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I'm confused by what I'm reading here:

  1. Fresh fruits and vegetables grown in chutz la’aretz are kosher whether bought whole or cut. Therefore, you may purchase a fresh fruit salad in any restaurant (if there is no dressing on it). If the restaurant serves kosher and non-kosher items, you may enter it to eat. If none of the food served is kosher, you may only be seated if there are no Jews around to see or if you are not recognizable as Jewish. Although you couldn’t eat there, you might want to enter for a meeting with someone and just drink water.

  2. You may drink cold drinks such as soda and beer in the glasses provided in a non-kosher restaurant. If the drink is normally served with a slice of lemon, ask them to hold the lemon. Since the lemon was cut with a treif knife, the lemon is treif and should not be put into tea or a cold beverage. If it was wedged on the glass, you should remove the lemon and may drink the beverage. Any lemon that remains in the drink is negligible and does not pose a problem. If the lemon was squeezed into the drink, order another drink without the lemon and offer the first drink to a gentile you know or have it returned to the kitchen.

Why does this document apparently state that one doesn't have to be worried about cut fruit, but one does if it's a lemon? Is it because lemons are charif? If so, why wouldn't #1 mention charif fruits/vegetables as an exception?

CYLOR about whether to rely on the information in this document, like any.

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  • 2
    Consider posting a follow up question there asking him to clarify what he meant. He would probably know best.
    – mevaqesh
    May 29, 2017 at 3:37
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    Probably you're right about lemon being charif and he is assuming no one buys sliced lemon in a fruit salad or something like that
    – Double AA ♦
    May 29, 2017 at 3:40
  • Rabbi Rubanowitz received semicha from Beit Medrosh Gevoha of Lakewood, NJ and later Dayanut. He is Rav of Kol Rina Synagogue in Israel, serves as a judge with Institute for Dayanim in Jerusalem and teaches at New England Institute for Jewish Studies. neijs.org/2010/02/10/faculty
    – Yaacov Deane
    May 29, 2017 at 12:54
  • His bio from the Kol Rina Synagogue in Israel. kolrinashul.org/our-rav
    – Yaacov Deane
    May 29, 2017 at 12:56
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    @YaacovDeane "In the linked article, he is using a specific example of cold, cut fruit salad. He is not at that point discussing vegetables." Then why does he preface it with "Fresh fruits and vegetables grown in chutz la’aretz are kosher whether bought whole or cut" (emphasis added)?
    – Double AA ♦
    May 30, 2017 at 3:31

1 Answer 1

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As stated from Din online where Rav Rubanowitz also works, they hold that by some views, lemon is considered a davar charif and so it's usage is different from other cut fruits. They reference the Shach to Yoreh Deah 96:20 discussing lemon juice. The Shach is following what is found in Shibolei HaLeket which appears to say that lemon is in a class of being mildly charif.

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