The Cohen family had so many guests on Shabbos that they ran out of fresh challahs. The older sister Rivky went to the kitchen with a hope that she would find more challahs. “We’re saved!” she cheerfully screamed out. “I found one more challah in the freezer.”
“But how will we eat it?” asked the puzzled four-year-old Binyamin.
“Let’s wait five minutes, and the challah will be defrosted on its own,” proposed Rivky.
Her brother, Levi objected: “Even after five minutes, the challah will still be cold and not so tasty. I think we should put it near the blech for some time.”
Binyamin jumped in with his answer: “In my friend’s house, I saw how they took out a kugel from a refrigerator and put it on top of the covered pot that was standing on a blech. Let’s do the same with the challah!”
Question: Who has the correct solution – Rivky, Levi or Binyamin?
Answers* HALACHA CHALLENGE: Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchosa (1:71) writes: “In order to defrost frozen bread on Shabbos, it is permitted to put it next to a fire, in a place where [the heat] will not be able to toast it. Or [similarly, it is permitted to] even place it on top of [the cover of] a water urn that’s [standing] on the fire. But one should be careful to, at first, shake off the pieces of ice that’s on top of [the frozen bread].” RHYMES: “tongue” RIDDLE: There was a thunder and therefore, people said the bracha of “Shekocho u’gevuroso maleh olam.” The Mishna Berura (OC 66:19) cites a dispute among the poskim if it is permitted to say the bracha on thunder in the middle of saying Shema or its brachos. It appears (based on that Mishna Berura) that it is permitted to say the bracha on thunder “bein haprakim” - for example: after completing the 1st paragraph of Shema, before starting the 2nd paragraph of Shema. | *Menucha answers are not written to serve as final decisions in halacha, but rather as springboards for discussions and further study.
