S6086 - Meleches Shabbos - (Klal 30 Siman 6) - Tzad - 24 - Safek Psik Reisha - 4_ Opening Ovens

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Meleches Shabbos - Tzad 24 - Safeik Psik Reisha 4 - Opening Ovens (Klal 30 Siman 6) S0686
We are continuing in siman 6, discussing the concept of safeik psik reisha. We learned that when the safeik is already in existence, the Shulchan Aruch considers it a davar she’eino miskavein, while the Rema considers it a safeik psik reisha.
We mentioned that this question comes up in regards to opening an oven. The concern is that if the temperature inside the oven is hovering right around the point where the thermostat will trigger, the first blast of the cool air from the kitchen will cause the oven to turn on, and the person opening the door is held responsible, because it is considered a person’s direct action rather than grama. We will clarify a few more points about ovens, because it is very important the halacha l’maaseh.
One point is that the idea that there is a difference between grama and direct action is based on a Gemara in Sanhedrin. The Gemara brings a case of a person who ties somebody up and puts him in front of a dam, then breaks open the dam, and allows the water to drown the victim. The attacker didn't kill him, but just caused the water to flow over him which is a grama. According to the way the Ramah understands the Gemara, if the water which is immediately behind the dam rushes out and kills the person, it is considered direct action and the attacker is chayav misah in beis din. If that first rush of water does not kill, but the subsequent water kills, it is considered grama. We apply this Gemara to other cases, such as the oven. If the first whoosh of cold air is what turns on the thermostat, it is considered the direct action of the person who opened the oven. If that first rush of air does not turn on the oven, but subsequent air turns it on, it would be grama, which is assur miderabanan. The Gemara explains that in regards to Shabbos the pasuk says lo sa'asu kol melacha, which teaches that asiya (action) is assur but grama is mutar.
There is a Rama in siman 334 which says that miderabanan, grama is assur except for cases of significant necessity, such as saving things from a fire.
Another point is that based on the Biur Halacha, Ashkenazim are machmir on questions of safeik psik reisha which are a safeik deoraysa. This would seem to mean that it would be assur to open the oven due to the potential concern for an issur deoraysa. However, there may be a solution. If a person has no interest in turning on the oven, it is considered a psik reisha d’lo nicha lei. Lo nicha lei does not just mean that a person is against the action, but it also includes if they are neutral and have no active interest in the action happening.
The Rosh holds that, if so, a psik reisha d’lo nicha lei is no longer meleches machsheves, so the Sefer He-Aruch (one of the earlier Rishonim who predates Rashi) actually holds that psik reisha d'lo nicha lei is muttar. Tosfos and others are very clear that we do not follow the Aruch, and the Shulchan Aruch paskens against the Aruch and writes that psik reisha d'lo nicha lei is assur.
Nevertheless, the Rosh writes that even according to Tosfos, when it comes to melacha on Shabbos, since there is a requirement that melacha be meleches machsheves in order to be assur mideroraysa, psik reisha d'lo nicha lei is derabanan. If so, Rabbi Heinemann shlita from Baltimore made the suggestion that if a person opens the oven to take out food, and they take out all the food at the one time, they no longer care if the oven cycles on, because it is not important to them. If so, it becomes a psik reisha d'lo nicha lei and an issur derabanan, so when applying the safeik of the Biur Halacha, one can be meikil to open the oven due to the safeik derabanan.
That being said, Rav Moshe Feinstein is on record that a person can open an oven door without any concern. He is meikel even without Rabbi Heinemann’s condition. We will clarify this opinion further, be’ezras Hashem.

Summary
It is a machlokes Shulchan Aruch and Rema whether cases akin to flies which might be trapped in a box are treated as a davar she’eino miskavein, and always muttar, or are treated as a safeik psik reisha, and it will depend whether the safeik is deoraysa or derabanan. At first glance, an oven seems to be a safeik deoraysa. However, Rav Heinemann points out that if one removes all of the food at once, the oven cycling on becomes a psik reisha d’lo nicha lei, so one could treat it as a safeik derabanan. Rav Moshe holds one can open the oven even if they do not remove all of the food, and we will discuss his opinion further, be’ezras Hashem.