[Avodah] Brussel sprouts and halachic ramifications of vision strength

[Chana Luntz]

RMYG wrote:
> You could be mechaleik (wasn't that an old Avodah meme - VIDC?
> Something like that?), but I do have one situation in which the halachah
changes
> based on vision - the Biur Halachah in Siman 79 (DH Oy SheHu Suma) says
that
> a person has to distance himself from Tzoah when saying Shema at night
> based on how well he sees during the day. One who sees farther will have
to
> make sure he's farther away. (A blind person, though, evaluates the
distance
> based on the vision of an average person. 20/20, maybe? Or is the
> average _uncorrected_ vision?)

Yes I hear that, but it is, as you suggest, not that difficult to be
mechaleik.   Saying Shema is a mitzvah on the gavra.  Not surprisingly,
therefore, the halachos that relate to it are dependent on the nature of the
particular gavra - and indeed many of them are completely subjective, eg in
relation to smell.  So even with tzoah, which is a cheftza, the key aspect
is the impact on the gavra saying the Shema.

But in the case of bugs, the issur is clearly an issur cheftza.

Somebody suggested to me privately that in the case of a Rav paskening
ma'aros, we do not insist on the Rav with the sharpest eyesight.  But, it
seems to me, we do insist on the Rav being an expert in ma'aros (and many
rabbaim will not posken these precisely because they do not feel confident
in doing so), and that falls within the rubric of going to the judge that is
in your times - ie it is a specific heter to allow for the fact that the
person doing the judging today might not be up to Moshe rabbanu's standards,
and yet it is mutar for me to rely on him anyway.

But where else do we see, when it comes to an issur d'orisa, that we just
let any Tom, Dick or Harry - or really any Rochel or Leah determine whether
such an issur exists or not, where it is reliant on skill and judgement.
When it comes to shechita, we insist on having an expert, and a yiras
shamayim and all the rest of it.  Why have we not had, from time immemorial
a "bug checker" or "bug checkers" appointed by the community and certified
as an expert to whom all vegetables and fruit must be submitted, and who
will posken accordingly? I know that is what people are trying to achieve by
way of hechsherim on vegetables today, but this is, as has been pointed out,
a totally new thing, something that never happened in history.  In the case
of bedikas chametz, the only reason they were prepared to let the hoi polloi
do bedikas chametz was because, because of bittel, thus any chametz that
could be found (or missed) via bedikas chametz is only d'rabbanan - as
bittel will work to nullify the d'orisa.  Why have Chazal from time
immemorial permitted vegetables and fruit without a hechsher if we are
dealing with various issurei d'orisa, and given that detection is based on
time, effort and ability (eyesight and other skills) and the availability of
sunlight or water and the like?  

> KT,
> MYG

Regards

Chana