Kashrus in the Kitchen (84). The Jewish Kitchen
We have concluded the halachos of Tevilas Keilim and now move on to the halachos of Macholei Akum - select foods of a gentile that Chazal prohibit, mostly because they were afraid of of intermarriage between Jews and gentiles. These issurim are Pas Akum - bread baked by a gentile, Bishul Akum - certain items cooked by a gentile, and Stam Yeinam - wine made or touched by a gentile. As many questions arise regarding gentile help or aids in the house, our discussion will center on how they relate to help in the house and then apply it to other situations.
Pas Akum. Eating together with gentiles brings a closeness that can lead to intermarriage and thus Chazal prohibited us from eating bread baked by a gentile. There is a place in the Gemara (1) where it sounds like the issur was to keep us away from idol- worship. Either way, the issur applies even when the gentile does not worship idols and there’s no chance of intermarriage, such as a prince whose stature would not allow him to marry a Jew. This category called “Pas” includes any item in the bread “family” which looks like bread enough to have to bentch if he makes a meal out of it. Therefore, cake, crackers, pies are also deemed as Pas, but pasta, lukshen, farfel and spaghetti are not.
Pas Palter. All the above applies to items baked by an individual gentile where the chance of intermarriage is very real. However, Pas Palter - bread baked by a professional baker or in a factory, for commercial sale and is not as likely to lead to any friendship, is more lenient. The Poskim differ as to the exact boundaries of this leniency. The Mechaber (2) permits Pas Palter only when Pas Yisroel is not available, while the RM’A there permits it completely. Ashkenazim hold like the RMA but many are stricter and do like the Shulchan Aruch, because the Shach (3) also holds like that. During Aseres Yemei Teshuva [the 2 days of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur (if one is permitted to eat due to bad health), and the 7 days between] when one is supposed to be stricter than the rest of the year, all Ashkenazim refrain from Pas Palter. For the honor of Shabbos, one should only eat Pas Yisroel and not Pas Palter on Shabbos, as per the Mishna Berura (4).
(1) עבודה זרה לו: (2) שו"ע יו"ד קיב (3) ש"ך קיב:ט (4) מ"ב רמב:ו.
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