The  Basur  IS  Asur

                                Bugs

                                        by Gabriella Schoor

            Eating insects is a very serious issar anyone who does violates many different prohibitions according to what they ate. In the Gemara Makkos, Rav Yehudah says anyone who eats a cabbage worm deserves malkus because that person violated                                        . 

Rav Abaye says if a person eats an aquatic creature he is subject to four lashes. For he violated the two prohibitions for eating an aquatic organism, � along with the two swarming prohibitions‚.

Then it says that any person who eats an ant is subject to five lashes he violates the two prohibitions for creatures that swarm‚and three more specific transgressions of creatures that creep on the land ƒ.

However the worst insect mentioned here is the hornet because any person who eats it is subject to six lashes. This person has violated a specific transgression of any organism that flies„ in addition to the two prohibitions of swarming creatures‚ and things that creep on the ground ƒ. However, a person only needs to eat a whole insect or biryah (because even though it is so small it is still creature) in order to get malkus while a person can only be subjected to lashes if he eats an olive amount of any forbidden food.                                                                                                       

        In the Rambam’s Mishna Torah gimmel, Halachos ma’acholos assuros: 5: 2, it says if a person eats a kezayis of “Sheretz Ha’oaf” he gets malkus, because he violates the prohibition of “Every sheretz ha’oaf is impure for you, do not eat them”. Examples of these creatures (“ Sheretz Ha’ oaf) are flies, mosquitoes, wasps, bees, grasshoppers, etc.

Along these lines if a person eats a “Sheretz Ha’aretz” or a creature that creeps on the ground he or she receives malkus. For it says “All sheretz ha’aretz that creeps on the land is an abomination, you shouldn’t eat”, this includes snakes, scorpions, beetles, and centipedes.

Another forbidden organism to eat in this category is the “sheretz ha’mayim” a person is subject to malkus if he or she eats a kezais of it. Due to the prohibition “Don’t abominate yours souls from the insects that creep on the ground and don’t become impure from them.” This applies to the following creatures: worms, aluka, and some larger animals of the sea.

A case mentioned in the Rambam proceeds in the following way. If a fruit has a worm that left it and crawled on the ground and then returned later that fruit is forbidden and the person receives lashes if he or she has eaten a kezayis from it.

However, if the worm never separated from the fruit then it is permitted to eat the fruit with the worm in it. Yet, the only way it is permissible to eat this fruit is if, that worm came about after the fruit was dislodged from the ground. Otherwise a person violates the prohibition of, not eating a creature that creeps on the ground. The converse to that is, if the insect was in the fruit before it was harvested then it is prohibited because it is assumed that it crawled on the earth to get to the fruit

However if there is any doubt as to what point the bug got into the fruit, it is prohibited. Therefore, a fruit or vegetable that is known for having bugs while still connected to its plant must be checked for bugs before being consumed. Nevertheless if a plant is uprooted twelve months before, there is no need to check the fruit or vegetable because a bug can not survive so long and is therefore considered like dust.

In conclusion if someone were to eat a lentil’s (adasha) quantity of any of the following sheretzim mentioned in the torah he or she would get malkus. They are weasel, achbar, tzav, hedgehog, lizard, snail, mole, and koach.

          To give another source for this topic the Shulchan Aruch is brought Chelek Rishon-46- ma’acholos assuros, 34. A fruit attached to a tree is forbidden if there are worms in it even if they have not moved around in the fruit. Similarly if black spots appear on the surface of a fruit and specifically vegetables like lentils and beans it means that the first step of breeding is taking place. Therefore the black spots must be removed for they are equivalent to the worms themselves.

          If a fruit that often has worms, is picked from the tree and a lapse of twelve months has gone by, there is no need to check them because the worms turned to dust for no boneless organism can live longer than twelve months. However if there is a case where the fruit has become wormy after it has been picked the fruit should be checked and washed of all insects from the surface. Then it should be soaked and stirred so that any worms or eaten fruit will rise to the top and be discarded. So as to be completely sure no bugs are left one should put the fruit in boiling water so that the worms die immediately so that they can not escape. However this method can only be depended on after twelve months has passed and specifically with pods lentils, and other similar plants.

           All fruits that have worms or need inspection must be examined one by one and their stones removed so the examination is very precise. People have to be even more meticulous when preserving fruit in honey or sugar. Every fruit by itself must be checked, it is not permissible to check one fraction of the fruits and assume the rest to be fine.

          Flour and cereal usually carry large worms with it; therefore the flour ad cereal must be sifted with a sieve before use. However if the flour contains mites then the flour or cereal must be thrown out. It is forbidden for a Jew to sell food that is not usually infested to a non-Jew because he may in turn sell that food to a Jew.

          The Shulchan Aruch says that only to singe vegetables is not enough and that some fruits and vegetables are so infested with bugs that a G-d fearing Jew should not eat them. Along those lines there are some types of fruits whose kernels are so infested with worms that it is forbidden to eat them. A person also must be careful about mites they can be found in many things such as nuts, on the brim of containers holding preserving fruits, and in the interior of a fish. These things must be inspected and the mites scraped off or washed away or the extreme thrown away.

          Pertaining to vessels if a radish is cut open including the worm inside, the knife must be washed thoroughly and the worm scooped out.

Every person must be very careful about consuming creeping creatures because there are many prohibitions against it and because it says “That ye should be defiled thereby”                                          .

           The Laws of Pesach by Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz helps to give us a more current practical application. Rabbi Blumenkrantz says that people have been very careless with inspecting fruits and vegetables now a day. When there are more bugs now because of their immunity towards insecticides. Wives today think that pouring hot water on vegetables or salting fruits and vegetables in cold water removes all the bugs and no inspection is needed. However, this is not true there always needs to be a thorough examination of the produce. It is also not sufficient to check only one part of the fruit or vegetable but the whole thing.

          It is first pertinent to know how to define a             . He explains that it is a creature that can be seen by the naked eye but its legs are indiscernible such organism like the mouse,               or insects and worms.

          There are three different levels of insect infestation. The first and highest infestation is                          , this is when fifty percent of the segment of this produce is infested.  Some species of produce are categorized in this section all year around or just in certain seasons. For instance the Boston lettuce and butter lettuce are in this category year round while the blackberries and raspberries are just in certain seasons. Any produce in this category must be checked before consumption.

Then there is the level below this one, which is called                         

 even though the        or most of  the produce checked is not infested, it is a rabbinic decree that it be checked anyway. After that is the lowest level, since there is such a small minority it is insignificant and therefore not usually checked. However, there is a          or disagreement whether a produce should be inspected based on the percentage in general industry or in proportion to how much you are using but it is better to except the more stringent opinion (general industry). If however a person is not informed about the obligation to inspect lettuce and has already prepared it in such away that it can not be checked than it is permissible                    .

          Rabbi Avrohom feels that the way companies wash their produce is insufficient since they do not inspect every leaf separately. Also since many insecticides have been prohibited due to level of toxin, the government is lax in the amount of bugs allowed in frozen or packaged vegetables or fruits.

          To help in the applicability to today a second current reference is brought. The Star-K explains as Rabbi Blumenkrantz does that infestation is worse today because the government feels that pesticides are more dangerous for a person’s health than a few bugs. In view of that Jews as a whole take the stricter stance, to check foods even if frozen. One would think that bugs in produce are one sixtieth of the vegetable itself and are therefore not counted. However this does not hold true in two cases, one is when the thing that is being nullified is discernible in the material and the other is when it is a whole other entity. These to instances hold true for a bug because they can be distinguished from the rest of the vegetable and are a separate entity. Due to this and the fact that eating a bug is worse than eating ham we have to be very strict with inspecting our produce.

          In light of what was just mentioned there has to be strict examination especially of leafy produce such as lettuce. The method by which to make a leafy produce bug free is to rinse it with water and to then check each and every leaf for bugs separately. However, clustered vegetables are treated differently because there is not much you can do with them since you can not see in between their florets. So a person can soak them and inspect them a little but after that there is nothing a person can do and therefore it is permissible to eat them.

          In the book by Rabbi Blumenkrantz there are a few specific examples which are very important to know. Asparagus need to be agitated with warm water, the asparagus are then taken out and shaken well the water has to be stilled to check for bugs. If there are no bugs it is fine but if there are then the tops of the asparagus have to be cut off and the surface of the stems scrubbed.

 Brussels sprouts are a very difficult vegetable to inspect because ten different bugs can infest it and it has different layers. The bottoms of the sprouts should be cut off and discarded. The bottom leaves therefore break away and must be checked under a bright light and then they must be split in half to look for bug in the center.

A most often eaten vegetable is lettuce (Iceberg, Romaine, chicory, Escarole, Kale, Mint) this vegetable has to be inspected very well. There are two ways to soak lettuce is the traditional way and the newer way. The traditional way is to either make a salt and water solution or a vinegar and water solution, the proportions should be about one tablespoon salt or five tablespoons of vinegar to ten cups of water. The solution should soak with the leaves separated together for five minutes and then should agitate leaves in water to dislodge the bugs from the surface. Then the leaves are rinsed and dried or shaken off of excess water. Then the most important part is to check each and every leaf and be careful of the fold under a bright light.

Or the modern method that is to make soap and water solution uses a sponge to wash the lettuce with soapy solution. The leaves must then be washed with a hard current of water and carefully inspected under a bright light afterward. These are just a few vegetables that need to be inspected, there are many more.

This topic is a very serious prohibition that is usually overlooked. Bugs are impure and by eating them make a person impure. However it is said that whoever is meticulous and careful about these laws is thought as to understand the deeper meaning of the exodus from Egypt.