Bal Teshaktzu - Personal Sensitivities

Q. I am a finicky person. Many things that I find repulsive are innocuous for most people. Is the halacha of bal teshaktzu established by the reaction of most people or is it applied individually for each person according to their sensitivities?

A. The Shach (YD 66:15) discusses eating non-fertilized eggs that had been incubated by a chicken for three days. These eggs are no longer fresh, and some people won’t eat them because they are stale and have an off taste. The Shach writes that one who is not disgusted may eat them. However, one who is finicky and is repulsed by the thought of eating old eggs may not consume them because of bal teshaktzu.

Similarly, the Chochmas Adam )58:10) discusses a case of a mouse that fell into a large pot of soup and was removed. From a kashrus perspective, it is permissible to eat the soup if the ratio of soup to the mouse exceeds sixty to one. However, if one is disgusted by the thought of eating soup that was cooked with a mouse, eating the soup would be a violation of bal teshaktzu.

Thus, from both sources, it is clear that bal teshaktzu is relative to each individual.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.