[Avodah] : Chometz milking question

[Daniel M. Israel]

Quoting Micha Berger <micha at aishdas.org>:
> The SA (YD 142:11) holds that shnei hagoremim is "mutar bekhol maqom".

> The Magein Avraham (445:5) and the Taz say that this doesn't apply to
> chameitz, where we uniquely worry about less than a kezayis.

> The Shach, the Gra, the SA haRav (445:10) and the Bi'ur Halakhah (s"q 2)
> are meiqilim.

Perhaps it is the MA and the Taz who are being machmirim?

Not a trivial nitpick. I'm suggesting that the baseline psak that we all
should follow should be to not be concerned about it, and we should view
the common custom these days of buying milk (and eggs) before Pesach,
and all the practices surrounding KP milk to be chumros.

This is very relevant l'ma'aseh for the family that runs out during chol
hamoed in a community where KP milk is not available. (And I've never
seen KP eggs altogether.)


Quoting Eliyahu Grossman <Eliyahu at KosherJudaism.com>:
> Yesterday I used Kosher for Pesach (!!!) liquid drain cleaner...

I'm not sure if the Rabbonim who sell heksherim to bleach manufacturers
do it purely for the money; certainly no one ever got rich by giving
hasgacha. But it does raise an interesting question. On the OU webcast,
RHS mentioned how Rav Breur didn't want to give a Pesach hechsher on
toothpaste, because he was afraid it might create the misimpression that
toothpaste required Pesach hashgacha. However, a hechsher on shelf-paper
is not meaningless- someone is certifying that they checked to make
sure no chametz came in contact with it, whereas by buying uncertified
(and I have no hesitation doing so) you are relying on general knowledge
of paper manufacturing to conclude that there is no risk.

Toothpaste, which may or may not be roy l'achilah, and poisonous
cleanser, which is certainly not, are more complicated. In the latter
case, it might be more yasher and equally financially beneficial to the
manufacturer, for the Rav to authorize them to put a statement on the
label, "Poisonous cleaners do not pose any problem for Pesach use, and
do not require hashgacha." But the market is probably not interested
in that.

Also, if you are going to blame the manufacturers, who are only following
the market as you say, and the Rabbonim, who are only responding to the
manufactures requests, perhaps you should also blame the consumers, who
apparently would rather by something with an OU on it, then something
that the OU lists in a magazine as not needing an OU.

-- 
Daniel M. Israel
daniel at cornell.edu