Perspectives from Gedolei Yisroel of Previous Generations Regarding Insect Infestation
BY RABBI TSVI HEBER
Much ink has been spilled on the topic of checking food for the presence of tola’im – insects. One of the most difficult questions to address is how to reconcile the fact that previous generations did not check produce for possible infestation using the same intensity of inspection that contemporary kashrus organizations are recommending.¹ Does the discrepancy indicate the possibility that they were consuming insects² or that perhaps we have gone too far to address an issue that didn’t concern the rabbinic leadership of earlier generations; or maybe something in between? The purpose of this article is not to answer this difficult question;³ rather, to take a short trip back in time through a selection of halachic literature and gain insight into the perspective of the Achronim,⁴ Gedolei Yisroel of previous generations from a range of Jewish communities; and to demonstrate that the challenge of tola’im was just as relevant then as it is today.
On Rosh Chodesh Iyar 1985, less than a year prior to his passing, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986) penned a short teshuva summarizing his position on what seemed to be a tumult regarding uniquely small insects that were discovered in green vegetables. Reb Moshe zt”l explained that he was too weak to do the further research necessary in order to take a concrete position on the question; however, he advised against publicizing a prohibition, certainly not in his name, due to the prevalent custom that people were eating these greens without properly checking them. He went on to suggest several reasons to justify the lenient custom.⁵ Apparently, in America in the 1980s, the prevalent practice was not to check the lettuce for such small insects.
On the other hand, halachic literature from the turn of the 20th century in Baghdad tells an entirely different story and a different approach. Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (1835-1909) renowned Chacham and author of the sefer Ben Ish Chai amongst other seforim, cautions the women prior to Pesach to check the maror leaves properly. He specifically addresses those that are checking an abundance of leaves for large families and asks them to take the matter seriously as the insects are very small and each one of them represents five biblical transgressions.⁶ He relates a story of a Chacham who entered a courtyard⁷ on erev Pesach only to find a woman who was checking two large baskets of leaves. He observed that the woman was working rather quickly and proceeded to ask her how many hairs she had on her head. She replied that she cannot count them because it would be too difficult. He then rebuked her and said that while it would be difficult to count the hairs on her head, with much effort counting would be possible; but counting the number of biblical transgressions that are passing through her hands would be impossible. She pleaded with the Chacham, reasoning that she had no choice but to check quickly since she had so many family members who enjoy eating lettuce for Pesach. The Chacham explained that while the challenge of providing for a large family is truly immense, the excuse would not ultimately stand up on the yom hadin. Instead, he advised that she throw out the leaves and use only the lettuce stalks which are easier to clean while limiting the amounts that are to be checked to a bare minimum.⁸
Rabbi Haim Palagi (1788-1868) was the Chacham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of Izmir, Turkey. He also authored approximately 80 seforim, although many were destroyed in a fire which ravaged the Jewish community of Izmir in the year 1841.⁹ In his sefer Masa Chaim he records an original kula – a lenient position. Rabbi Palagi holds that someone whose custom prohibits a particular type of food, would be permitted to eat that food if he should be a guest in the home of someone whose custom it is to permit it. This would be true even if the custom to prohibit that food is rabbinically prohibited min hadin – according to the letter of the law!¹⁰ He cites an example from sefer Zechor LeAvraham (Rabbi Avraham ben Avigdor) who writes that he heard that even Gedolei Yisroel who are very careful not transgress the prohibition of hatmana (burying pre-cooked food in materials to keep it warm) on Shabbos, and to prohibit any food as a result of such transgression, would allow themselves to eat such food when they were guests in homes of those who were not careful regarding this halacha. The Zechor LeAvraham explains that the basis for this kula is the concept of ayva – to avoid jealousy and an uncomfortable situation for the guest.¹¹ It is important to note that the Chofetz Chaim dismisses this position in the strongest of terms by proclaiming chas v’shalom l’hakel!¹²
Notwithstanding his lenient position, Rav Haim Palagi singles out strawberries for stringency as an exception. He rules emphatically that since strawberries¹³ were banned in Izmir due to the prevalence of insect infestation, it is prohibited for the townspeople to consume them even when they are served strawberries as guests in places that are more lenient.
Rabbi Rafael Shlomo Laniado (1740-1793) was the Av Beis Din in Aleppo (Chaleb), Syria for 54 years. In his sefer Beis Dino Shel Shlomo, the author discusses the permissibility of grape leaves in which insect infestation had recently been discovered. The petitioner asked that grape leaves continue to be allowed because the minhag amongst the masses was to consume them and we find, in some circumstances, that minhag is so powerful that it can overcome a halacha. Rabbi Laniado dismisses this suggestion out of hand because even if it were true that a minhag could potentially be so powerful as to overcome halacha, the custom to eat grape leaves is not in the category of minhag. People ate grape leaves without checking them for insects because they didn’t realize that they were infested. However, once it was known that such leaves are infested, the practice no longer has the status of a minhag.¹⁴
Rabbi Yeshayahu ben Avraham HaLevi Horowitz (1555-1630), known as the Shela”h HaKadosh, records his father’s observations¹⁵ of insect infestation of various fruits throughout his travels to disseminate Torah in Europe.¹⁶ First, in the city of Frankfurt he observed the prevalence of insect infestation in cherries¹⁷ each year. The custom of the people of Frankfurt was to open the cherries and check them for worms prior to consumption. When he travelled to Prague, he similarly checked cherries and observed insect infestation there too. He expressed uncertainty as to whether such infestation was prevalent throughout the world or only in Frankfurt and Prague due to their warmer, oceanic climate, and encouraged his children to clarify the situation in the cities in which they resided.
He further cautioned his children to be careful when consuming dried plumbs and raisins of all sizes, and several types of legumes, rice, and millet which he observed to be infested with mites and aphids. He doubted that his communities were accustomed to checking such foods because it was not the custom in the communities where they lived. He records that “many times” he declared a strict prohibition against purchasing/consuming anything from a market that sells such produce. It was not practical to advise that they be checked prior to consumption since properly checking them would require excellent eyesight to detect tiny insects. He also observed that after people had declared the produce free of insects, others who were better at checking corrected them and pointed out many insects swarming in the produce that had previously been declared clean. He concludes with a strong statement that there is an absolute obligation to check such produce for infestation since it is a biblical prohibition to consume insects.
While we find many teshuvos that justify the practice of the masses who are lenient and do not apply the same intensity of inspection as contemporary kashrus organizations, we maintain that the subject of tola’im was just as relevant then as it is today.
This short article contains a small selection of halachic writings of Gedolei Yisroel of previous generations from around the world. However, it conveys a consistent story of concern for the issue of insect infestation in produce. And while we find many teshuvos that justify the practice of the masses who are lenient and do not apply the same intensity of inspection as contemporary kashrus organizations,¹⁸ we maintain that the subject of tola’im was just as relevant then as it is today. ∎
Rabbi Tsvi Heber is COR’s Director of Community Kosher
Kashruth Council of Canada | www.cor.ca — 2023-5783 Passover Guide, pp. 50–51
COR, the Kashruth Council of Canada, is one of the world’s largest kosher certification agencies, certifying thousands of products, restaurants, and facilities. Learn more at cor.ca, or read about our certification services at corkosher.com.