A Water Heater That Is Heated By The Sun

A Water Heater That Is Heated By The Sun Day: Thursday Date: June 12, 2014 Parshat: Sh'lach Yalkut Yosef: 318 If one cooks food on Shabbat using direct heat from the sun, he may put the food into a pot even though the pot will also get warmed up by the sun and will thereby help the food cool. Since the food is also being heated by the sun directly, having the pot there is not considered cooking the food with indirect heat from the sun. One may not cook on a roof or on the ground that was heated up by the sun since that is using the sun's heat indirectly. One who has a water heater that gets heated up by the sun's heat only and not at all by a fire or electricity, may use the hot water on Shabbat to wash the dishes, or his hands, and the like. When one uses the hot water, new, cold water enters the heater to replace the water that left. The new water is heated up by the old water which was heated up by the sun. Therefore one might think that it should be forbidden since the new water is indirectly being heated up by the sun's heat which is an issur derabanan. However since the intention is to use the old water and it is not necessarily to heat up new water, it is a pesik resha derabanan and therefore permitted. (See Halacha from October 29, 2012 for more information about pesik resha.) It should be noted that one may not shower in this water on Shabbat because of a different issur against bathing on Shabbat. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org