Bishul Akum - Sefaredim

[Bestfootie]

Hi @ralph.lasry you have closed commenting on the following page so I’m unable to write this comment there:-

Laws of Foods of a Non-Jew

Bread: Bread, cake, cookies, crackers, and the like, all fall into the category of “Pat Akum,” bread of a Non-Jew, which is more lenient than the cooked food of a Non-Jew, “Bishul Akum.” Bread of a Non-Jew, even though it is from only Kosher ingredients, is not permitted when baked by a private person, but is permitted from a restaurant, bakery, and of course packaged in a supermarket. These are termed “Pat Palter.” If a Jew lights the oven, it would be permitted, even for Sephardim. Cooked Fo…

On that page you write under Cooked Food, bullet-point 6:

6. If a Jew lights the oven, it would be permitted for Ashkenazim; but Sephardim cannot eat that food except when the Non-Jew is an employee at the house or restaurant of a Jew.

I don’t have the source to hand at the moment, though I understood that Hakham Ovadia ruled that due to sfeiq sfeiqa it’s mutar for sefaredim to eat in restaurants where a Jew does not play an active part in the cooking process (notwithstanding sefardi position is that turning on the oven at the beginning of the day is not enough). The reasoning as I recall was that 1) Safeq 1 - maybe the ashkenazim are correct and lighting the fire is enough; and Safeq 2 - It’s a rabbinic injunction anyway so we’re already lehaqel, particularly as it’s a commercial setting and we’re not really concerned with Hatnuth in such a context. Otherwise, Sefardim would not be able to eat in many restaurants without going in and throwing something in the pan/pot.

[aaron.abadi]

I did not have the time not the patience to read through your entire op-ed, nor the sources quoted. I apologize for my impatience.
If you have a specific question, you’re welcome to ask. If you want a lengthy halachic discussion and discourse, you’re on the wrong site. There are plenty of groups on Facebook that might be more of what you are looking for.
Thank you.