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4 ‎[1] There are substances which, if food is covered with them to preserve its heat, will raise its temperature and contribute to its being cooked as fire does - e.g., *gefet*, manure, salt, lime, sand; nor may we use grape skins, unprocessed wool, or grass [for this purpose] when they are damp, even when this is due to their natural moistness. These entities are referred to as substances that increase heat.
There are substances which, if food is covered with them to preserve its heat, will [accomplish that objective alone]. They will not contribute to the cooking process, but will merely prevent [the food] from cooling - e.g., grape skins, unprocessed fabrics, grass, when these are dry, garments, produce, pigeon feathers, thin chips from the combing of flax, carpenters' sawdust, pelts, and the shearings of wool. These entities are referred to as substances which preserve heat. ‎[2] [The Torah's definition of the Sabbath] laws would allow one to cover food with substances that raise its temperature before nightfall, and thus the food would be covered and its heat preserved on the Sabbath, for it is permitted to leave food cooking on a fire on the Sabbath.
The Sages, however, enacted a decree forbidding covering food with substances that raise its temperature before nightfall, lest the pot boil on the Sabbath and it be necessary to uncover it until its boiling ceases. If one would then cover it again on the Sabbath, one would be covering food with a substance that increases its heat on the Sabbath, and this is forbidden.
Accordingly, it is permitted to cover food with substances that increase its temperature *beyn hash'mashot*, since at that time most pots have already boiled, and they [have cooled, so that] they cease boiling. Since they have already ceased boiling, it is unlikely that they will boil again. ‎[3] Similarly, [the Torah's definition of the Sabbath] laws would allow one to cover food with substances that do not raise its temperature on the Sabbath itself. The Sages, however, enacted a decree forbidding this, lest a person cover food with a mixture of ash and coals that has sparks of fire, and stir the coals. [As a safeguard against this, the Sages] forbade covering food with any substance on the Sabbath, even when it will not raise the food's temperature. ‎[4] If one is unsure whether it is before or after nightfall, one may cover hot food. Similarly, it is permitted to cover cold food with a substance that will not raise its temperature, to prevent it from becoming colder or to remove its chill.
When hot food that was covered before the Sabbath becomes uncovered on the Sabbath, it may be covered again, since one is not increasing its temperature. It is permitted to change the covering of food on the Sabbath - e.g., one may replace clothing with pigeon feathers or replace pigeon feathers with clothing. ‎[5] Should one transfer hot food or water from the vessel [in which it was cooked] into another vessel, it is permitted to cover the second vessel with a substance that does not raise its temperature on the Sabbath, as one is permitted to cover cold food. The prohibition against covering [food] on the Sabbath applies only to hot food in the vessel in which it was cooked. If it was transferred, it is permitted. ‎[6] One may place one metal pot on another metal pot, an earthenware pot on another earthenware pot, an earthenware pot on a metal pot, and a metal pot on an earthenware pot, and one may seal [either an earthenware pot or a metal pot] closed with dough - one's intent being not that they should be heated more, but that their heat should be preserved.
The [Sages] forbade only covering [food] with other substances on the Sabbath. It is, however, permissible to place one vessel on another vessel so that they remain hot. In contrast, we may not place a vessel containing a cold substance on a hot vessel on the Sabbath, for by doing so one introduces heat to it. It is permissible, however, to place [cold food on a hot pot] before the Sabbath commences. It is not considered analogous to covering food with a substance that raises its temperature.
Version: Mishneh Torah, trans. by Eliyahu Touger. Jerusalem, Moznaim Pub. c1986-c2007
Source: https://www.nli.org.il/he/books/NNL_ALEPH001020101/NLI
License: CC-BY-NC