LOOKING FOR BUGS UNDER A 60X MICROSCOPE

A most fascinating article about hashgacha and kashruth in general appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Weds, March 20, 2013.

At one point in the article, a Rabbi Tabibi says that he does not just wash the veggies, he checks them under a 60X microscope. He is quoted saying, “A tiny piece of dirt becomes Godzilla.”

Totally true. A tiny piece of dirt that magnified would be the Godzilla of dirt pieces.

Equally true is that halacha does not require that we go to such extreme measures to check our veggies. Look at our classical literature and you won’t find this kind of hyper vigilence. We NEVER need to resort to such measures. The rabbinic rule is simple: if you can not see it, it is not there. Period. Finished. End of story.

Yes, we know the typical response: We want to be super careful and super well within the law. Fair enough. Let us, however, consider one thing: Nadav and Abihu also wanted to be well within the law, and look what happened to them! The Torah forbids us from creating new “torahs,
and we believe that using a 60X microscope is indeed a new torah.