Shabbos Seuda: We Don’t See It on the Menu

An Overview of a Shiur given by Rav Ari Stauber on Parshas Emor

וביום השביעי שבת שבתון מקרא קודש כל מלאכה לא תעשו ויקרא כג:ג

Gemara (Shabbos 148b-149a) — One may not read a guest
list or food menu on Shabbos for two reasons:

  • May erase something
  • May come  to read shtarei hedyotos

Heterim for reading a food menu on Shabbos or Yom
Tov:

  • Avoiding the concern of
    erasing:

    • From Rav Eliashiv – We
      don’t prepare the exact amount of food, so no concern of nervousness that one might
      erase.
    • Bach– Someone
      else can read it, as the concern of erasing is only for the wife.
    • Rashba – Can appoint
      a shomer to ensure she does not erase.
    • Rav Heinemann and Rav
      Furst
      – Can use a page-saver or laminate it, which serve as a heker
  • Avoiding shtarei hedyotos
  • Magen Avraham/Rav Shmuel Kamanetsky – It is a seudas mitzvah, and the gezeira doesn’t apply.
  • Magen Avraham – Gezeira doesn’t apply to very short documents.
  • Write the names of foods on separate index cards.