"This Pepper Has Legs": Interview with Rabbi Moshe Vaye

For those who are unfamiliar, behind Rabbi Vaye stands a three-volume book titled 'Checking Food According to Halacha'. The book provides various explanations about insects and worms found in our food, along with detailed recommendations on how to get rid of them before they reach your mouth. For the squeamish among us, especially those who are careful to avoid the prohibition of eating creeping creatures, it is advisable to keep a paper and pen handy for jotting down the important tips provided below.

 

 

 

Before starting the interview, I can't help but ask the rabbi what drew him to the field of worms and insects in food. "We were always very particular about this at home," says Rabbi Vaye, revealing what truly lies behind his great interest in the subject. "I also remember as a child collecting cockroaches and greatly enjoying observing them." Over time, Rabbi Vaye put aside his love for small creatures and turned to writing halachic literature and dealing with matters of domestic harmony. At one point, he was even on the way to publishing a book about the secret of the letters until a special phone call changed his life in an instant. "One day, about thirty years ago," Rabbi recalls, "someone called me and asked me to give a lesson at a home gathering. What started with five women spread by word of mouth and gained momentum. Initially, I brought vegetables to the lesson. Gradually, I moved on to pictures, computer illustrations, presentations, slides, and more. Since then, I've traveled to all five continents teaching about this topic to Jews while trying to find solutions and cleaning methods to easily avoid the prohibition."

 

"On one hand, there was a great thirst for knowledge, and on the other, a significant lack of awareness. It started with articles in various newspapers, continued with short booklets, and gradually I reached the book. We debated intensely whether to invest and publish a book with high-quality color photos or just a text-only book, at most with black-and-white photos. Eventually, we decided to put in more effort, time, and money to publish the book in the most elegant form possible. We purchased photography equipment and started the task."

 

"The problem is that if you don't really see the insect on the fruit or vegetable, you don't know what to look for, and someone who doesn't know what they're looking for is likely to fail. An example of this is a personal story from our home, before the era of specially grown vegetables. A neighbor brought us a cabbage salad. In cabbage, there is an insect called thrips. My wife, looking at the salad, saw many black spots and said to me, 'See how much pepper she added'. After observing the salad, I responded, 'This pepper has legs!'. To make sure people know what to look for and what to avoid, we produced the pictures in the book in color and with enlargements."

 

 

 

"The research has generally been ongoing for nearly 30 years. The first volume was published about 15 years ago. The intensive work on the book took about 10 years."

 

"These days, the book is being translated into English. However, we have so far released a temporary booklet in Portuguese and Spanish. We are currently working on the French version."

 

"I have been in contact with academics, read many studies on the subject, and consulted with leading poskim such as Rabbi Wosner and Rabbi Elyashiv. Furthermore, for the research, I visited various restaurants and factories worldwide. I can tell you that there is now insect-free vegetable farming in Mexico, South Africa, the U.S., and Brazil, but in general, this is personal research."

 

 

 

 

To my question about the purpose of writing the book, the rabbi simply answers: "To teach people how to enjoy the food that Hashem has given us. I can assure you that someone who is careful receives special help from Heaven. An excellent example of this is an incident with Baba Sali, of blessed memory. Baba Sali used to eat cooked food only on Shabbat. Throughout the rest of the week, the family would prepare about ten dishes, but he wouldn't touch any of them, leaving everything for the guests. He himself would be satisfied with a slice of radish.

When he agreed to eat a little chicken soup on Friday night, the family took the opportunity and also put some vegetables in it. Once, the neighbor prepared the soup for Baba Sali, washed the vegetables on Friday, and intended to check them later. On Shabbat morning, she remembered she had made the soup without checking the vegetables and rushed to Baba Sali's house to warn them not to eat the soup. Upon hearing this, the family members said that now they understood what happened on Friday night. When they served the soup to Baba Sali as usual, he left it untouched. Now everything made sense; Heaven prevented the righteous one from eating even the suspicion of a prohibition. Whoever comes to purify receives help."

 

"This question was already anticipated by the Holy Ohr HaChaim about 250 years ago, and he gave two reasons for this. The first, spiritual, reason is that today as the air has become polluted, the bacteria have increased. Apparently, the holy Ohr HaChaim meant spiritual air pollution. A simple proof of his words is the phenomenon of head lice. Previously, lice were only found in neglected families, but today they are common to everyone. None of the inventions help, as lice adapt to them and develop immunity. The same is true in the field - new insects are encountered all the time.

 

 

 

"The second reason is that today all countries have become one. Once transportation between countries developed with planes, ships, etc., people started transporting fresh foods from country to country. Along with these foods, the insects on them also traveled. Insects that wouldn't harm other crops in their country of origin due to biological balance (every insect has a counter insect that is its natural enemy and negates its harmful impact on the crop) cause damage unimpeded when moved to another country because their natural enemy doesn't necessarily travel with them."

 

 

"For example, six months ago," Rabbi Vaye continues to explain, "a new insect called 'Tuta Absoluta' (meaning - completely harmful) arrived in the country. In South America, it lived quietly. Though it affected potatoes and tomatoes, it didn’t move beyond the country's borders. Last December, this insect arrived in the country and spread throughout in just half a year! Therefore, today we need to inspect tomatoes for suspicious holes."

 

"Today, efforts are being made to grow in labs natural predators for the existing bacteria so that they devour the pests. However, halachically speaking, we don't benefit much, because the predatory bacteria indeed devours the bacteria that harm the vegetable or fruit, but it remains alive and poses a problem for the Jewish person who doesn't want to stumble on a prohibition, since it is a living creature itself."

 

By the way, why is eating worms by mistake so severe? "One must know that the prohibition on worms encompasses many sub-prohibitions. Eating a water insect involves 4 prohibitions. Eating a land insect involves 5 prohibitions, and eating a flying insect involves 6 prohibitions. In fact, we don’t find such a severe additional prohibition except for one more mitzvah which is gossip. The question arises: Why did the Torah intensify so much on these two matters? The answer is complex and involves both as they happen thoughtlessly and with the mouth. A person who doesn’t guard his mouth - words come out, and worms, on the other hand, go in. The spies who spoke gossip, what was their punishment? Worms came out of their mouths."