This really bugs me…

March 3, 2004 at 12:42:07a.m.

I recently dined in a fairly nice restaurant in Brooklyn. A sign in the window assured one and all that the restaurant employed a “mashgiach tmidi just for vegetables.” Ot azoi! That was impressive, let me tell you! A full-timer just to make sure the veggies are fit for kosher consumption. You just gotta love a place that cares that much!

A few tables away from me, a family of the rigorously right-wing persuasion were waiting for their food to arrive. When the salads came, the paterfamilias whipped out a magnifying glass and minutely inspected his entire salad, piece by piece.

The halakhic codes have been very clear on the matter of insect infestation. Yes, we are totally forbidden to eat insects. Yet, Chazal (or should I write Chaz-l??) maintained that in the matter of insects, the halakha is clear: if we can not see them, they are not there. Even so, in a restaurant that advertises a full-time veggie specialist, that consumer felt the need to use a magnifying glass. In all events, a magnifying glass is already way beyond the requirements of halakha. And to those who would say that they accept a higher standard, we say, that is fine. Just don’t try to impose it on others and certainly do not say that it is what the halakha requires.

Have we gone too far? Is there no sane center left in matters kosher? Finally, when we sleep we injest a rather large number of insects. I think it is time for us to “asur” sleeping.

RJR