Q&A: Does Accidentally Eating Insects Dull the Soul?
Does Accidentally Eating Insects Dull the Soul?
Question
Hello,
I don't think it's realistic for an ordinary person not to eat any insects at all, since there are surely insects in various vegetables that won't come off through different inspections and washings.
So do those insects that a person eats unintentionally dull the soul?
Answer
As for the question of dulling the soul, I don't know whether large insects do that. I also don't know who would be able to know. So I can't answer you about small insects either. In any case, in the accepted view, whatever is permitted by Jewish law also does not dull the soul. See my opinion about citric acid on Passover here on the site.
As for the halakhic question itself, search the site for my responsa. I tend to be lenient on this.
Discussion on Answer
Can you imagine anyone in Judaism making a claim that can actually be tested? Everyone runs to the protective embrace of metaphysics and sighs in relief when they can cling to a claim that cannot be falsified and therefore never will be. Sometimes they'll phrase it in a way that formally makes it falsifiable, but everyone knows no one will be able to carry out such an experiment in the next thousand years.
The literal meaning of dulling is blockage. The claim is that it blocks the soul from understanding words of Torah, and more generally as well.
What is meant by "dulling the soul"? In practice, you don't see mental problems among people who eat forbidden foods as opposed to those who don't. Does this mean something metaphysical, or something that can be seen outwardly?