Q&A: An Example of a Clash Between Practical Reality and Jewish Law in the Prohibition of "It Shall Not Be Seen"
An Example of a Clash Between Practical Reality and Jewish Law in the Prohibition of "It Shall Not Be Seen"
Question
Rabbi Michi, hello,
You previously wrote that morality and Jewish law are not overlapping values, and that a person must know when to decide between them.
What about matters that are not moral issues, but where there is enormous difficulty in halakhic observance—for example, the owner of a huge leavened-food factory (say, Osem). On the one hand, he has to get rid of the leavened food before Passover. On the other hand, the sale of leavened food, to be blunt and honest, looks like a halakhic trick. Wouldn’t it be preferable to argue that there are financial limits to the prohibition of "it shall not be seen," or even to go further and make the "safsnisht" argument you mentioned regarding other commandments (if I remember correctly, the eradication of Amalek, including children and women)?
Answer
It’s impossible to discuss such a question in general terms. Each example has to be considered on its own merits. As for leavened food, there is not the slightest problem. The sale is an excellent solution, and it is fully valid even according to the strictest standards.
Discussion on Answer
In my opinion, yes. The leavened food is sold because you signed a contract. What was in your heart is irrelevant. Unexpressed intentions are not legally meaningful. But in large companies this is glatt according to all opinions. After all, they want to sell their products, so they also truly intend the sale. If someone came along to buy all their merchandise, they’d be overjoyed.
I’m not speaking, of course, about the sale of leavened food absorbed in utensils and the rest of that nonsense.
Why does the Rabbi refer to that as nonsense?
Because selling leavened food absorbed in utensils is nonsense. The sale neither takes effect nor is it necessary. Besides that, it is the height of wisdom and virtue.
In the Rabbi’s opinion, is the sale of leavened food even for a private person in his home (where there is no major financial loss) acceptable ab initio?