[Avodah] Leeuwenhoek's Halachic Legacy (microscopic)

Rabbi Yehuda Spitz yspitz at ohr.edu
Fri Jan 18 04:08:28 PST 2013


To R' David,
Thank you for writing; all feedback is appreciated. I am however unsure why
you are addressing me in third-person. I also am unclear about your
comments.  Unfortunately, there are many out there who first pick up a
magnifying glass or microscope and then *assur* something due to a problem
that was only able to be detected using this visual aid. The main point of this
article <http://ohr.edu/this_week/insights_into_halacha/5043> (and stressed
further in its companion article <http://ohr.edu/5032>) was exactly your
point, that not only is this unnecessary, but it is not even following
the *halacha
pesuka*, as '*lo nitna haTorah Lmalachei Hasheireis*' and we do not rely on
a microscope's use '*bein lehakel bein lehachmir*" unless the problem can
already be detected with the naked eye. I am not sure where phobias would
seem to fit in with all this.If anything, the articles should serve to
allay fears, and not cause them.
I hope this helps clarify,
*Kol Tuv* and Good Shabbos.
Y. Spitz
Yerushalayim
Insights Into Halacha <http://ohr.edu/this_week/insights_into_halacha/>

On Fri, Jan 18, 2013 at 2:24 AM, David Wacholder <dwacholder at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> Rabbi Spitz captured the theory of the halacha very very well. He is
> microscopically correct. The only problem is he  is sociologically "putting
> the cap on the lens" .  He is MACROscopically incorrect.
>
> If I buy billboards and put  pictures of  ;microscopic mites or
> "you-name-its" - I will create a "mite phobic " population who will be
> unable to eat food associated with mites.
>
> If you tell people that water has invisible [except to the superior more
> perfect among us]  beings -  you will induce phobia of water.
>
>  Rabbanim and others must be cognizant of this.
>
> Is it worth adding phobias? Do we need more of them?
>
> inducing the phobia is most effective with those who did not grow up with
> microscopes.
>
> --
>
>
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