“Imma, what’s for dessert?” asked Chaim at the Shabbos seuda.
“Marshmallows!” replied Imma.
“Yes!! I love marshmallows,” screamed out Chaim’s brother Shimon, as he went to the kitchen to help Imma speed up the process of serving them. When he was transferring the marshmallows from their package to the serving plate, he noticed the package said: “Allergy caution: Contains fish.”
Shimon looked at Imma, pointed to that sentence and asked: “Why does the package say this?!”
“It’s because kosher marshmallows have gelatin that comes from fish,” replied Imma.
“But we just ate meat! Does that mean we need to make a hefsek (e.g., eat a piece of bread and drink something) before we can have marshmallows?!”
“Hmm...good question!” replied Imma.
Question:
Should they make a hefsek before eating the marshmallows?
Hints & Answers
HALACHA CHALLENGE: In marshmallows, fish-derived gelatin can comprise as much as 5% of the recipe. Halachically, that is considered too significant to be ignored, and therefore such kosher marshmallows have the status of being "fish" and not suitable for eating with meat. Since fish and meat are not eaten together (or without a hefsek) due to סכנה, great caution should be exercised about this.
RHYMES: “pursue it”
RIDDLE: Avi is taking these flowers to the restroom so that they will help to remove bad odor there. In such a case, someone who is smelling the aroma of the flowers (even before they are brought in the restroom) should not make a bracha (source: Mishna Berura 217:10).
*Menucha answers are not to be taken as final decisions in halacha.
