What is the basis for eating in someone's house without a kashrut certificate?

Question

No one asks for a kashrut certificate to eat in someone's house; they just make a rough judgement based on the host's reputation (the way they dress or behave, the circles they move in, etc.). That level of laxity would not be allowed in any other kashrut-related decision.

I had the funny idea for Hasgacha Pratit, a kashrut certification organization for private homes -- Don't even think of taking that seriously! But if you do, cut me in :-)

It is not just a matter of trust. You might ask your host "Do you keep kosher?" And the host might honestly say "Yes." Some Jews sincerely think that not having pork and shrimp in the house is enough for one to "keep kosher". Some follow ingredient labels and don't require hashgochas. Some Jews rely on hashgochas that other Jews reject.

You might have the chutzpah to pry a little, but lemayseh, few guests quiz their host on the details -- certainly not on the level they would demand for any other source of food. Usually, if the guest "acts frum", that's enough.

So: Why do people treat kashrut in other people's homes so leniently?

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Edit: Apparently it is more common than I believed for guests to query their hosts "What hashgochas do you accept? You do separate milk and meat dishes, right?", "Do you use meat-based gelatin?", etc.

I still think that such questions are not as widespread as one might think, and that general guests rely on vague impressions given by the clothing the host wears or the shul they belong to, but that goes a long way towards an answer.

Answer 1

The Gemara in many places (eg Chullin 10b) says there is a principle of 'eid echad neeman bisurin' (one witness is to be believed regarding forbidden things). This is as opposed to the two witnesses generaly required in court. The Ramban is his commentary there says that this reasoning is what allows one to eat food from his wife without a mashgiach because she is a single witness on the food and that is enough to be believed regarding forbidden foods.

If one assumes that the other person is a 'good Jew' then they would thus be kosher as a witness and you can believe them about their food. Generally keeping keeping shabbat and other mitzvot are a good indication of this status.

EDIT: I found this Rashi (Yevamot 88a) which says my point very explicitly:

ואמר -- והא ודאי פשיטא לן דסמכי' עליה כל זמן שלא נחשד דאי לאו הכי אין לך אדם אוכל משל חברו ואין לך אדם סומך על בני ביתו.‏

Answer 2

The reason we require mashgiach and hechshers on products that you buy in the store or from a resteraunt, is because the person you are purchasing the food from gains a financial benefit from you purchasing. (obviously) There is therefore a temptation to lie or to cut corners in order to make a greater profit or to attract more customers.

However, the opposite is true when going over to a person's private home. People do not gain financially when you eat at their homes. In fact, they lose financially. So we assume there is no reason not to trust them.

Answer 3

The question should be: What is the basis for needing a certificate from an organization before patronizing a food establishment?
If you think the food is kosher, eat it. If you're not sure, ask for proof. If you think it's not, don't eat there. But as @avi mentioned, there can be a monetary gain for a restaurant to claim it is kosher, so they might have an incentive to lie. Therefore you want proof that it's kosher, so we organized kashrut agencies to do the leg work for us. But to ask for proof from a host?! If you don't trust the guy, don't eat there. If you have a certain chumra you're not willing to break, let your host know and see if he holds the same way. But I definitely wouldn't pose the question as "What is the basis for eating in someone's house without a kashrut certificate?"

Answer 4

I'm not sure if my answer will answer the question, but if it doesn't, then it almost certainly renders it moot.

Rabbi Levi Mostofsky, Director of Continuing Education at RIETS, told me a Besht story, which can be found at the two webpages that are listed below (each of them is a little bit different). In short, the lesson to be learned is that we should not inquire about (i.e. assume that) other peoples' religious observances (e.g. keeping kosher) not being up to par unless we ourselves are truly religious (this includes both misvot that are bein adam lachaveiro and bein adam l'makom). This story teaches us that only a person who is a tzadik would be permitted to inquire. Therefore, CYLOR if you would be allowed to inquire from another person if they keep kosher (or taharat hamishpacha, et al.).

• http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/421905/jewish/The-Two-Way-Mouth.htm
• http://projectshalom2.org/StoryTour/?p=434

Another reason to permit asking if someone else keeps kosher is if you know for sure (ahead of time) that they would be forgiving of you (afterwards) for asking a question like that.

Answer 5

It's very simple. If you are religious, you want to be sure you are eating only Kosher food.

If you know someone to be religious, you can assume the food they'd serve you is Kosher. This is fine by Jewish law, since there's a rule that עד אחד נאמן באיסורין - one witness is enough to accept that no prohibition is being transgressed. If you are eating at someone whose religious standing is not known to you, but they seem trustworthy, you can ask them which aspects of Kashrut they are particular about and gauge the situation. Obviously, this should be done in a respectful manner.

(Officially, the above rule of one person being enough with regards to prohibitions such as Kashrut-related issues applies to Jews who keep Shabbat. Nowadays there's room for leniency.)

When you eat at a restaurant, you likely don't know all the people who come in contact with your food and cannot sit with each of them for a conversation in order to gauge their trustworthiness and to then enquire about their Kashrut ideals. Therefore, to streamline the process, somebody else does that for you - the Mashgiach Kashrut (supervisor) gets to know the workers and the food process and verifies that everything is Kosher. You likely don't know him either, but you trust that the organisation thay appointed him is reliable.

Sometimes you might not trust a particular organisation and/or its supervisors. That's when you'd decide not to eat food which is supervised by that particular body/Hechsher.

Answer 6

This question is based on the assumption it is ok to be lenient in someone's home and not at a resteraunt. A resteraunt needs a hechsher bc as a business there is no way each patron can know all of the cheffs and people working at the resteraunt as well as they would the people at someone's house.