We know that on Shabbat it is forbidden to add fresh cool water to a food that is on a blech for that water will become cooked. But there is an interesting question that was asked if whether or not it would be permissible to add boiling hot water from an urn or tea kettle onto a food that is on the blech.
This question applies to foods such as Hamin and Chulent. These are delicacies that need to be on the fire or blech for many hours. In fact most people leave them on the fire overnight and serve it at Shabbat lunch. Our question applies here because it is common to find on Shabbat morning that the Hamin or Chulent is drying out and needs water to avoid burning. So is it permissible to take hot cooked water from a tea kettle or urn and pour it into the pot of Hamin or Chulent?
One can deduce that it would be permissible because both the water and the food are already cooked, and so seemingly it would not be considered Bishul (cooking.) This is not about a pot of food that is cooking in an oven. We know that we can never add food or ingredients into an oven on Shabbat. Our question is asked about food that is on a blech or hot plate.
Chacham Ben Tzion Aba Shaul, in his book ‘Or LeTzion’, Helek 2, perek 17:8, brings down from a Rabbi called the Igle Tal that there is room to be lenient on this question and one may pour hot water from an urn or kettle into a pot of food that is on the blech or hot plate. Additionally, Rabbi Moshe HaLevi in his sefer Menuchat A’Hava writes that it is permissible.
However, Chacham Ovadia Yoseph in Yi’Chave Da’at, Helek 4, Teshuba 22, brings down from Rabbeinu Yona, that it is forbidden to pour this water into a pot even though it is already cooked and is coming form an urn. He says that the water will cool down during the transfer process, and therefore it would be forbidden because the water will be cooked again.
So to review, Chacham Ovadia Yoseph is stringent in this case and Lechatchila, one should not pour hot cooked water into a pot of cooked food that is sitting on a blech or hot plate. But, Bediavad, the food is not forbidden to eat if one does pour hot water onto it while it is on a blech or hot plate. One has what to rely based on the lenient Teshubot by Chacham Ben Tzion and Rabbi Moshe HALevi.
