[Avodah] Halachic Policy Guidelines of the Kashrus Authority of Au stralia

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Micha Berger asked:

> Wouldn't venishmartem me'od lenafshoseikhem mean that one mustn't
> risk the 1 in 9 chance of timtum haleiv? Or did I find someone
> who actually definitively holds that it's violating the issur
> which causes timtum, not something inherent in the cheftzah?

I once had a discussion with Rav Aharon Feldman, currently the Rosh Yeshiva at Ner Yisrael in Baltimore, on this very subject, although I don't remember whether his example was the 9-out-of-10 kosher butcher stores, or the one piece of treif meat the got mixed up with two kosher ones. The question on the table was: Is it, or is it not, a good idea to refrain from such food.

He said it was a machlokes between the Shach and Taz. One said that - as RMB suggests - one should avoid such food. The other view, he explained, was that once the Torah has paskened on the situation, refraining demonstrates a lack of confidence in the Torah, and so one should specifically NOT AVOID eating the item in question. I think (but I'm not sure; I can't find my notes right now) that he said that the treif food -- now that it is paskened to be kosher -- loses its identity, and no longer causes the timtum that RMB asks about.

Alternatively, I would suggest that even if it does not lose its identity, rebelling against the Torah's psak (to allow the food) might be even more harmful to one's neshama than eating it would be. (Of course this is only one side of the machlokes; the other side does advise one to avoid the item in question.)

POSTSCRIPT: After writing the above, I found the following on pages 52-53 of Rabbi Binyamin Forst's "The Laws of Kashrus", published by ArtScroll:

Note: In the opinion of most poskim[3], when a non-kosher food becomes batel, the mixture may be eaten even by the most scrupulous[4]. Indeed, some authorities soundly censure one who hesitates to eat the mixture, as this shows a heretical reservation about the effectiveness of bitul[5].

[3] With the exception of Issur V'heter 57:15, who rules that it is a meritorious act to refrain from eating a mixture containing non-kosher food which became batel.
[4] See D.T. 116:109 who cites opposing views on this. See also B'nei Yisaschar: Adar 2:7, who presents a Chassidic rationale that it is indeed a meritorious act to eat the mixture. See also R' Zadok HaKohen: Machsheves Charurtz p. 182.
[5] See Pischei Teshuvah 116:10, citing the Toras HaAsham. He cites opposing views as well.

On the other hand, the above would seem to apply only to eating PART of the mixture. Pages 54-55 offer a very wide variety of opinions about eating ALL of the mixture.

Akiva Miller

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