Washing Dishes and Cleaning the Table on Shabbath and Yom Tov
WASHING DISHES
3.a. Where there is a possibility that the remains of food will dry onto the sides or bottom of a pot so that it will be more difficult to clean after Shabbath or Yom Tov, the pot may be stood in water on Shabbath or Yom Tov
3.b. The reason for this is that standing the pot in water is a semi-automatic act, merely preserving the pot in its existing moist state.
3.c. If, however, the leftovers have already dried up and become stuck to the pot, one must not stand it in water on Shabbath or Yom Tov, since, in this case, one would be doing so with the specific object in mind of making it easier to clean afterwards than it is now. (See Chapter 28, paragraph 81.)
