[Be-Ahavah U-Be-Emunah – Vayigash
5773 – translated by R. Blumberg]
Question:
If I maintain a certain degree of Kashrut standards, and am invited to eat with
a family that does not use the Kashrut supervisions that I find suitable, what
should I do? I know that they will be insulted if I don't eat.
Answer:
The main rule is this: All of the Rabbinical supervisions are kosher! No Rabbi would
give a certificate for non-Kosher food. Our Sages said, "No Torah scholar
would allow anything imperfect to emerge under his auspices” (Eruvin 32a).
It is
impossible to suspect a Torah scholar of writing “kosher” on non-Kosher food. True, anything can happen, but you need proof
to believe it. Thus, food with a Kashrut certificate may be presumed kosher
until proven otherwise. Obviously, some supervisions are more stringent and
some are less, but stringencies are for the confines of your own home.
One
needn’t be strict at the cost of insulting others. As the Jerusalem Talmud
states, a basic precondition to saintliness is not humiliating others who do
not conduct themselves on the same level as you (Berachot Chapter 2).
Therefore, since all the Rabbinic supervisions are Kosher, and refraining from
eating will humiliate others, one should eat what one is offered.
Here are
two stories in this regard about the illustrious Ha-Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach,
both taken from the book Ve-Aleihu Lo Yibol (p. 10):
1. “In
response to my question about female seminary students from abroad who go as guests
to various families, and how they should conduct themselves Kashrut-wise, he
decisively responded: ‘Tell them that any Rabbinical Kashrut supervision is
good,’ although certainly anyone may undertake personal strictures.”
2. “After
I got married, I came to Ha-Rav Auerbach and asked him: In my parents’ home and
my in-laws’ home they eat foods with various Israeli Rabbinical supervisions
which I do not eat from in my own home. How should I conduct myself when I eat
with them?’ Rav Auerbach responded: Two
witnesses attended a Brit Milah of a Sefardic family and Ha-Rav Yosef Chaim
Zonenfeld, who was present, ate the meat that had undergone Sefardic ritual
slaughter. When you are the guest of family members or other G-d- fearing
people, you must eat everything they serve you. It’s not a matter of anyone
serving you non-Kosher food! According to the essence of the law, all
Rabbinical supervisions are valid (the issue was certifications by well-known
Rabbinical bodies in Israel). Some supervisions are more strict on certain
matters that do not touch on the essence of the law.
I somewhat
audaciously asked Rav Auerbach: Does Rav Auerbach conduct himself that way? and
he responded: Certainly! When I am at a wedding, I eat chicken prepared with
Rabbinical supervisions that I would not rely on in my own home."
