hot food on Shabbat morning. As the Ba’al HaMaor (Shabbat 16b) wrote: ‘Our Sages instituted eating chamin (hot food) to delight in Shabbat, and anyone who doesn’t eat chamin should be checked to see if he is a heretic or an unbeliever.’”

He added another interesting point:

“In previous generations, some were concerned about eating cholent due to health issues, but as the Bnei Yissaschar (Ma’amarei HaShabbatot, Ma’amar 3) writes, ‘On Shabbat there is no need to worry, for the holiness of Shabbat brings blessing into the food.’ Likewise, the Mishnah Berurah writes that ‘one who keeps a mitzvah will know no evil.’ But this protection applies only on Shabbat—not on weekdays.”

In conclusion, Rabbi Zilberstein wrote:

“Cholent is a dish that was specifically created for Shabbat, and therefore it is very appropriate not to eat it during the week, so that one can properly delight in it on Shabbat. Especially since this dish is not particularly healthy, and it is only thanks to the sanctity of Shabbat that it becomes a blessing and a delicacy for the body. As the verse says, ‘He who observes a mitzvah shall know no evil.’”