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In E”Y eating figs is only recommended for those who like to play Russian Roulette.
Figs in America. Are they infested?
fresh ones not so much…dried ones you have to be careful with
I once saw a very large extensive article in the Hamodia erev Tu B’shvat written about figs and the like, and it showed just HOW infested figs truly are (DRIED ONES THAT IS) by examination under a magnifying glass. IT was gross. Basically its impossible to eat them.
I eat dried dates from Iran. Never buy dried dates from anywhere else especially turkey or algeria THEY ARE INFESTED.
Not to my knowledge. Home grown or store bought, I have never seen any bugs.
It might be gross, but if the insects are only visible (or according to some identifiable as bugs) with a magnifying glass and not to the naked eye then there is nothing wrong with eating them. The Halacha does not recognize anything not visible to the naked eye.
wow are you sure Sam2? I didn’t know that. BUt then why would they have made an issue of this? And what would be rabbonim’s problem with strawberries ?
Always runs…, you are asking good kashos.
I am positive. Halacha does not recognize anything not visible to the human eye. A friend told me his Rebbe in a Yeshiva once told his Talmidim he believes it’s Assur to inhale through one’s mouth because he would breathe in microbes. That is laughable, ridiculous, and already mentioned by the earlier Poskim (turn of the 20th century) as being untrue.
But not being seen is not the same as not being visible. I believe the strawberry issue is that they are inside the strawberry, not that they are too small to see. If something would normally be visible or would be visible in different circumstances but just blends into its surroundings then it is still Assur to eat. The bug is visible so it has Halachic signifigance (i.e. is Assur to eat), it’s just not in a place where it’s visible. Bugs that are always too small to see with the naked eye have the same Halachic status as microbes-i.e. it’s as if they don’t exist.
I did not mean to say that figs and strawberries are not shailos(ask your Rov). I just meant to say that sometimes some people make tumuls which are not justified.
if that would be true than y did we all have to run out and buy filters for our sink we didnt see the bugs in our cups of water but only under a microscope and all rabbonim said u need a filter
and if its only possible to see with ur eye them u do they make a specail light to check the lettuce….so basicly ur saying close ur eyes and dont look and all will be good?
No Golden Mom. I thought I was clearer about that. I’m sorry. It’s not determined by if you can see it but if it is visible. The idea behind bug lights is that most of us do not have perfect vision and so we can’t determine ourselves what is visible to the naked eye. ‘Visible to the naked eye” means by a normal person (presumably 20/20 vision) who is actually looking, in normal daylight. If it could exist that there was a bug that is only visible through a bug light but would be too small for any person to see without one then such a bug would be Muttar. A light just helps us see what we can see anyway, it doesn’t make smaller things look bigger.
About the water in certain areas of New York: first of all, not “all the Rabbonim” said you need a filter. There are many notable, valid opinions to be Meikel. Those bugs are visible without a microscope (I have seen them myself) they just are very hard to see, especially when they are dead and not moving. We once took a trip to a reservoir; you can really see them swimming around in there. They are very light and almost see-through, but they are visible (to me, at least) if you look closely enough, especially against a black background.
The bugs in the water are not visible only because they are dead. I saw a live copepod in a cup. At first you might not notice it. However, they dart around and are extremely visible when they do so. Rashi in Pesachim says that Sheratzim are called thus because they are only visible when they move.
As to figs, I’ve been eating figs from my parents’ yard for many years and the only bugs ever noticed were ants, if the fig was cracked. We always open it regardless, just to be sure.
Sam2 you should be aware however, that although the article in the Hamodia revealed photos of worms found in dried figs, by illuminating them through the use of a magnifying glass, these worms would have anyways been visible to the human eye. THey were only trying to enlarge them with the magnifying glass.
ITs only a microscope that would present bugs not visible to the human eye.
mdd – were you serious that I am asking good kashos? or making a tumul of nothing?
Good evening.
My understanding is that if you can see that something is there, just can’t see it clearly without a magnifying glass or the like, it is considered to be visible.
Think about a fig. It is many small particles (for lack of a better word) that provide many, many crevices. So the bugs enjoy the dark corners and crevices.
I heard a shiur from Rabbi Yosef Eisen shlit”a, who is recognized as an expert in bedikas tola’im. He said that the minimum amount of issurim for eating a bug is 4. Something to think about.
May HaShem protect us from eating anything unkosher of any kind or type.
You did not make a tumul for nothing.
Good kashos — you did ask.
I like to eat from the 7 minim in general, especially when I’m in Eretz Yisroel. It’s such a shame that we can’t eat figs. Not that this is a halachic sevara at all, but it’s kind of hard to believe that one of the fruits that Hashem praises Eretz Yisroel for is almost impossible to eat halachically.
I guess you can apply that thinking to many other things as well.
emlf can you please clarify what you mean by bug eating issurim being 4? I do not understand.
The Gemara in Makkos says that. Depending on the type of bug there are either 4, 5, or 6 Issurim because there are different Pessukim. (There is an interesting disagreement between Rashi and the Rambam as to how those are counted, if I recall correctly.)
HaLeivi- I meant to apply it specifically here where Hashem praised Eretz Yisroel for this food. It would be kind of strange if Hashem showered the land of Israel with praise by calling it the land of bacon, because what kind of praise would that be for the Jewish People who can’t eat bacon? Similarly, Hashem is calling Eretz Yisroel the land of figs (among other things), what’s that supposed to mean to us if we can’t eat them?
ya the sugya in makkos, or more specifically rashi, goes through all the issurim. four for sheretz,one for flying sheretz (4+1=5),and 2 for swimming = 6. i think. havent learnt it in 3 years though, so check it up.
HaLeivi- I meant to apply it specifically here where Hashem praised Eretz Yisroel for this food. It would be kind of strange if Hashem showered the land of Israel with praise by calling it the land of bacon, because what kind of praise would that be for the Jewish People who can’t eat bacon? Similarly, Hashem is calling Eretz Yisroel the land of figs (among other things), what’s that supposed to mean to us if we can’t eat them?
I wonder also. The gemara is full of talk about eating dried figs. And drying them in the fields.
How the blazes did they eat them?
How can someone pull apart and bite into a tough slimy stringy fruit (Not to make fun of Hashems creations..but) that reminds me of nothing other then a large roach?? No matter how tasty… How??
“Not that this is a halachic sevara at all, but it’s kind of hard to believe that one of the fruits that Hashem praises Eretz Yisroel for is almost impossible to eat halachically.”
(Yes- I know I’m quoting myself) It is a good sevara! Gemara in Bechoros 6b asks how do we know that milk is mutar? Isn’t it eiver min hachai? One of the answers the Gemara gives is that since we know Eretz Yisroel is praised by being called zavas chalav udevash, it must be that chalav is mutar because otherwise why would Eretz Yisroel be praised with something that is assur?
I repeat my question- how could it be that figs are one of the fruits that Hashem praises Eretz Yisroel for, if it is so infested that it is pretty much assur to eat?
there are plenty fruit/veg that Hashem created that is or almost is impossible to eat for example rasberries
golden mom- you miss my point. But G-d didn’t praise EY with raspberries. There are 7 minim (and milk) that G-d praises EY for. It doesn’t make sense that any of these foods should be impossible to eat, because what type of praise would that me? In fact (as I said before) that’s how Chazal knows that milk is kosher, because if it was treif then G-d would not have praised EY with it. That’s like praising EY as the land of bacon, that doesn’t make sense because we can’t eat bacon. So how is EY the land of figs if we can’t eat them?
All though it might be permitted halacally to eat food if the bugs cant be seen, it still causes “mitumum halav”
That is one reason why after the golden age in spain that produced so many gedolim, since Jews after the expolsion went to Africa and other hoter climates were affected spiritually because the food was more infected with bugs that were not always visible to the naked eye.
This way one reason given why that golden era ended.
Tzvi: You don’t think it was the lack of money and support that they had previously had then lost? The “Golden Age” ended 200 years before the Expulsion.
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