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We are continuing in siman 22, where the Chayei Adam discusses hatmana. The Chayei Adam writes that he discussed the bulk of these halachos, along with shehiya, in siman 5, but he will add a point here about insulating coffee. They used to dig a hole in the ground, fill it with sand, and then bury a pot with coffee inside the sand. Sand is an insulator which is muttar to use from Erev Shabbos going into Shabbos, because it is not considered a mosif hevel. (By contrast, manure is considered a mosif hevel because the chemical reactions cause it to generate heat on its own, and is assur to use for hatmana even on Erev Shabbos.) It is muttar to perform hatmana with something which is not mosif hevel on Erev Shabbos, so it is muttar to place the coffee pot into the sand.
The Chayei Adam adds a caveat not mentioned in siman 5. He writes that one cannot perform hatmana on the entire pot, but only on half or a third of the pot. However, since doing so will cause a lot of the pot to not warm up, one can turn another pot upside down and place it on top of the coffee pot. Then, one can place blankets and such on top of the upside down pot. Since the upside down pot and blankets are not touching the coffee pot, they are not considered hatmana, so the coffee pot is not considered fully insulated. Since it is not fully insulated, one can place as many layers on top of the upside down pot as they would like.
Based on what we have learned previously, that hatmana b’miktzas is not considered hatmana, as long as the top of the pot is not covered, the Rema should hold there is no concern for hatmana. If so, it is hard to understand why the Chayei Adam requires that the pot be half or one third uncovered. The Mishnah Berurah quotes the Chayei Adam in one place, yet follows the Rema as well. We will discuss this question in the upcoming shiur, be’ezras Hashem
Summary
Although we have learned that leaving the top off of a pot is sufficiently considered hatmana b’miktzas, the Chayei Adam seems to require a half or two thirds of the pot to remain exposed. We will disucss this question further in the upcoming shiurim, be’ezras Hashem.
