Halacha2go

Eating Olives

The Gemara says, “Haragil b’zeisim kasheh l’shikchah” (one who eats olives regularly is at risk of forgetting their learning), indicating that one shouldn’t eat them regularly. However, in practice we do eat olives, and poskim have given many justifications, as well as limitations:

The Gemara says haragil (regularly), but does not define what is meant by “regularly”. There are those who suggest that eating olives even once a month or once in forty days is considered regularly, whereas others suggest that the Gemara means eating them daily, or perhaps at two or three meals in a row. 

Some poskim suggest that there’s a problem only if we eat many olives within a short span of time, but not if we eat a few; adding olives as a secondary ingredient to enhance the taste of food is certainly not a concern. Alternatively, it’s only a problem if olives are eaten as the main component of a meal. 

Others state that only plain olives are a problem, and not pickled olives. Many say that if oil has been added to the olives it’s okay to eat them; there are those who say that only salt cured olives are a problem, and yet others who say that only black olives are a concern and not green ones. 

The Arizal taught that all of the above applies only to an am ha’aretz (a person unlearned in Torah), but not to a talmid chacham who eats them with the proper kavanos al pi kabbalah (kabbalistic meditations)

The common custom is to be lenient regarding eating olives if some oil, particularly olive oil, is added, as noted above. #542^⁠1

 

 

 

https://halacha2go.com?number=542

Video #542 מראי מקומות