The Chasam Sofer asked two people from his kehillah to arrange a meeting with the mayor, and said that the matter was urgent.
The two men went to the mayor's house and asked the secretary for an appointment for the same day, because the matter was urgent. The secretary said, "All slots are filled for today. It is impossible to make an appointment on such short notice. If you want, we can schedule it for next week..."
The delegates repeated to the secretary that the matter was urgent, and it couldn't be postponed.
It wasn't easy, but their determination paid off, and a meeting with the mayor was arranged for that day.
They entered the mayor's room, and the mayor offered them a cup of coffee.
"No, thank you," they replied.
"Why not?" the mayor asked. "Is it because it isn't kosher?"
That was indeed the reason. The milk wasn't chalav Yisrael.
The mayor went into a rage. "If I offer you a drink, you should accept it!" he said.
As he was ranting and raving, the secretary opened the door and asked the mayor whether he had a cup of coffee.
"No. The mayor replied angrily. "I was about to, but these fellows ruined my appetite. I offered them a coffee, but they declined... because of kashrus."
"Good," the secretary replied. "I'm glad you didn't have coffee because the milk is contaminated. Those who drank this milk got sick. After checking the milk, a doctor determined that it was filled with unhealthy germs."
The mayor immediately changed his tone of speech and spoke to the two delegates respectfully. He told them, "I always admired the rabbis of the Jewish nation for their superior wisdom. I forgot about that, of late, and I was considering banishing all the Jews from Pressburg. But now that you reminded me of the wisdom of the Jewish sages, I will cancel that decree."
The two delegates returned to the Chasam Sofer and told him what happened at the meeting. The Chasam Sofer replied that there was a kitrug in heaven on the Jewish community because they weren't careful enough with kashrus and with ם"עכו חלב. In the merit of the delegate's mesirus nefesh to keep the laws of kashrus, the decree was abolished. (Heard from Reb Elchanan Halperin zt'l of Radumishla, who heard it from his father-in-law, Reb Shmuel Unsdorfer zt'l, a descendant of the Chasam Sofer.)
This week's parashah tells us that we are not allowed to eat worms and bugs. As it states (11:43), השרץ השרץ בכל נפשתיכם את תשקצו אל בם ונטמתם בהם תטמאו ולא .
The Or HaChaim elaborates, "A person must be extremely careful not to eat anything that might be infested with worms. Especially in recent generations, the atmosphere and the earth have become polluted [in a spiritual sense], and everything that grows has worms and bugs. Therefore, the cautious must be aware."
Reb Yonoson Eibshitz (Kriesi u'Pleisi 84:19) writes, "To eat a salad [that might be infested] is a ...תורה ספק Bitul doesn’t apply. Therefore, it is a ,תורה ספק and chas veshalom, one mustn’t be lenient. When men and women check leafy vegetables in a hurry, because they are in a rush to get to their other chores, I don’t rely on them. It is my custom, from my youth (דעתי על עמדי מיום), that I won’t rely on their checking. This is how all Torah Jews should do, because it is likely that there is a transgression."
The Be’eir Heitev (84:10) writes, "[Insect infestation] differs from country to country, and from year to year. There are years when there are many worms, and there are years when there’s less. A ,נפש בעלrighteous person, should be careful..."
Many chassidim have the custom of eating shalosh seudos in the dark. My grandfather, Rebbe Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zt'l, spoke longingly of this custom. There is undoubtedly something very special about singing inspirational songs and hearing holy divrei Torah in the dark, at shalosh seudos. He said that he would do the same, but was concerned that he wouldn’t see what he was eating in the darkness. There may be an insect in his food, and he won't know about it.
Reb Chaim Vital zt'l writes, "Regarding food, one can transgress many aveiros. There are the forbidden fats (חלב), blood, insects; there's also טבל and כלאים and several other prohibitions. But if a person is always careful, to the best of his ability, and always checks the food before he eats it, Hashem will help that the food he eats will be kosher, and he will not sin, even inadvertently."