The Chasam Sofer asked two members of his community to meet with the mayor of Pressburg. He told them to meet immediately because the issue was urgent.
The delegates spoke to the mayor's secretary and told him that they must talk to the mayor immediately. "All slots are filled for today," the secretary said. "If you want, we can schedule it for next week..."
The delegates explained to the secretary that the matter was urgent and couldn’t be postponed.
Their determination and efforts paid off, and the secretary brought them to the mayor. The mayor offered them a cup of coffee. "No, thank you," they replied, since the milk wasn't chalav Yisrael.
"Why don't you drink it?" the mayor asked angrily. "Is it because it isn't kosher?" That indeed was the reason.
The mayor said, "If I offer you a drink, you should accept it!" and went on and on. Just then, the secretary opened the door. "Mayor! Did you have coffee?"
"No," the mayor shouted. "I was about to, but these fellows disappointed me. I offered them a coffee, but they declined because of kashrus."
"Good," the secretary replied. "I'm glad you didn’t have the coffee because the milk is contaminated. Many people drank from the milk and became sick. The doctor checked the milk and said it was filled with unhealthy germs."
The mayor immediately lowered his tone and spoke to the two delegates respectfully. He told them, "I always admired the rabbis of the Jewish nation; they are so wise. I forgot about that, of late, and I was considering banishing all Jews from Pressburg. But now that you reminded me of the wisdom of the Jewish sages, I will cancel the decree."
The two delegates told the Chasam Sofer 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 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, in the name of his father-in-law, Reb Shmuel Unsdorfer zt'l, a descendant of the Chasam Sofer.)
The halachos of kashrus are discussed this week. It is important to be cautious with kashrus, for two reasons. One is that we don’t want to eat non-kosher food, not even accidentally. As the Or HaChaim (Vayikra 11:43) writes, "Klal Yisrael should be careful, and not eat non-kosher foods, not even by accident, because by accident and on purpose are the same in regards with this matter, for even by accident, one becomes impure..."
The second problem applies even when he guessed correctly and the food was kosher. Nevertheless, his lax attitude causes him to lose his protection. Because those who are cautious about using the best hechsherim and don’t take any chances, receive siyata dishmaya, and Hashem always helps them eat kosher. But if one is lax, he loses his divine protection.
The Or HaChaim says that this is indicated in the words (11:44), קדושים והייתם והתקדשתם. As the Or HaChaim writes, לבל וסייגים גדרים תעשו קדושים שתהוי מבטיחכם אני ובזה תטמאו, "Put safeguards and precautions that you shouldn’t become impure [with non-kosher food] and I guarantee you that you will be holy [and protected from eating non-kosher]."
9. Being careful with kashrus is also mesugal to be protected from the gentile nations.
Therefore, the pasuk concludes, השרץ בכל ...תטמאו ולא, "You will not become impure... by the insects..." and the Or HaChaim writes, "The pasuk is hinting that by keeping this mitzvah, the Jewish nation will not be ruled by the nations of the world, which are called הארץ על הרומשים ושקצים שרצים."
Similarly, Reb Chaim Vital zt'l writes, "Regarding food, one can transgress many aveiros. There are the forbidden fats (חלב), blood, and insects; there are also טבלand כלאים and other prohibitions. But if a person is always careful, to the best of his ability, and always checks food before he eats it, Hashem will help him that the food he eats will be kosher, and he will not sin, even accidentally..."
The Be'er Mayim Chayim (Chayei Sarah ויאמר אברהם) bemoans how people aren't careful with kashrus. He writes, "In our generation... if someone claims he’s a shochet, people trust him. They don't check him out to find out whether he is reliable... And if someone brings wine, milk, fish, or foods that need to be checked for worms, or any other food that may have a kashrus issue...people say, 'The person who brought it is a religious Yid. Why should we suspect that it isn't kosher? ... But if someone asks them for a loan, they suddenly speak differently. They don't trust anyone before verifying that he is trustworthy...because they fear he might not get paid back. This is because money is the most important thing in the world for them. Mitzvos are less important to them, and therefore they assume that even if it isn't perfect, it's also o.k..."
The Be'er Mayim Chayim describes how Avraham Avinu was the exact opposite. When it came to money matters, he trusted Eliezer wholly. But when it came to mitzvos, such as finding a shidduch for Yitzchak, he didn’t trust Eliezer until Eliezer swore to him that he would do as he directed. The Be'er Mayim Chayim writes, "The Torah testifies about Avraham Avinu, אהובי אברהם, 'Avraham who loves me.' Avraham didn’t love anything, only Hashem's mitzvos. Everything else paled in comparison. He permitted Eliezer to be in charge of his wealth, but when it came to mitzvos he didn’t trust him..."
This week's parashah also discusses the prohibition against eating worms and bugs. As it states (11:43), השרץ בכל נפשתיכם את תשקצו אל בם ונטמתם בהם תטמאו ולא השרץ, "You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping creature that creeps, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, that you should become unclean through them."
The Or HaChaim elaborates, "A person must be extremely careful not to eat anything that might be infested with worms. Especially in recent generations, because the atmosphere and the earth have become polluted (in a spiritual sense), and everything that grows has worms and bugs. Therefore, the cautious should be aware."
Many chassidim have the custom of eating shalosh seudos in the dark. This custom began in the past when there wasn't electricity yet. There were candles and lamps on Friday night, but by shalosh seudos time, the candles were extinguished, so they sat in the dark. But whatever the origin of this custom, there is certainly something extraordinary about singing inspirational songs in the dark. My grandfather, Rebbe Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zt'l, spoke longingly for this custom. He said he would do the same but was concerned that he wouldn't see what he was eating in the darkness. There might be an insect in his food, and he won’t know about it.
