BEN DRUSAI בן דרוסאי
Ben Drusai lived in Israel and was a contemporary of an Amora named Rabbi Yochanan. Despite Ben Drusai’s involvement in illegal activities yet his manner of cooking food is the prototype used by the Talmud to define when food is considered edible, called ma’achal ben Drusai.
The two major opinions regarding the exact measurement of ma’achal ben Drusai are those of Rambam, who says that the food is considered edible if it is half cooked, and Rashi, who opines that the fraction is only one-third. According to most, the fraction is not the amount of cooking time but the degree to which the food is cooked.
This measurement of ma’achal ben Drusai has importance in two major areas of law: Shabbos 20a - prohibition of cooking on Shabbos (once considered edible then no longer violation of the Torah law by further cooking on Shabbos); and Avodah Zarah 38b - the prohibition of a non-Jew cooking food (once considered edible then no longer prohibited by further cooking by a non-Jew). A remez to this matter of ma’achal ben Drusai is the word כלח: (כ for the 20th page of Shabbos and לח for the 38th page of Avodah Zarah) that a food that is still as if raw yet cooked to this extent is determined to be a cooked food.
Why did this person (a well-known thief) merit to have his name mentioned in the Gemara in nine different places?
- Eiruvim 54a: A person's learning will endure only if makes himself like a wild animal that tramples [prey דורסת] and eats immediately (Rashi - immediately after learning, he reviews it; Ben Yehoyada - he does not insist that others prepare his needs, and he does not seek to be fed by others); Some say, he must be like a Chayah that dirties its food before eating (Maharsha - he is so engrossed in learning that he neglects to ensure that his food is prepared nicely, as befits a Chacham). If he does so, Hashem Himself prepares a meal for him - "Tachin b'Tovascha le'Ani Elokim". Thus, a positive trait of a Talmid Chacham is that one diminishes the time spent with material necessities such as eating, in order to increase the learning of Torah and refinement of middos. Therefore, Ben Drusai displayed a positive attribute that he would not eat his food completely cooked from which we are able to learn a lesson.
- Rabbi Moshe from Pano: Ben Drusai was a reincarnation from Chafni the son Eli the Cohen Gadol. Chafni was accused of similar actions of stealing by grabbing the Sacrificial meat earlier before its proper time to be given to the Cohanim. Chaza”l possibly sought to offer a fixing of his mistakes by using this action as the standard of ma’achal ben Drusai within Jewish law.
The aforementioned definition of ma’achal ben Drusai applies only to dry foods. For liquids, the temperature at which cooking takes place is called “yad soledes bo,” which is defined by the Gemara (Shabbos 40b) as the temperature at which a baby’s abdomen would become scalded. Rashi cites a passage in the book of Job (6:10), where the term “soledes” means “spontaneously withdrawn.” In his commentary on Iyov, the Radak translates “soledes” in the verse there as “heated” or “boiling.”
Degrees of cooking:
- Raw
- Ma'achal Ben Drusai דרוסאי בן מאכל -- "a food suitable for Ben Drusai.” This is either cooked 1/3 (Rashi) or 1/2 (Rambam). We generally follow the Rambam (OC 254:2) but may rely on Rashi in cases of pressing need (MB 253:38).
There are two forms of fully cooked foods:
- Mitztamek v'tov lo(מצטמק וטוב לו) - "shrinking to its benefit." A food that is fully cooked that gets better with additional cooking. Examples: cholent; pea soup.
- Mitztamek v'ra lo (מצטמק ורע לו)- "shrinking to its detriment." A food that is fully cooked that gets worse with additional cooking. Examples: a dry cholent; rice; turkey; brownies.
Eisav eat “Adoshim” (lentils - Bereshis 25,24). He was so gluttonous that he wanted the lentil dish immediately even though they were not fully cooked still being red. “Adoshim” has the same numeric value as ma’achal ben Drusai (424).
