**Please join in for an all-day event of prayer and spirituality, today March 18 2014 at Ahi Ezer in Brooklyn at the corner of Ave S & Ocean Parkway, in merit of a refuah shelemah for Refael Elisha Meir ben Devorah, a young boy of 6 years with terrible cancer.
This event is for women only, and starts at 11:30 AM with Tehillim, 12:45 Rabbi Meyer Yedid, 1:30 with Rabbi David Ozery, 2:15 with Rabbi Goldwasser, and 3:00 with Rabbi Mizrahi. ***
Today's Halacha:
If the spout of an electric urn is not functioning, is it permissible on Shabbat to draw water from the top of the urn with a ladle?
There is a law known as "Megis" which forbids stirring food while it is on a fire or other heating mechanism (such as a hot plate) on Shabbat. Even if the food is fully cooked (and certainly if it is not fully cooked), one may not stir the food, as this gives the appearance of cooking. The Halachic authorities debate the question of whether this prohibition applies also to serving food which is on the fire. Some authorities claim that there is no difference between stirring and serving, and both are forbidden on Shabbat, whereas others maintain that serving differs from stirring, and is permissible, even if the food is on the fire. However, Rav Moshe Feinstein (Russia-New York, 1895-1986), in his Iggerot Moshe (Orah Haim 74:14), writes that when it comes to water, all authorities agree that serving is permissible. He cites the view of the Gaon of Kutna claiming that the prohibition of "Megis" does not apply to water, because stirring is detrimental to hot water (as it accelerates evaporation). Therefore, according to all opinions it is entirely permissible to serve hot water from a pot on a fire on Shabbat. And if it is permissible to serve from a pot which is over a fire, it is certainly permissible to serve when the water is over an electric heating mechanism, as is the case with an urn. Therefore, one may draw water from an electric urn with a ladle on Shabbat. This ruling is mentioned in Yalkut Yosef (Shabbat, p. 136).
It should be noted, however, that if some water is left over in the ladle after one pours water into the cup, he may not pour that leftover water back into the urn. Since the water had cooled somewhat after being removed from the urn, pouring it back in would constitute a Torah violation of cooking on Shabbat. If, however, one poured all the water out of the ladle into a cup, and there are a few droplets on the ladle (as invariably there will be), one does not have to dry the ladle before putting it back into the urn to draw more water. Since one has no interest in reheating those droplets and does not intend to do, and the water had already been boiled, there are enough factors to allow putting the ladle back into the urn without drying it.
Summary: If the spout of an electric urn is not functioning on Shabbat, one may draw water from the urn with a ladle, as long as he does not pour the excess water from ladle back into the urn.
