[Avodah] Starbucks coffee and nosein ta'am

[Zev Sero via Avodah]

On 27/09/17 21:20, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
> .
> R' Zev Sero wrote:
> 
>> Halacha seems to take the position that taam has no physical
>> substance at all, ...
> 
> I'm curious about your use of the word "seems". Is there any evidence
> that halacha might take the position that taam DOES have physical
> substance?

I'm not aware of any, but it's a very strange position and hard for a 
modern person to wrap ones head around.


> I have always understood that taam does NOT have substance, and I got
> that from the halacha of kashering a keli with hagalah. Hagalah is
> effective only in removing taam, and the keli must be totally clean
> beforehand. Now, if taam has substance, and I have cleaned all the
> substance from the keli, then what remains to kasher? Rather, it must
> be that taam is something that does *not* have substance, and *cannot*
> be removed by cleaning.

If you'd removed all substance from the keli then you'd have nothing 
left to kasher!  All you've done is clean the surface.  There was never 
a hava amina that the taam clings to the surface and can be cleaned off. 
  We know scientifically that taam does have substance, but it's not on 
the surface.


-- 
Zev Sero                May 2017, with its *nine* days of Chanukah,
zev at sero.name           be a brilliant year for us all