Sources and Reasons:
Regarding the tray, since its primary use is with cold foods or foods that are not at the temperature of yad soledet bo, and it is likewise customary to feed a child foods that would not burn his stomach, mere washing and cleaning are sufficient, as explained in the Shulchan Aruch (siman 451, סעיף 5). However, according to the Rema (ibid.), who follows even a minority use, boiling water should be poured directly from the kettle, and this is sufficient.
Although one sometimes places a solid food before the child, and the well-known words of the Yam Shel Shlomo (Chullin, ch. 8, siman 44) state that the principle of a kli sheni applies only to water, gravy, and any clear liquid that mixes immediately and cools quickly. However, regarding a piece of meat, fish, or any solid food, as long as yad soledet bo, it retains its heat and absorbs and expels. Therefore, it appears that millet and rice as well, after being poured from a pot into a bowl, retain the status of a kli rishon for as long as yad soledet bo. These are his words.
However, the Gaon, the Netziv (She’iltot 137), proved from the Ran in Pesachim (30a) that even regarding Pesach, we do not take solid food into account. For he wrote that knives require hag’alah from a kli rishon because they are sometimes inserted into a pot, and he did not write that this is because one cuts meat with them in a hot kli sheni in which yad soledet bo. Rather, it is certainly so that even a hot solid food in a kli sheni, where yad soledet bo, does not have the status of a kli rishon. The Beit Meir (Yoreh De’ah, siman 94) likewise proved this from these words of the Ran. So too did the Mishkenot Yaakov (in his glosses to Yoreh De’ah, siman 105) and the Chatam Sofer (Yoreh De’ah, siman 95). Similarly, the Magen HaElef (siman 451, se’if katan 7) writes that from the fact that the Rif, Rambam, and all the poskim wrote—and the Shulchan Aruch ruled accordingly (siman 451, סעיף 6)—that bowls suffice with irui from a kli rishon, this is clear proof that the view of Maharshal, who maintains that even a kli sheni is prohibited with a solid food, is untenable. For otherwise, consider how bowls could suffice with irui, when dough and solid foods are poured into them. Rather, clearly this view is not accepted. Even according to the Rema, who was stringent there, this is because bowls are sometimes used with a kli rishon, not as a stringency concerning solid food. Thus, this may be permitted even regarding Pesach.
Therefore, although the Mishnah Berurah (siman 447, se’if katan 24) was concerned for the opinion of Maharshal regarding Pesach, since it is not customary to place solid food directly from the pot onto the “Kef Chair” tray, as this would be dangerous for the child, and when solid food is placed there, it is placed from a kli sheni, such as a plate or the like, it is then a kli shelishi. See the Pri Megadim (siman 447, Eshel Avraham, se’if katan 9), who was uncertain concerning solid food in a kli shelishi. This may be combined with the opinions of the poskim who are lenient.
Furthermore, it appears that the poskim disagree as to the definition of yad soledet bo. The Issur VeHeter (klal 34) writes that it is the temperature at which an average person’s hand would be burned. Similarly, Rabbi Ben Ish Chai (Year Two, Parashat Bo, ot 5) writes: “Keep this rule in hand: wherever this hot food is fit for drinking or eating, such that a person does not refrain from it because of its great heat, it is not considered yad soledet bo. But if one would refrain from drinking or eating it because of its great heat, it falls under the category of yad soledet bo.” Accordingly, certainly no one places food before his child at a temperature that would burn the hand.
This response was translated automatically from Hebrew and has not yet been reviewed by a person. Therefore, it may contain inaccuracies and should not be considered a definitive reference.
