Bishul Akum #5

As Hagacha Pratis would have I found myself this week in a Dunkin Donuts when a YU Rosh Yeshiva and Rav for the Vaad of Bergen County (Teaneck) walked in. We got to shmoozing and I asked him about the eggs and cheese. He replied that while the Vaad does not give the Hechser to the Dunkin Donuts in Teaneck he thought it was for sure permissible to eat the egg and cheese. His logic was based off the Yerusalmi we mentioned last week that having a non-jew steam food is not a violation of Bishul Akum. He felt the only explantion for this is that Bishul Akum only applies to heat (fire) cooking and not other conventional cooking methods. But what about coffee? I am told by my consultants that Dunkin Donuts coffee is far superior to Starbucks-- and the people that drink Starbucks coffee are doing it more for status than taste. Coffee is made by heating water with an electric element (which for halachic purposes is a fire). So shouldn't coffee be Bishul Akum? The answer to this is that cooked water does not qualify for bishul akum. Although roasted coffee beans cannot be used without brewing, and coffee is a prestigious beverage which is served at weddings (conditions that would create a bishul akum). Nevertheless, since the water is considered the main component of the beverage and the coffee is considered a flavoring, freshly brewed coffee would not be subject to the restriction of bishul akum. As we mentioned in prior weeks any food item that could be eaten raw/uncooked there is no violation for a non-jew to cook it. Thus, since water is something drinkable uncooked and the coffee is just flavoring the water there is no violation to drink coffee brewed by a non-jew. Enjoy the Coffee.