An ''eruv tavshilin'' (Hebrew: עירוב תבשילין, "mixing of
ookeddishes") refers to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
ritual in which one prepares a cooked food prior to a
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...
that will be followed by the Shabbat.
Normally, cooking is allowed on major Jewish holidays (unlike Shabbat and
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...
, when these activities are forbidden), but only for consumption on that day, and not for consumption after the holiday. If such a holiday occurs on Friday, cooking for Shabbat is allowed according to Biblical law, but the rabbis forbade this in order to prevent confusion on other years (when the holiday does not immediately precede the Sabbath) ''unless'' this ritual of ''eruv tavshilin'' is performed, which would remind the people of the reasons for the exception, or it is a facilitation continuing from prior preparation.
This ritual consists of cooking and baking some food for the Sabbath before the holiday begins. The food must consist of at least an egg-size amount of bread or
matzoh
Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which '' chametz'' (leaven an ...
and an olive-sized amount of cooked food. After being set aside, a blessing must be recited, and the food must be eaten on Shabbat. Because the "dishes" or "servings" are "mixed", meaning we have "mixed" the time of preparation between the day prior to the holiday with a food that may be eaten on the day after the holiday (which will be the Shabbat), this thereby allows for cooking to take place on the holiday itself which is not considered a "new" cooking, but rather a continuation of the "mixed" cooking that has already "begun" before the holiday started.
See also
*
Days of week on Hebrew calendar for when ''eruv tavshilin'' is prepared
References
* "Festivals & Fasts, A Practical Guide", edited by Yakov Blinder, Chapter 1.
Notes
External links
The Whys, Hows, and Whats of Eruv Tavshilin- Laws of Eruv Tavshilin at Yeshiva.co
{{Shabbat
Shabbat
Jewish law