[Avodah] Halachic Policy Guidelines of the Kashrus Authority of Australia

[Chana Luntz]

I wrote:
> What are the key aspects of the approval:
> 
> -	"The primary ingredients in plain black coffee (water, sugar and
> unflavored coffee) are all group 1, acceptable from any source."   Note
> of
> course that they cannot guarantee that any drive-by store will in fact
> be
> using only these ingredients.  Who knows what some devious disgruntled
> McDonalds burger flipper might decided to stick into the coffee for a
> laugh.

And RJR replied:

> Which can happen even if there is supervision. 

Which I noted, albeit that it is harder - if you have a meaty restaurant and
a machgiach temidi, then presumably nothing in the entire premises will be
either not kosher or dairy, making "opportunistic" treifing (in parallel
with opportunistic burglary, were people take because something is left in
full view, or a window is open or the like) difficult.  Planned treifing
(like planned burglary) is difficult to eliminate in any case.

 The whole Starbucks
> tempest in a coffee pot issue relates to the same type of analysis.
> The offshoot question - is there timtum haleiv if the flipper does it
> and you drink it? May be what imho separates the kabbalists from the
> rationalists

I don't know if it separates the kabbalists from the rationalists, but it is
certainly separates us with our current wealth from our forebears.  It is
clear that our forebears did not have the economic luxury of ignoring the
heterim provided by bitul, timtum haleiv or no.  On the other hand we have
the economic wealth to allow us to chase every rabbit down its hole and
throw out after every accident.  Thus, it would seem, we must clearly have
hearts that are so much more tahor than those of our fathers, having avoided
so much more timtum haleiv.  Unless of course you say that the whole
obsession itself creates a form of tumah on the heart greater than that of
nullified foodstuffs, in the form of yehora or other problematic midos.

> 
> KT
> Joel Rich

Regards

Chana