Hot answers tagged bugs
14
Ari Zivotofsky and I have worked hard to collect tens of testimonies from Yemenites and North Africans on the ID and traditions of which chagav (locust-like insect) is kosher. There is no question, as there are still many people alive who can remember them from their countries of origin.
Birds as the paradigm
As mentioned in Isaac Moses' response above, ...
7
The Iggerot Moshe (Helek Bet Hoshen Mishpat 47) writes that if you have a bug, and it bothers you, you may kill, but preferably not by hand. He says there is no ISUR. Since there is no problem in killing a bug, I would assume since Saar Bale Hayim Deorayta, I would assume that you should kill him.
EDIT: I asked a big Talmid Hacham, and he said according to ...
5
The source for the Chilazon being in the Kineret is the Zohar, II, 48b, on parashat Terumah:
"And blue" (Shemot 25:3): Rabbi Yitzchak said: Blue [techelet] is from that fish that is in the Sea Genosar, WHICH IS THE SEA OF GALILEE, which is in the portion of Zvulon. This color is needed for the work of the tabernacle to show this color, AS IT IS ...
5
According to Wikipedia, Murex trunculus is found naturally around the entire Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea and on nearby coasts of the Atlantic, always in shallow water: seemingly, nowhere else.
5
The author of Or HaChayim writes (Pri To'ar 85) that he discouraged the members of his city from eating them for a few reasons, one of them being because their tradition was not completely reliable.
I later happened to come across this article which discusses this topic more extensively.
5
There is an alternative, corn-based product called "zein" that, according to the linked WP article at least, "may be labeled as 'confectioner's glaze.'" According to an email I received from someone in the Hashgacha industry, zein coatings, unlike shellac coatings, "generally do not contain alcohol."
I don't know if this was the product used in your candy; ...
5
It would seem not from Trumas haDeshen P/K 105. The case in the end where he brings achzarius seems to be talking in a case where there were tamer options. Dead worms just won't catch fish. Although if your going for lake trout, mini-marshmallows work great!
5
An interesting question, and answer.
It is worrisome to argue with the Gra about the different meanings of words, particularly after the famous (apocryphal?) story of him ordering lashes for the maskil who asserted to him that gila, rina, ditza, chedva, etcetera, were all complete synonyms. But after all, Ibn Ezra said:
ודע כי המלות הם כגופות והטעמים הם ...
4
1) Check the Star-K's guide to insect checking, appropriately named: http://www.checkforinsects.com/
2) Here is a Tu Bishvat guide for this year (5771), based on the sefer of R' Moshe Vaye: http://www.jerusalemkoshernews.com/wp-content/uploads/shvat_5771_english.pdf.
4
Reb Moshe in Iggras Moshe (חושן משפט חלק ב' סימן מ''ז) says if it is disgusting and or the creature ruins food,or mosquitoes who bother the person the answer is YES. Reb Moshe in an Illustration of his Tzidkus (righteousness) adds of course you should try not do it by hand instead with fly traps and the like because killing by hand desensitizes you and ruins ...
4
My guess is that it's a bug issue. Yuck.
If one bug was pureed (or cooked, assuming cooking breaks apart the bug) with several cups of berries, the ground-up bug is nullified ("batel") 1:60 by volume and you can eat the puree. This minute quantity of non-kosher ingredient, which isn't a flavoring, coloring, stabilizer, or enzyme, is not a problem.
...
4
Use dryer sheets. I personally use Bounce brand sheets. Hang one for every 10 cubic feet or so, in a very bee infested area. You probably won't need that many though. Adjust according to bee count. (PS. With the dryer sheets hung on some of the decorations, we actually leave honey out. Its amazing!
4
Lately, I've heard a lesson from R. Avrohom Kuperman about this topic (what a coincidence!), and he finally told that it is forbidden.
The line of thinking that it should be permitted (as you presented it in the question) is correct, but! We only allow to make melachot (actions) that you enjoy from the melacha itself. But in this case of killing insects you ...
3
The M"B in simon 627,30 writes that one is not allowed to carry a dead body out on yom tov, even if having a dead body in your house bothers you, even if he is a kohen and is therefore not allowed to go into his own house, even though carrying on yom tov is one of the malachos that we say mitoch, the reason for this is because we only say mitoch on a ...
3
Somebody just drew a beraita to my attention (Shabbat 107b), which I think might answer my question. In a discussion that concerns whether or not lice spontaneously generate, Rabbi Eliezer's opinion is brought to the effect that one who kills a louse on Shabbat is as liable as had he killed a camel. Rabbi Yehoshua disagrees, saying that one is permitted to ...
2
As always, CYLOR. But here's what I found while looking around the web:
From here:
330. The outside leaves of lettuce which are not fit for eating may be taken off on Shabbos in order to reach the good leaves, provided that this is done just before the meal. Lettuce leaves may be examined on Shabbos to make sure there are no insects on them. Insects ...
2
Your average bug is probably not much bigger than a half a centimeter. That means its volume is 0.125 cm^3. Assuming a bug is roughly the same density as water, a bug should weigh around 125mg. 60 times the weight of a bug would be roughly 7.5 grams. Most pots contain more food then that.
I did it in weight because it is easier to appreciate weight ...
2
There's a new booklet being distributed (not very widely) by someone in Bnei Brak. In the front material has a very long letter by Rav Moshe Sternbuch shlita, which argues very strongly against bnei Torah wearing Ptil Tekhelet. Some of the reasons given sound a bit surprising to me (i.e. were beyond my limited understanding); one of them was this Zohar about ...
2
http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/756889/Dr.%20Harvey%20Babich/Spiders%20and%20webs:%20their%20halachos%20and%20biology
Rabbi Yehoshua Neuwirth (1989) in section (23:9), “Housekeeping and
use of domestic facilities on Shabbos and Yom Tov,” codified the
following halachos. “Cobwebs on furniture or some other movable
article may be removed, ...
1
Per Rabbi Zusha Blech this is accurate.
Per Montreal Kosher MK this is accurate.
To the best of my knowledge these are reliable Hashgachos.
1
In Avot 3:1, Akavia the son of Mahalalel says:
ולאן אתה הולך? למקום עפר רמה ותולעה
This is translated in the Siddur Tehillas Hashem (I think the translation was done by Immanuel Schochet) an is brought here as:
where you are going--to a place of dust, maggots and worms
So, according to this, "רמה" == Maggots and "תּוֹלָעִים" == Worms
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