DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Halacha is For Refuah Shelemah for
 R. Yosef ben Neshla

Dedicated By
Simon Masri and Ezra Cattan

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
      
(File size: 892 KB)
Foods and Substances One Must Avoid Due to Potential Risks

The Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chayim of Baghdad, 1833-1909), in Parashat Pinchas, mentions a number of types of foods and other substances that one must not ingest, due to the potential risks posed by these items (listen to audio for precise citation):

1) One should not eat an onion or garlic if an entire night had passed since it was peeled. This applies only if it was entirely peeled; if a piece of the peel remained, then one need not be concerned. Furthermore, this danger does not arise if the onion or garlic was mixed with other foods, such as in a salad, or if had been cooked or pickled.

2) One should ensure that no human sweat ever enters his mouth, with the exception of the sweat on one's face. The Ben Ish Chai writes that ingested sweat is "poison" to the body.

3) A person should never place money in his mouth.

4) If a person salivates upon seeing food and experiences a craving to partake of it, he should ensure not to swallow that saliva; he should rather expel it from his mouth so as to avoid the harm it could cause.

5) The Talmud Yerushalmi mentions that partaking of hot bread can cause fever, Heaven forbid, and one must therefore avoid hot bread. The Ben Ish Chai records that the practice in Jerusalem was to avoid even mildly warm bread, but in his view this concern arises only with regard to bread that is exceedingly hot, as suggested by the Yerushalmi's formulation ("Chamimei De'chamimei").

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Customs Relevant to Rosh Hodesh
May One Eat Lunch Before Reciting Minha?
Is One Obligated to Pay for Repairs Before Retrieving the Item From the Repairman?
Does a Partial Payment Avoid the Prohibition Against Withholding Wages?
“Bal Talin” – The Prohibition Against Delaying the Payment of Wages
Outbidding A Deal, and Offering A Higher Salary To An Employee From Another Firm
The Obligation to Pay Employees on Time
Dressing Oneself Before Washing His Hands in the Morning; Washing One's Hands if One Awakens Before Hasot
Sleeping with Sisit; Having One’s Tallit Dry Cleaned
Does A Parent Have Rights To The Gifts Given To Thier Minor Children
May One Ride on a Freight Ship Steered by Jews on Shabbat?
Taking a Cruise That Embarks on Thursday or Friday
Must One Repeat Netilat Yadayim During a Meal if He Touches a Sefer Torah, Megilla or Tefillin?
May a Man Shake a Woman's Hand?
Important Dates in the Month of Heshvan
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found