Poisoned food dilemma
Question
Say there is a table with 100 kosher plates of food, and we know without a doubt that one of them is poisoned and will kill whoever eats it. On a second table is a single plate of non-kosher food. To leave this hypothetical scenario, the person must eat one plate of food from one of the tables. What would be the right choice here? I know that, generally, health takes precedence over tradition, so I’m wondering—what would the situation need to be for it to be considered acceptable, or even encouraged, to choose the kosher meal despite the risk?
Answer
Thank you for your question.
Since this is a hypothetical question, the answer is also hypothetical and not halacha le’maaseh (not to be used in practice)
If there is a risk involved in eating the kosher food, then he should eat the non-kosher food, since there is no danger to his life in doing so. This is a case of pikuach nefesh. We also say: chamira sakanta me’isura — we are more stringent when it comes to danger than when it comes to prohibitions. Therefore, since eating the kosher food is dangerous, we do not even apply the principle of bitul berov (nullification by majority) etc.
All the best.
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