[Avodah] Chitzonios and Tereifos

[Akiva Miller via Avodah]

R' Micha Berger asked:

> Similarly the brain -- if the outside is solid, the inside
> could be rotten and the animal is still kosher.
> ...
> However, I can't picture drawing the conclusion that
> chitzonius is more important than penimius.
>
> Maybe something more like "fake it till you make it" -- as
> long as you keep the externals going, there is hope that
> the internals will fill in.
>
> But I'm fishing for better suggestions.

I will offer another data point which also seems to suugest that chitzonius
is more important than penimius.

Mechaber 78:1 and Mishne Brurah 78:2,3 are obviously talking about a person
who unfortunately suffers from incontinence. If he urinates while davening,
he must pause, but can continue when the flow stops. This applies even if
his legs and undergarments are totally wet, but NOT if the urine is on his
outer garments. It seems that the cleanliness of one's outer garments is
more important than the cleanliness of his undergarments, or even of his
body itself.

Similarly, if one needs to defecate, but he can hold himself for 4 mil, he
will be yotzay davening b'dieved -- Mechaber 92:1. But that leniency is
because it is mere pnimius; Mechaber 76:4,5 seems to be stricter once the
tzoah has gone external.

(Note: I think that it would not be difficult to show that chitzonius *is*
important. The problem as I see it is that we've found some cases where it
is *more* important than pnimius.)

Akiva Miller
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