A guide to keeping your food warm on Shabbat

It's Friday evening and the house is spotless as the time for candle lighting approaches. The hotplate is loaded with pots and the fragrant challah on top, and you want to cover the challah to keep it warm. For your family, fish without warm challah simply isn't the same Shabbat delight.

Wait. Did you know that covering the challah can be problematic, even when done before Shabbat?

Is it permissible to place challah on a pot that's on an electric hotplate and cover it before Shabbat so it stays warm?

For Sephardic Jews

There is a difference between an electric hotplate and a metal sheet over an open flame.

If you use an electric hotplate, it is permissible to cover the pots and the challah completely, although it's preferable to cover everything just by draping a towel or other covering over it.

If, however, you cover the open flames on a gas cooker with a sheet of metal, and place the pots and challah on top of this sheet, the pots and challah may not be covered at all.

For Ashkenazi Jews

The halachah (Jewish law) is the same regardless of whether a hotplate or metal sheet on an open flame is used.

One should not cover the pots or the challah with a towel or other covering in such a way that they are covered from all sides. However, it is permissible to cover them only partially.

Summary:

Sephardic - Metal sheet over an open flame – one may not cover the pots or challah.

Electric hotplate – one may cover the food completely, but it's preferable to cover only from above.

Ashkenazi– One may only cover the pots and challah partially, regardless of the heat source.