When we lived in Israel, Sima and I were once invited to a Bar Mitzvah celebration for a Chabad young man (now the Chief Rabbi of an East European country). While Sima was eating dinner, the wife of a friend approached her and asked: "How are you eating the salad? Every bug represents five Biblical prohibitions!" Now, this was a Hasidic family, in a Hasidic synagogue, with a strictly kosher caterer. Yet, my friend's wife was convinced that the lettuce was infested with forbidden creatures, and Sima's eternity was in jeopardy. . Why would she think that? Was she right? Well, yes and no. Indeed, in many cases, eating an insect is a serious set of sins. But one can argue this point from two different directions (at least!). One way would be to say that, just like in checking a slaughtered animal for organic defects, where even Biblically prohibited conditions are not sought after because of their rarity, and only lung conditions are checked, as they are both common and easy to examine, so only foods with a likelihood of being buggy, and whose examination requires little effort need be checked. Evidence for this approach is found in the Talmud. The only situation of bug checking that is referred to is regarding dates. Although bugs in dates are rare in the U.S., they are very common in Israel. About one in four dates will have beetles around the pit. One need only open the date, and one will instantly be able to ascertain the presence or non-presence of these beetles. But, nevertheless, are we REQUIRED to check? After all, there are still a minority of dates that are buggy. The answer is yes, as they are "Mi'ut hamatzui" (a common situation, although still a minority) AND checking is easy and quick. But others would argue that since the invention of the magnifying glass in the thirteenth century, all things are easy to check. This question was brought even more into focus (no pun intended) by the invention of the microscope in the seventeenth century, which revealed the reality that every drop of water is, in fact, teeming with living creatures. This was discussed by rabbis at that time, They concluded that creatures that could not be seen, are not forbidden by either the Torah or the Talmud. Ah, but what is considered "could not be seen"? Does that mean READILY seen? Or if held at a certain angle, and put under a bright light, can, with difficulty be seen? Rabbis differ on this point. A few decades ago, it was discovered that the tap water in New York City contains tiny crustaceans that can be seen if held to the light. Some rabbis then issued opinions that the water may not be drunk without filtration. Most, however, ruled that this is more similar to microscope conditions than something readily seen. Why is the Talmud silent about checking leafy vegetables? Didn't bugs exist then? Moshe Feinstein, writing around 1960, said that cabbage in America is non-buggy, and need not be checked; but one who "fears Heaven" will check it anyway. Today, many rabbis will tell us that it is impossible to check cabbage, and therefore it should not be eaten. What about "Reb Moshe's" ruling? He wasn't aware of the methodology of checking cabbage. Others would question the necessity of checking with a special "methodology". One of the advantages of being older is that I have a perspective of how attitudes and policies changed in my lifetime alone. When I went into the rabbinate in 1971, I had never heard of checking for bugs, except on leafy vegetables. Checking meant "look carefully". You don't see any bugs? It's kosher! Certain fruit. like peaches, often had bugs. A special instrument, known as a knife, was employed to cut open the fruit, and look to see if there is a worm present. A few years later, the standard became stricter. All leafy vegetables were put in water with some vinegar and soaked for an hour. (In Israel, dish detergent was substituted for the vinegar). After the soaking, eat up! After another few years, the standard changed again, so that every leafy vegetable had to be held up to the light,. An instrument, called a "lightbox", came in during the late '80s, which would make any bug stand out. This is still employed in many restaurants. A few years later, it was discovered that even after all precautions, some minute bugs would still be there. Many went over to specially grown greenhouse produce, or even hydroponics. Still others gave up on vegetables altogether, and adopted the policy of a very strict nineteenth-century rabbi (Hatam Sofer) who ate no greens. . Many would say that all of this is totally unnecessary. These minute creatures can only be found by knowledgeable professionals, using magnifying glasses. Some say that the standard is "what can be seen". But does that mean by the naked eye? With instruments. we can see things now that couldn't be seen in the past. Many rabbis now forbid the eating of strawberries, which are often infested with tiny mites. My son, who worked in this field, told me that he must check for these mites using a forty-power lens. There is a Talmudic dictum that "the Torah was not given to the Ministering Angels". That means superhuman efforts are never required. Is checking with a powerful lens "superhuman" or simply a way that is available to us today, that wasn't available before?Another issue is that the ancient rabbis believed in spontaneous generation. This was first questioned in the seventeenth century (Redi), but only conclusively disproved in the nineteenth century (Pasteur). Many of the halachot in this area are based on the idea that some bugs come from rot, and are therefore not really living creatures. Do we still accept those halachot, or must we be stricter, with our newfound knowledge? There is much anxiety and insecurity today among the strictly observant because of these issues. We need to find a balance between the concerns that might be real, and the idea that the Torah does not make unreasonable demands upon us. A complicating factor here is that competing companies are anxious to show that their competitors use insufficient means to prevent the presence of bugs in their competitors' produce. They will have vegetables marketed as "bug-free" carefully checked under a microscope, and gleefully publish these blown-up pictures on fliers or in ads. The result is that every company begins to get stricter and stricter, in order to prevent a "scandal". That which five years ago was seen as mere "dirt", must now be seen as infestation. My son tells me that there is no such thing as bug-free broccoli, cauliflower, and a host of other veggies, if we apply these standards In my next post, I will deal with a little-known halachic fact, widely known by rabbis, but little known by laymen. A bug that is not completely intact (no missing legs or wings), is not, for most halachic purposes, considered a bug at all. The implications and applications of this fact remove most of the problems. In addition, the situation of a bug constituting five Biblical prohibitions is a rarity indeed.(You would need to swallow the bug whole, with no other food.) Again, commercial interests are making every effort to disempower the consumer. That will be my next post.
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