Chullin Archives | Rosh Yeshiva Responds

31 05, 2026

Stopping Vegetarianism and a Beit Din of Women for Hatarat Nedarim

May 31st, 2026|Hatarat Nedarim, Minhag, Women, Yoreh De'ah|

QUESTION

A woman would like to stop being a vegetarian after many years.

A. Does she need to do hatarat nedarim (annulment of vows), since being vegetarian may be considered a ma’alah (spiritual or religiously positive practice)?

B. If so, can she do the hatarat nedarim before three women?

ANSWER

Yes, I think she should do hatarat nedarim.

Being vegetarian is certainly a hanhagah tovah (positive religious practice). The Shulchan Arukh rules that when a person accepts a permitted practice as prohibited, or adopts a positive practice and repeats it three times, it can take on the status of a neder and require hatarah before being

5 04, 2026

Kashering and Using Sous Vide for Milk and Meat

April 5th, 2026|Bishul, Kashrut, Technology, Yoreh De'ah|

Question

Can a sous vide be used for both meat and dairy cooking?

What about kashering it, if necessary?

ANSWER

What Is Sous Vide?

Let’s begin by understanding the metziut. According to Wikipedia, sous vide is a method of cooking in which food is placed in a plastic pouch and cooked in a water bath at a precisely regulated temperature. During the cooking process, the food does not come into direct contact with the

21 03, 2023

Pesticides, Health, and Kashrut – May We Eat Foods with Pesticides?

March 21st, 2023|Kashrut, Yoreh De'ah|

QUESTION

Rochester, NY

Are there kashrut implications to pesticides in fruits and vegetables and their impact on human health?

ANSWER

No, not form a kashrut perspective. I do understand that people would like to bring certain Torah-value concerns into the kashrut conversation, such as tzaar baalei chayim (cruelty to animals), treatment of workers, additives and pesticides, etc., but

29 01, 2021

When Bacon Falls on the Food: Bitul of Dry Food

January 29th, 2021|Kashrut|

The underlying principle of almost the entire field of practical Kashrut is that of bitul – the ability of a food to be considered “nullified” when it is mixed with other foods, assuming that it does not impart any taste, that it is not noten ta’am. This is intuitively understandable when, say, a drop of milk falls into a large pot of chicken soup, that is, when the two are fully mixed together and become one entity. We can then say: “All we have here is chicken soup. The milk – since it cannot be tasted – no longer exists.” But

Halakhic Status of a Deaf Person Who Cannot Speak Intelligibly: Part 2 – Poskim

6 09, 2016

Halakhic Status of a Deaf Person Who Cannot Speak Intelligibly: Part 2 – Poskim

September 6th, 2016|Disabilities|

In the previous lecture we saw that there were opinions of Tanaaim and Amoraim in the Talmud that would have allowed for a reassessment of a deaf person’s status, but that halakha rejected these opinions and rules categorically that a deaf person is not a person of legal standing. In this lecture, we will see how some poskim did reassess this status when it became clear that deaf people were fully intelligent and fully capable.

Some historical background:

It was commonly accepted that deaf people could not be educated; when

5 08, 2016

Buying Non-Kosher Food

August 5th, 2016|Kashrut|

Question:

לגרסה העברית לחצו כאן / Read this teshuva in Hebrew

I have a small business and occasionally order lunch for my non-Jewish employees. I order non-kosher food for them, but I was told that it is not permitted to purchase non-kosher food for non-Jews. Is that true? If so, does this extend to non-business oriented situations? For example, when a homeless person asks me for money, I will offer to buy him food. If he says yes, I will walk with him to the nearest non-kosher restaurant and purchase something for him. Is this also not permitted?

Answer:

At the outset it

Harchakot During Aveilut

26 07, 2016

Harchakot During Aveilut

July 26th, 2016|Aveilut, Lifecycles, Niddah, Sex|

Question:

לגרסה העברית לחצו כאן /Read this teshuva in Hebrew

I am currently sitting shiva for my mother a”h. I am also currently in niddah and my mikveh night would be tomorrow night. I know that during shiva I’m not allowed to have sex with my husband but I wanted to know if I could go to the mikveh so that we can hug and touch, at least in a non-sexual way. I could really use a hug from my husband and his reassuring touch during this time. Would we also be allowed to sleep in the same bed?

Answer:

Thank you for your question. I am sorry to hear of

Hilkhot Kashrut: Taste Transfer and Pickling

11 02, 2011

Hilkhot Kashrut: Taste Transfer and Pickling

February 11th, 2011|Kashrut|

The Gemara recognizes a number of ways in which taste can transfer from one food to another without the presence of heat. First, there can be surface transfer when one or both of the foods are moist, such as when cheese touches a piece of meat. In most cases, this requires a mere rinsing off of the items, although in some cases where rinsing is not sufficient to remove the adulterating film on the surface, a more vigorous scrubbing or, when that would be counter-productive, a scraping would be required (Shulkhan Arukh, YD, 91:1,

Exploring the Prohibition of Meat and Milk Part 2

28 01, 2011

Exploring the Prohibition of Meat and Milk Part 2

January 28th, 2011|Kashrut|

Previously we explored the parameters of the Biblical prohibition of meat and milk, and how Chazal had extended the prohibition from mammals (the females of which produce milk) to include also birds, and in the process extended the prohibition conceptually from “kid goat in its mother’s milk” to “meat and milk.” The Rabbinic extensions, however, are not limited to the type of meat (and milk), but also apply to the very prohibited activity itself. The Torah only prohibits cooking the two together, and – according to Rabbinic interpretation – eating and benefitted from the

Exploring The Prohibition of Milk and Meat Part 1

21 01, 2011

Exploring The Prohibition of Milk and Meat Part 1

January 21st, 2011|Kashrut|

The Torah’s prohibition to cook a kid goat in its mother’s milk is understood by Chazal to prohibit the cooking of meat from cows, sheep, and goats, together with milk, even if it is not from the animal’s mother. Why is there such a gap between the literal and halakhic meaning of the verse, and in what way is the halakha of meat and milk shaped by the simple sense of the verse?

The first question, the reason for the gap between the literal and halakhic meaning of the verse, is not unique to this

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