Vitamins and Broccoli
Question
1. If I used a vitamin to improve my general well-being, not to cure an illness, why don't they need a hashgachah? Does your father discuss this in his sefer, and does he explain why it is that the only thing that is non-kosher are foods, not things like emulsifiers, lubricants etc.? 2. If you take a piece of raw brocolli, can you see the bugs with the naked eye? 3. Are you going to be back on the radio?
Answer
Answered by Aaron Abadi1) Why should they?! It's an Halachah Pesuka with no argument. Inedible items are not a problem. 2) If you remove the bug, you'll see it. If it is hiding inside, you won't. If the fact that it is not on the outside makes it Kosher, can you eat chocolate covered insects?! Incidentally, if the bug was born within the fruit and it never came out, it would be OK, but this is not the type of bugs we see today. Although many Apikorsim (non-believers) deny that such bugs ever existed. 3) Maybe, but we're thinking of doing an internet based learning program, to benefit people around the world. The need for all this Halachic clarification is so much more in the places away from the more established & populated observant Jewish communities. Let Chaim Yankel go to his local store in Villiamsburg and buy Chuluv Yisruel. But what should the Jews everywhere else do? The problem with Radio is that real radio lives on commercials. An hour of radio costs like $1,500 or something (depending when & where). The commercials bring that money in. I'd rather have an uninterupted study session. The internet is here to stay, why not use it. AA