Bishul Akum #6

The Nanny: A Great TV Show, but a Disaster in the Kitchen Some call her the maid, others the nanny, and a few even describe her as their mother. Yet, rarely do you hear non-jewish help in your house called the "Kitchen Korrupter" (I thought of that myself). She's non-jewish, she cooks her own food with no assistance from a Jew. People go crazy when the nanny feeds the kids pork, but shouldn't we be up in arms when she cooks them their regular homemade dinner? What is the leniency to allow a non-jewish maid to cook in a Jewish home? And why isn't that Bishul Akum? In general, one should not leave goyishe help at home alone, for one cannot be sure20that they won't prepare non-kosher food in the kitchen utensils. Tosofos brings the view of Rabbeinu Avrohom that the prohibition of bishul akum does not apply in the house of a Yid where intermarriage and non-kosher food are not problems. The halacha, however, follows the view of Rabbeinu Tam that Chazal did not distinguish between the domain of a Yid and the domain of a goy regarding bishul akum. Therefore what would come out of this is that if you have a maid and allow her to cook your children dinner from scratch, you might as well be serving them chicken and cheese (both are prohibitions from the rabbanan) However, some Rishonim mention that the entire prohibition of bishul akum was only enacted in instances where the goy has the free will to decide whether he would like to cook the food or not. In instances where the goy is a slave or a hired worker and does not entirely possess that free will, there is no prohibition. But this two is not accepted in normative halacha. But what about the pots? Do the pots that the nanny used to cook in become traif- and require kashering? The Rashba and the Rosh argue whether the Bishul Akum decree extends to utensils that touched hot food cooked by a non-Jew. The Rashba argues that we are not only forbidden to eat the food eaten by the non-Jew, but the utensils that touch hot food that a non-Jew cooked are also rendered not Kosher. The Shulchan Aruch cites both the view of the Rashba and the Rosh, but it presents the Rashba's strict view as the primary view. So be careful with the nanny and if a situation arises or has arose where goyishe household help cooked something in a Jewish house, a Rav should be consulted to determine if based on the situation there are any grounds for leniency.