Parshas Shemini 5785
- Torah Tavlin
- Apr 23
- 2 min read
זאת החיה אשר תאכלו מכל הבהמה אשר על הארץ ... (יא-ב)
MASHAL: A story is told about Chacham Ovadia Yosef zt”l, that he was once sitting in his inner study studying Torah, deep in concentration. His wife, the Rebbetzin, entered the room and placed a plate with a slice of cake on his desk. Uncharacteristically, he made no point at eating it and continued his studies as if he didn’t know the cake was there.
When the Rebbetzin realized this, she leaned over and urged him, “Taste the cake, it is fresh, it just came out of the oven.”
Chacham Ovadia, as if he suddenly noticed the cake, raised his eyes and asked: “Who baked it?” to which the Rebbetzin replied, “A relative of ours. Mrs. Plonit came to help me in the kitchen today but there is nothing to fear, she prepared the cake in our kitchen, and baked it in our oven.”
Chacham Ovadia was unimpressed: “The woman you are referring to unfortunately does not keep Shabbat. There are a number of authorities who hold that a desecrator of Shabbat has the law of a gentile, so her cooking and baking is considered to be non-Jewish cooking!”
NIMSHAL: A prominent speaker recounted this story with the following insight: When a wife serves her husband a cake baked in their own home, there is no reason not to eat from it. After all, if he doesn’t trust her, who then will he trust in his kitchen? What then prompted the great posek, Chacham Ovadia, to inquire about who baked the cake? The answer is a based on a posuk: “The feet of his faithful ones will be guarded” (Shmuel 1:2-9). When one is careful with every bite he puts into his mouth and takes measures to trust only reliable Kashrus agencies that he knows he can rely on - from Heaven too, he will be guarded so that he does not ingest or eat something that is even questionable.