Is Drinking Coffee from Starbucks a Violation of Bishul Akum?

Question: Is Drinking Coffee from Stabucks a Violation of Bishul Akum?

Answer: The Talmud in Avoda Zara (38a) explains a few qualifications to the law of Bishul Akum, food cooked by a non-Jew.

1.     נאכל כמות שהוא חי – Any food or drink that is edible in its raw state does not apply to the prohibition of Bishul Akum. The logic is that since it could have been eaten without being cooked, we do not consider the cooking to be sufficient to prohibit the food item from consumption. Maran Beit Yosef rules this way in Shulchan Aruch as well.

The Talmud in Avoda Zara (31b) says that the beer made by a non-Jew would be a violation of Bishul Akum, but there is a debate to the reasoning. One opinion is because of חתנות, which Rashi explains to mean that if the Jewish and non-Jewish families intermingle as families, it could lead to intermarriage. Tosfot, however, says that beer of today would be permissible because although it itself is note edible raw, the main ingredient is water and that makes the wheat null and void visa vis the water. Since water is edible raw, we treat beer as edible raw. This would be similar to the fact that although the main ingredient in beer is wheat, we do not recite a בורא מני מזונות  when drinking it, but, rather, we say שהכל נהיה בדברו since the wheat is null and void visa vis the water. Maran Beit Yosef rules this way in Shulchan Aruch as well.

Rav Ovadia says the same should be true with coffee. Just as we do not say a בורא פרי העץ when drinking coffee and do say שהכל נהיה בדברו since the coffee beans are null visa vis the water, similarly we treat it like water which is edible raw, and, therefore, not a problem of bishul akum. Rav Ovadia quotes a number of poskim who make this same point. However, we will see below that some opinions argue with this theory and do not consider coffee null visa vis the water and thus it would not be considered edible raw as no one eats raw coffee beans or powder.

2.     עולה על שולחן מלאכים – is the item typically brought to the table of kings?

The Talmud says that if a food item is not typically served on the table of kings, then it is not chashuv enough and then if a non-Jew cooks that food, it does not qualify as bishul akum. Thus a Jew is permitted to eat it.

The Radvaz says that coffee is not an issue if bishul akum, but for the reason mentioned above that it is null visa vis the water and considered edible raw. In fact, he argues that it is not considered edible raw. Rather,  he reasons that it is not a food served at the table of a king and thus is not chashuv enough to be an issue of bishul akum. However, others argue that coffee would not be considered עולה על שולחן מלאכים.

This debate revolves around how we define עולה על שולחן מלאכים. Is it something that is brought to the king’s table ללפת את הפת, which basically means it is eaten as part of the meal to enhance the bread or other main foods – this would be the Radvaz’s opinion, hence coffee would not be in this category. The other opinion says that we need not take the words of the Talmud ללפת את הפת that literally. Rather, it means any food that would be considered chashuv enough to be brought on the table of a king, even if it is eaten alone and not with the main foods, or even with the main course. Accordingly, coffee would be in this category and thus could be a violation of bishul akum (if not for the first debate of it is considered edible raw).

Rav Ovaida continues with a lengthy discussion about both of the points above, quoting some poskim who agree and some who disagree.

1.     נאכל כמות שהוא חי  - Many poskim agree that the coffee is null visa vis the water and thus is considered edible raw.

2.     עולה על שולחן מלאכים  - Some agree that it is not considered עולה על שולחן מלאכים

since it is not eaten with the bread or main foods. It seems that many poskim argue with this.

Summary: Based on the above, Rav Ovadia concludes that coffee cooked by a non-Jew would NOT be subject to bishul Akum. He reasons that since this is a Rabbinic prohibition, there is room to be lenient since the majority of poskim agree that it is considered נאכל כמות שהוא חי and thus not chashuv enough to be prohibited.

One final point to consider is that the above conclusion means that one can drink coffee made anywhere and there would be no concern of bishul akum. However, one must still be mindful of the all other kashrut guidelines surrounding coffee, which are out of the scope of this discussion. But suffice it to say that all non-flavored coffee can be consumed anywhere, while flavored coffees must have proper certification.

Summary based on שו׳׳ת יחוה דעת חלק ד׳ סימן מב׳