Must the water in electric Shabbos urns be hot before the start of Shabbos? May one fill it with cold water anytime before Shekia?[1]
The water in electric Shabbos urns must be hot [at least Yad Soledes, 50 Celsius, 122 Fahrenheit] before the start of Shabbos. All water urns that have interchangeable modes of temperature, as do Shabbos mode urns which contain a Shabbos mode button, and as do all urns that contain a button to press in order to re-boil the water, are subject to the restrictions of Shehiya which prohibits one from leaving non-half cooked food on an open flame into Shabbos. Now, although in general one has the option of covering the heat source in order to permit leaving even raw food onto it into Shabbos for it to cook over Shabbos, this is not possible by a water urn, as nobody will place a cover within the urn over the heating element. Accordingly, the only option is to make sure that the water is at least half cooked before sunset, which requires one to place the water into the urn sometime before sunset, depending on the size of the urn and the temperature of the water.
[1] See Admur 254:14; Minchas Yitzchak 5:91; Igros Moshe 4:74; Inyanei Bishul 22; Shevet Halevi 5:30; Shabbos Kehalacha 8:6; Vol. 1 page 299; pages 315-319; SSH”K 1 footnote 120; Orchos Shabbos 2:26; Piskeiy Teshuvos 254:6
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