Shoshi looked at the clock and saw that it was four o’clock. “I better start setting up for the Shabbos party,” she thought to herself, “My friends are coming in just half an hour.” When she got to setting up the cups, she asked herself “What are we going to drink?! It would be nice to have something cold.” Hearing Shoshi’s dilemma, Chani proposed: “See if there is something else in the freezer. Many times Zevi puts bottles of soda there to cool them down.” So Shoshi quickly opened the freezer and behold, a bottle of coke! But when she took it out, everyone in the room, including Zevi, saw that it was frozen.
“Ooops. Sorry! I guess I forgot to take it out last night,” said Zevi semi-apologetically. “No worries, Zevi,” said Shoshi, “I’ll put it out on the porch now and it will melt by the time my friends will arrive.”
“Hmm...I am not so sure if you could do that now. By defrosting a coke you’ll be transferring it from one state to another. So I think the defrosted coke will have a status of nolad, which is like a chicken egg that was laid on Shabbos - that egg is nolad and cannot be used!” said Zevi. Question: May Shoshi let that bottle of coke defrost now?
Hints & Answers
HALACHA CHALLENGE: Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchosa (10:5) writes: “Any other food or drink (i.e., other than water) that does not change its ‘name’ when it changes from non-frozen to frozen state or vice versa, and is not typically eaten in a frozen state: it is permitted to put it in a freezer, if in fact his intention is that it should not spoil. Also, it is permitted to take it out of the freezer and defrost it with intention to use it on Shabbos.”
*Menucha answers are not to be taken as final decisions in halacha.
