Mushrooms....

[yearn2learn]

Here's something that I just recently asked my husband. I hadn't given thought to it until now. Maybe it's a strange question or maybe it's a legitimate question.

We have a little side business selling Morel Mushrooms, when in season. My question is.....According to Scripture, is it okay to be eating mushrooms? I happened to think that it really isn't seed bearing, it has spores, and maybe it's not the thing to eat or sell.

Can someone give advice according to Scripture whether it's acceptable to eat mushrooms?

[Yitzchak]

I would not worry at all about this, and I have attached the following for you to read.

The Talmud (Shabbos 30b) relates that Rabban Gamliel was teaching his students about the wondrous events that would take place at the time of redemption. In one example he notes that the Land of Israel will produce fresh cakes every morning, basing this on the verse in Tehillim (72:16) “May there be abundant grain on the earth of the mountaintops”. When one of his disciples expressed skepticism on the feasibility of such a miracle, Rabban Gamliel merely told him to look at the mushrooms that sprout from the ground overnight. The Avnei Nezer (O.C. 111) explains that the allusion to mushrooms was more than just a convenient example. From the time of Adam, the earth was cursed and man was condemned to work for his food – “By the sweat of your brow thou shalt eat bread” (Bereishis 3:19). As we have seen, mushrooms differ from conventional vegetation in that they do not grow from the ground, and therefore, according to the Avnei Nezer are considered a source of blessing untainted by the curse bestowed upon the earth. Mushrooms come from the ground “ready-to-eat” without the need for further processing, as do grains, and he explains the Bracha of Rabban Gamliel to mean that, in the future, all grain will be similarly blessed. The Halachos of mushrooms, therefore, should serve as a tantalizing mor(s)el in our understanding of Halacha and Kashrus.

Shabbat Shalom,

Yitzchak

[Nachshon]

I would say that mushrooms are not kosher, because, as you pointed out, they are not seed-bearing. Aside from that, tell me, does the reproductive organ of a fungus that feeds of of dead and decaying material really sound like something that would be kosher? Is selling the same as eating? Well, we are told that we are allowed to feed things that died naturally to goyim, as well as some other nastily unkosher things. But in the end, all of this is really between you, your husband, and Father.

Shalom,
David

[Yitzchak]

I think perhaps a distinction needs to be made between those mushrooms which grow naturally, and those which are commercially produced.

Those which are naturally occuring do not require the decaying matter to be grown. I think this was the point of the Halakha that I presented.

Shalom,

Yitzchak

[Nachshon]

Why do we credit the Halakha, though, when we know that mushrooms are not seed-bearing, and we are given as food only those plants which are seed-bearing? Does Talmud have more authority than ?

Shalom,
David

[R' Y'hoshua Moshe]

Shalom David,

And, in turn I would ask you were in does it say that we -may not- eat anything that doesn't bear seeds? Keep in mind the definition of sin (1Yochanan/John 3:4). Furthermore, where does manna fit in to your interpretation? It is not an animal and is not from a seed-bearing plant, or tree. If I may continue to use manna to make a point...When our Heavenly Father said;

""Behold! Because YHVH has given the sabbath to you, therefore He is giving to you two days of bread on the sixth day. Each one of you remain in his place. Do not let anyone go out from his place on the seventh day. And the people rested on the seventh day. And the house of Israel called its name, Manna. And it was like the seed of coriander, white; and its taste like cakes with honey." - Shemot (Exo.) 16:29-31

According to your hermeneutics because YHVH said that he would give them this particular bread (manna) to eat on the sixth and seventh day to eat, should we then suppose that they could only eat manna and not anything else? Also, because our Heavenly Father said that He was giving us all "seed bearing" plants to eat does this mean that we are now sinning by eating animals? Even in Vaykira (Lev.) 23 where it lists all the animals we can eat...it doesn't list all of them. What I mean is that it lists a few of them and tells how to identify an animal we can or cannot eat so we could indentify the rest of them. My point is, our Heavenly Father gives us very clear guidelines in of the foods we cannot eat...and none of these guidelines include the description of a mushroom.

Also, keep in mind what a seed is. It is a bio-unit that reproduces itself...much like a spore. Mushrooms reproduce from microscopic, single-celled spores. If you insist that we must eat only plants that bear plant seed (even though does not place this burden upon us), I would at least suggest that you study what the Hebrew word "zera" (seed) can be...as it is not isolated to plant life. Also, the Hebew word "esev" (herb/grass) can also refer to "any tender shoot". So, it is quite possible that even a mushroom would fall under the description of a seed bearing, tender shoot. I think this is a questionable matter, but it is good to discuss.

Shalom,

Reuel

[Yitzchak]

nachshon said:

Why do we credit the Halakha, though, when we know that mushrooms are not seed-bearing, and we are given as food only those plants which are seed-bearing? Does Talmud have more authority than ?

Shalom,
David

Shalom Achi,

Perhaps you would want to back up a little bit.

This is not a question of venerating Talmud. This is question of one's interpretation, as you can see from Reuel's response to you.

Be assured that when I choose to answer a question of this forum, that I have done my research. I do not just give a Rabbinic interpretation lightly. However, when my research into the Hebrew as Reuel presented leads me to agree with a Rabbinic interpretation, I see no reason to discount it, and not quote it.

I for one stand on Reuel's explanation to you, and I think we need to be careful when it comes to a legalistic approach to interpretation.

Shalom,

Yitzchak

[Nachshon]

It is interesting to note that the root word of 'eseb is a word meaning "to be green."
Yes, the Hebrew idea of seed is offspring, but of a conjunctive nature. I think it is interesting, then, that fungi are able to reproduce asexually. Of course, we could also say that because the mushroom is the reproductive organ the individual fungus qualifies, nu?

Shalom,
David