Does the notion of Timtum Halev -- dulling of the heart (spirutal damage) which Rabbeniu Bachaye explains in Vayikra 11:43 -- apply when the non kosher food was put in one's body without doing it b'derech achila (e.g. through a tube)? Sources please.
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2Please clarify what this concept is and provide sources for it if possible.– Yaakov KupermanApr 22, 2012 at 2:15
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2Sam, per meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/q/52/759 please try to clarify your 'jargon' terminology.– Double AA ♦Apr 22, 2012 at 2:17
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What @DoubleAA said.– Yaakov KupermanApr 22, 2012 at 16:24
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@Yaakov,the question is still unclear?– samApr 22, 2012 at 17:03
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1 Answer
The words of Rabbeinu Bachaye indicate that the timtum halev is not a direct result of a tumah inherent in the unkosher sheretz. Rather, the timtum results from a lack of holy spirit, which is unable to reside in someone who ate unkosher because of the unholiness (tumah) and sin of eating this unkosher product. So, while the ingestion may be the reason this sin is singled out for timtum more than any other, if you do not ingest the unkosher product through the proscribed manner -"achilah"- then there is no unholiness and sin.
Similarly, a colleague of mine was told by R' D. Feinstein that if there is someone who can attest to the kashrus status of a restaurant (Eid echad) where questions were raised by some about standards, a person who is particularly concerned with timtum halev need not be strict. Even if in reality the food is unkosher, since there is eid echad saying it is kosher, the halacha is that the product is permitted and thereby there is no timtum halev.