Photo Credit: Jewish Press

Point Of Ingestion
The size of an egg to satisfy… of a big date to recover…
(Yoma 79b)

 

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The Mishna (73b) states that the minimum shiur (quantity) of food that one would have to eat on Yom Kippur to incur the penalty of kares (lit. to be cut off at Heaven’s hand) is ke’koseves hagassah – the volume of a large date. The Gemara (bottom 79b) concludes that a ke’koseves hagassah is larger than a kezayis (an olive’s volume) but smaller than a kebeitzah (an egg’s volume).

The Halachic implication of these three measures is as follows: Kezayis is the minimum required when the Torah speaks in terms of achila (eating), such as the mitzva of matza on the first night of Pesach or the prohibition against eating non-kosher foods. Kebeitzah is the minimum required when the Torah speaks in terms of sevi’ah (satiation), as regarding Birkas Hamazon (according to R. Yehuda). Lastly, Ke’koseves hagassah is required in order to incur a penalty on Yom Kippur because the Torah speaks in terms of affliction, for the Sages judged that food equaling the volume of a large date is sufficient to ease one’s innuy (hunger pains).

R. Yochanan (Chullin 103a) asserts that if one swallows half a kezayis of forbidden food, and then expels it and swallows it again, he is liable to malkos (lashes) since, in total, a kezayis has passed through his throat (even though he ingested only half a kezayis). R. Yochanan is of the opinion that the critical factor regarding malkos culpability for eating forbidden foods is hana’ah bi’gerono – pleasure that the throat derives from the food. Reish Lakish, however, is of the opinion that one’s stomach must derive pleasure. The halacha follows R. Yochanan.

 

Alleviating Hunger: The Fix

Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (Responsa Shemesh Marpei, O.C. 19-22) was asked whether taking suppositories, that quell hunger, rectally is permitted on Yom Kippur since this does not provide pleasure to the throat. (It was suggested that perhaps a frail person should take such suppositories on Yom Kippur morning to prevent him from feeling faint and having to eat later in the day.)

In response, Rav Hirsch draws a distinction between eating forbidden foods and the prohibition of eating on Yom Kippur. He argues that if taking suppositories quells one’s hunger, it is forbidden to use them on Yom Kippur (even though they do not provide pleasure to the throat) since the essential factor on Yom Kippur is yisuvei da’atei (lit. the minimum quantity that will ease his discomfort. Note: Of course, this ruling does not pertain to cases of pikuach nefesh when even eating is permitted.

 

Satisfying Hunger: Satiation

The Chasam Sofer (Responsa Orach Chayim 127) also distinguishes between eating on Yom Kippur and other issurim, and argues that with regard to Yom Kippur the critical factor is hana’as mei’av – pleasure of the stomach rather than pleasure of the throat.

(In a similar vein the Panim Meiros (Vol. II:27) submits that with regard to Birkas Hamazon, where the Torah states vesava’ta (“you will be satiated), one is not required to recite Birkas Hamazon (min haTorah) unless the food provided him with satiation. If one eats half a kebeitzah, expels it and then re-swallows it, he is not required to recite Birkas Hamazon.)

 

The Joys of Eating

Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (Responsa Achiezer vol. 3:61), however, disagrees and deduces that the issur of eating on Yom Kippur depends on hana’as gerono – the pleasure of the throat, just like other issurim. The Gemara (Shevuos 13b) cites the case of one who chokes while eating on Yom Kippur as an example of a person who dies without attaining the Yom Kippur atonement. This Gemara indicates that even though the person choked and died before the food entered his stomach, he has violated Yom Kippur. This proves, says Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, that the essential factor regarding Yom Kippur is the pleasure of the throat, not the pleasure of the stomach. Consequently, he permits a sick person to take food or liquid through a feeding tube (or intravenously) on Yom Kippur since it lacks the critical factor of pleasure of the throat.

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Rabbi Yaakov Klass is Rav of K’hal Bnei Matisyahu in Flatbush; Torah Editor of The Jewish Press; and Presidium Chairman, Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud HaRabbonim.