Keeping Food Warm on Shabbos, GE Meets the Needs of Observant Jewish Consumers

7
>>Follow Matzav On Whatsapp!<<

ovenLouisville, Ky. – Whether it’s gefilte fish, challah, brisket, noodle kugel, latkes, or one of the many other iconic mainstays of the Jewish kitchen, there is one critical ingredient that cuts across them all – the cooking appliance. While electronics and safety features on modern ranges have added complexity and challenges to the Kosher kitchen, GE has answered with a Star-K-certified Sabbath mode feature on hundreds of its cooking appliances.GE offers a Sabbath Mode feature on over 264 GE®, GE ProfileTM, Monogram® and Hotpoint® models. Consumers can find this feature on GE wall ovens, smooth-top electric slide-in and smooth-top electric drop-in ranges, as well as on the majority of its free-standing ranges.

This feature meets the certification requirements of a nationally recognized Kosher certifying agency, Star-K. This capability can be utilized, if desired, but otherwise it stays inactive and unnoticeable to the non-Jewish consumer. A list of certified GE models is available on the Star-K website.

The voice of Jewish consumers led GE engineers to the development of this feature. Although the Sabbath and holiday laws, especially as they relate to the cooking and heating of foods, are rather complex, the engineers at GE have appreciated and comprehended the intricacies of Halacha (Jewish law) as they developed a Sabbath mode that enhances the Sabbath and holidays of observant Jewish families.

Most modern ranges are equipped with an integrated 12-hour shut-off safety device. This feature shuts down the oven’s power after the oven has been operating consecutively for 12 hours. The GE cooking products with Sabbath Mode will override the 12-hour shut-off. The oven will not shut off automatically, making it possible to keep cooked foods warm on the Sabbath or use the range over religious holidays for cooking and warming food.

In addition to overriding the shut off, the Sabbath Mode feature will meet the observant Jewish consumer’s restrictions for observing the Sabbath and other holidays by:

•Eliminating tones or timer beeps.
•Not displaying icons.
•Permitting temperature adjustments on holidays without displays or beeps.
How does this feature work? When the consumer activates this feature, the oven may be set either to:

•Go on immediately and stay on for a set amount of time, or
•Turn off automatically after a set amount of time.

The oven will stay at the temperature the user selects when entering the Sabbath mode. The digital control display will not show time, temperature, or selected oven function until the Sabbath mode feature is manually de-activated at the conclusion of the Sabbath or holiday. This makes it possible for observant Jews to serve warm food on holidays, the underlying principle being that it is permissible to use electricity that is already on but not to turn it on or off during the duration of the holiday. Observant Jews are thus prohibited from turning on or off the oven, or taking an action that causes the oven control display to change during the Sabbath or religious holidays.

For specific model information and availability, consumers should contact their local GE Appliance dealer.

{Business Wire/Matzav.com}


7 COMMENTS

  1. All of the major poiskim banned the use of this oven, including Rav Eliyashev, Rav wosner, Rav Karelitz. Rav shlomo Miller wrote a letter that it’s ossur. If there would be the Sanhedrin, they would bring in the matirim as a zoken mamrai.

  2. see these links
    http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2007/05/shabbos-mode-aka-shabbos-friendly.html

    Sunday, July 18, 2010SHABBOS MODE Appliances banned by Gedoilei Haposkim

    http://matzav.com/clients/matzav/Oven.pdf

    It all started a number of years back on “Mesifta-Di’rakiah” [short-wave-radio]. Rabbi Moshe Heineman stated that on Shabbos in a Shul one may “ki’lachar-yad” turn on or off the alarm on shabbos. Yudel Shain stated that he has a magnetic type switch that one can use for the alarm on Shabbos that would be permitted even according to the “Chazon-Ish”. An individual asked on the program can one reverse omagnetic polarity on Shabbos….? Rabbi Heineman responded forget the magnetic type switch “the Chazon-Ish is only a DAAS-YOCHID”, & do it ki’lacharyad. The STAR-K also utilizes the light-bulb to acomplish BISHUL-YISROEL. Reb Shlomo Zalman’s comment re: light-bulb Bishul yisroel..”one of the main causes of Intermarriage R”L.”

    Click on letter to enlage!

    The Shabbos mode appliances may not be so “shabbos friendly” after all.

    Rav Shlomo Miller, Shlita [Toronto-Lakewood] recently publicized a letter re: Shabbos-mode ovens that one may not adjust temperatures on Yom-Tov, contrary to the kosher certification.

    In respect to the above publicized letter from Rav Miller, we are not publicizing the name of the kosher certifier.

    Others have researched the “Shabbos-friendly” appliances & concluded that according to ALL “Poiskim” it is not permitted to be used in the Shabbos mode. It is more than “Gramahs” that are being activated.

    See Star-K link http://www.star-k.org/pdf/oventeshuva.pdf And therefor you may even decide to use your computer on Yom-Tov without the screen.

  3. the Shabbos mode accomplishes many things.
    Rav Miller and many other poskim only disagreed about one aspect, changing the temp on yomtov.
    the specifics are complicated and beyond what can be discussed here. it is simply a difference in psak, although most of the top poskim have said not to use that one feature.
    EVERYONE agrees that all the other advantages of the Shabbos mode are useful and permissable.

  4. Anyone using this oven in it’s shabbos mode may not be hired as a mashgiach, as he is a michalel shabbos, and you can’t use him as an “eid” by a wedding.

  5. Seems to me you fools are talking about an electric oven.
    The gas model we have when it is in Sabbath mode (Really it should have been called Yom Tov mode) completely turns off all electronics and allows you to raise the manual knob when the oven flame is on and to lower it when the flame is off.
    On Yom Tov of course.

    It also will not beep on Friday night when the timer turns it off so we can take out our hot food.Get the facts .

Leave a Reply to smartalex Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here