Are you allowed to eat, not on Shabbat, in a kosher restaurant that is open on Shabbat?
Eating During the Week at a Kosher Restaurant That Is Open on Shabbat
Question
Answer
Yes, if it has a reliable kashrut.
Sources
The Shulchan Aruch and the Rambam rule that when a Jew deliberately cooks on Shabbat, the food is forbidden forever to the one who cooked it. Other people, however, may eat it immediately after Shabbat. The Rambam explains: “It is holy, but the fruits of labor performed on it are not holy.” So the restaurant’s Shabbat activity does not forbid its food to other Jews during the week.
The condition of reliable kashrut comes from the Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh De’ah. Someone who publicly transgresses one sin is still believed on other prohibitions, but public Sabbath desecration is an exception. An owner who openly keeps the business open on Shabbat cannot be trusted on his own word, so the restaurant needs reliable kashrut supervision.
- Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 318:1 — food cooked deliberately on Shabbat is forbidden forever to the cook but permitted to others right after Shabbat
- Rambam Hilchot Shabbat 6:23 — other Jews may benefit from a deliberate Shabbat melacha after Shabbat; “it is holy, but its works are not holy”
- Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 119:7 — a public transgressor is believed on other prohibitions, except one who publicly desecrates Shabbat
Author
Rabbi Shay Tahan
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