When do we start waiting?

Hi,

When we talk about waiting between meat and dairy, the formal 'wait' time is calculated from the time one finishes eating meat, not from the time one recites birkat hamazon.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 89:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Waiting after dairy, before meat

Hi,

We have discussed waiting after eating meat, before eating dairy.

We do not require this wait after dairy, before meat, other than if one ate hard cheese. [Defining 'hard cheese' is beyond the scope of this post, but you might look at the Star-K's site, here.] However, one must still clean out his mouth of dairy, and rinse.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 89:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Cleaning one's mouth between meat and dairy

Hi,

We have mentioned the practice of waiting after eating meat, before eating dairy.

Further, one must clean out his mouth, removing any remaining meat and then rinsing out his mouth.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 89:1; Shach Yoreh Deah 89:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Waiting between meat and dairy

Hi,

We wait after we eat meat, before we eat dairy.

The gemara mentions the need for separate meals, but it does not say how long one must wait in between. Customs to wait various times, from one hour to six hours, have developed; each family should follow its custom.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 89:1; Taz Yoreh Deah 89:2)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

Meat and dairy salt shakers

Hi,

We have noted that people may eat meat and dairy at the same table simultaneously, if they have a visible reminder on the table to prevent them from sharing food. However, they should not share food.

The diners should also not share utensils, including a pitcher of water, because food tends to stick to utensils. This is why we generally keep separate food containers - salt shakers, etc - for table use for meat and dairy.

(Rama, Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 88:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Serving meat and dairy at the same table

Hi,

One may not serve meat and dairy at the same table to people who are familiar with each other, lest they share food. However, one may do so if they have a visible reminder not to share, such as they eat on separate tablecloths.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 88:1-2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Meat and Milk

Hi,

One is not permitted to eat meat and milk mixtures, or to cook them, or to benefit from them.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 87:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Bee honey

Hi,

Honey from bees is kosher, even though it emerges from a non-kosher creature.

One may not eat bee parts which are found in honey. However, we are not concerned that any taste may have been extruded from the bee parts into the honey itself; one need only remove the actual parts, and the rest is permitted.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 81:8)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Kashering liver

Hi,

We have been learning about the prohibition against consuming blood.

Preparing kosher liver poses specific problems, because of the volume of blood within this organ as well as the problem of accessing the blood to withdraw it, and the problem of the blood's absorption on the utensils used in kashering the liver.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 73)

For detailed advice on kashering liver, please the Star-K article here.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Consuming human blood

Hi,

We have learned about the prohibition against consuming animal blood; we are also prohibited from consuming human blood.

One whose own mouth is bleeding inside is not required to spit out that blood. However, if blood from his mouth gets on food that he is eating, he is required to scrape off the bloodied portion of the food rather than eat it.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 66:10)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Fish blood

Hi,

Fish blood is technically permitted. However, we do not eat it in a visible way, lest people think it was blood from an animal.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 66:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

An egg with a blood spot

Hi,

We have noted that one may not eat eggs that contain blood spots.

There is some debate as to whether one need throw out the whole egg, or not; some of this depends on where the blood is found, within the egg.

Because it is exceedingly unlikely that eggs marketed in North America will have been fertilized, many authorities are lenient and permit throwing out the actual spot and eating the rest of the egg. We may assume that the spot did not come from an embryonic chick.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 66:3-4, http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/english/journal/broyde-1.htm)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Checking eggs for blood spots

Hi,

We have noted the prohibition against eating eggs that contain blood spots.

Since the great majority of eggs do not contain blood, one may eat foods made with eggs even if the eggs cannot be checked, as in the case of hard-boiled eggs. However, one who does have the opportunity to check eggs before using them should do so.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 66:8)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Blood in eggs

Hi,

We don't eat blood in eggs, even if we are not sure that it comes from a partially formed chick.

Note, though, that much has been written regarding spots found in eggs that come from farms where hens lay unfertilized eggs. See, for example, here.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 66:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Eating blood

Hi,

We are not permitted to eat blood from animals or birds.

(Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 66:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Meat found in its original site

Hi,

One who leaves meat in a particular location, and returns to find a piece of meat in that location, may assume that the piece he finds is the same as the one he left there, even if he knows no identifying marks.

(Code of Jewish Law Yoreh Deah 63:2; Shach Yoreh Deah 63:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Unsupervised meat, in one's home

Hi,

The prohibition against using meat which was left unsupervised applies even to meat left in one's own home, unless it was:
(a) sealed, or
(b) marked with a unique sign, or
(c) clearly recognizable to him, based on prior viewing.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 63:1; Shach Yoreh Deah 63:7)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Meat that has been unsupervised

Hi,

One might logically assume that meat was kosher if one knew it had been bought from a kosher supplier.

However: The sages noted that one piece of meat is easily substituted for another without detection, and that there is great profit in substituting non-kosher meat for kosher meat. Therefore, they required that the meat be under protection against substitution from the time it leaves the shochet until the time the consumer uses it.

(Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 63:1; Shach Yoreh Deah 63:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Laws of Purim

Hello,

With Adar beginning in several days, it's time to review laws of Purim.

I have already posted what I believe are the most-relevant laws; please go to the following pages to see them:

Al haNisim

Kriat haTorah (Torah reading)

Matanot laEvyonim (Gifts for the needy)

Megilah reading

Mishloach Manot (Sending food to others)

Purim Clothing

Purim Seudah (the Purim feast)

Taanit Esther (the fast of Esther)

If I am missing anything you would like to see, please email me.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Shehechiyanu on scent

Hi,

There is some debate as to whether one recites Shehechiyanu for a scent which becomes available, such as that of a fresh rose. The general practice is not to recite the blessing.

[This may be because the scent itself is ephemeral, and so one's benefit is less than in the case of food.]

(Mishneh Berurah 225:16)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Shehechiyanu on animal products

Hi,

Although one may feel great enjoyment when eating a type of animal product for the first time, one does not recite the blessing of Shehechiyanu on such an occasion if it had always been available.

The blessing was designed specifically for enjoying something which was unavailable and now became available, and the animal product was available beforehand.

(Mishneh Berurah 225:16)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Shehechiyanu on produce created with a transgression

Hi,

There is debate as to whether one recites Shehechiyanu for fruit which is the product of a prohibited interspecies graft.

As a matter of practice, Rav Moshe Feinstein wrote that one should not recite the blessing for such a graft, since Gd indicated His displeasure with this practice when He prohibited Jews from doing it.

(R' Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 2:58)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Shehechiyanu: Ripe vs Edible

Hi,

We have mentioned that one does not recite Shehechiyanu on an underripe fruit. This is true even if the fruit is edible; "ripeness" refers to the fruit's final state, in which it is popularly considered "good to eat" and enjoyable.

(Mishneh Berurah 225:12)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Fruits which have two seasons of availability

Hi,

Fruits which are available during two distinct times of the year, with a significant (at least one month) period of non-availability between them, warrant the Shehechiyanu blessing each time the fruit becomes available.

This presumes that one feels joy when the fruit again becomes available.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 225:6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai