It’s Not Peanuts
On a flight abroad, a flight attendant offered the passengers packages of nuts, as is common on many flights. When I was offered this snack, I declined. But he probably did not hear my answer, because he repeated his offer. So I repeated my response.
“It is kosher,” he tried to assure me.
“How do you know?” I challenged.
He thought for a moment, and then said, in wonder, “What could it contain already? It’s only peanuts!”
I took the package from his hand and opened it. I placed it under his nose and asked if he didn’t smell oil.
“You’re a hundred percent right!” he agreed. “They smear the peanuts with oil. But doesn’t kashrut apply only to meat products? Does oil, too, need a kashrut symbol?”
“Certainly,” I answered. “Our G-d commands us to eat only that which the Torah certifies is kosher. We are ordered to keep away from impure foods. This does not concern only animal meat, but, in essence, everything we put into our mouths! Every food item must be checked to see whether it derives from a pure or an impure source. Even a drop of oil from a non-pure source can render a food forbidden. For this reason, I declined your kind offer of peanuts.”
