Bishul Akum #4

What's the only thing better than eggs and cheese on a bagel? Processed eggs and cheese on a bagel. Which brings me to this week's discussion. Last week we mentioned that if a Jew assists in the cooking process (usually through igniting the pilot light) the food cooked is viewed as Bishul Yisroel and not a violation of Bishul Akum. But what about food cooked in a microwave? Each time you turn on the microwave it is a new cooking and thus it would seem you would need a Jew to push the actual button. You might be asking: microwaves don't cook they reheat, but in theory (or in my favorite food: Dunkin Donuts Egg and Cheese---YUMMMM!!!!) how is the non-jew allowed to push the button? This question bothered me for a while. If you haven't realized I love egg and cheese and the possibility of not being able to get one from Dunkin Donuts really bothered me. I finally, got the courage and asked a rav of the Vaad of Queens and he told me that currently no restaurants in Queens cook by means of a microwave, but it did come up years ago and they ruled that in fact a Jew must push the button. However, if you ever ordered an egg and cheese (my favorite) in the Dunkin Donuts in the Five Town the non-jew pushes the button. So what is the deal? The basis for this argument is that the Rambam and the Shulchan Aruch rule that smoked foods (lox) are not included within the Bishul Akum restriction. The Rama (ibid.) writes that only foods cooked by using fire are included in this prohibition. Approximately one hundred years ago, rabbinical authorities began to debate whether steamed foods (veggies) are included within the Bishul Akum prohibition. Proponents of the lenient view argued that steaming is analogous to smoking and not cooking, since the food is not directly cooked through means of a fire. Another argument for leniency was that since the steaming of foods was first introduced many centuries after Chazal forbade Bishul Akum, steaming was not a form of cooking that was included in the original decree. Rav Ovadia Yosef rules leniently that steaming is not included within the parameters of the Bishul Akum decree. Today, rabbinical authorities debate whether cooking by means of a microwave oven is included in the prohibition of Bishul Akum. The arguments for leniency are that when one cooks with a microwave he is not cooking by fire and that microwave technology was not available at the time when Chazal promulgated the Bishul Akum decree and thus was not included in the prohibition. Those that are stringent base there stringency on the fact that the Rambam and Shulchan Aruch only ruled smoking isn't Bishul Akum because it was not common then. However, nowadays microwave cooking is considered a normal way of cooking, and thus perhaps prohibited. In addition, the cooked food is almost identical in taste to food cooked over a fire, and therefore a microwave would be included in Chazal's enactment of bishul akum. Although there are those who rule stringently we have what to rely on. At the end of the day we can certainly assume that eggs and cheese is not on the President's menu anytime soon.