Preparing Dough on Yom Tov

Hello and blessings,

Preparing dough by hand is permitted on Yom Tov. If the pastry is tasty after a day just as it is tasty when fresh, then it is proper to prepare the pastry on Erev Yom Tov.

Here is a summary of the laws of kneading on Yom Tov from Yalkut Yosef, section 506.

1 It is permitted to take flour from the vessel on Yom Tov even though this creates a depression when taking it, for one need not be concerned about making a depression except in earth, not in food. The same applies to sugar and other foods. Likewise, with snuff tobacco it is permitted to take a large amount at once from the vessel, and there is no concern of making a depression. [Yalkut Yosef, Moadim, p. 473].

2 It is forbidden to sift flour on Yom Tov with a sieve, even with some שינוי, a change. However, if one sifted the flour with a sieve before Yom Tov and wishes to sift it again on Yom Tov so that the bread will be more attractive, it is permitted to sift it with a change, since this is not the kind of sifting forbidden on Yom Tov, for it is evident that one is not separating the flour from the bran, but rather everything passes through the holes of the sieve. In any case, in order that one not confuse this with the initial sifting of flour on Yom Tov, a change was required. [Yalkut Yosef on the Festivals, p. 474. Chazon Ovadia, Yom Tov, p. 67].

3 How does one make the change? If one was accustomed during the week to sift over a kneading trough, one should sift over a table [by placing paper on the table]. If one was accustomed to sift over a table, one should make another change, such as sifting the flour over a bench or chair and the like. [Yalkut Yosef on the Festivals there. Chazon Ovadia, Yom Tov, p. 67].

4 If, after the flour was sifted before Yom Tov, a clod or a splinter fell into it, it is permitted to sift it again on Yom Tov even without a change. [Yalkut Yosef there. Chazon Ovadia, Yom Tov, p. 67].

5 It is forbidden to measure flour on Yom Tov with the special measuring כלי, vessel, used for measurement in order to knead, but one should take by estimation, or add a little to the measure, or subtract a little. [Yalkut Yosef, Festivals, p. 474. Chazon Ovadia, Yom Tov, p. 68].

6 One who kneads dough on Yom Tov may separate challah from it with a blessing when it has the amount that obligates challah, namely five hundred and twenty dirham of flour, which equals a weight of one kilogram and five hundred and sixty grams. One who kneads dough with sugar for a cake is also obligated to separate challah with a blessing, when it contains the amount requiring challah, provided that it is baked as baking, as opposed to if he fries the dough in honey, in which case it is exempt from challah. One who is stringent to separate challah even if it is fried will be blessed. [Chazon Ovadia, p. 68, in a note].

7 The challah that is separated nowadays on Yom Tov may not be burned on Yom Tov, but it should be set aside until Motzaei Yom Tov and then burned. [Yalkut Yosef on the Festivals, p. 475. Chazon Ovadia, Yom Tov, p. 68].

8 If dough was kneaded on Erev Yom Tov, challah may not be separated from it on Yom Tov, since it was possible to take challah on Erev Yom Tov, and because it is considered תיקון, a corrective act. Similarly, terumot and maasrot may not be separated on Yom Tov because it is considered a corrective act. [There].

9 One who kneads dough on Yom Tov may not imprint any design or letters into the dough with a mold, and even by hand it is forbidden to form a bird or letters and the like. [There].

10 A cake that was baked before Yom Tov and has designs and letters on it may be eaten on Yom Tov, and there is no concern here of erasing, for even on Shabbat this should be permitted, all the more so on Yom Tov. [Yabia Omer, vol. 4, section 38].

With blessings,

Binyamin Shmueli