Mishloach Manos

ONE OF THE mitzvos of Purim is Mishloach Manos—the obligation to send at least two ready-to-eat food items to one person.

There are two opinions regarding the purpose of the mitzvah. One opinion is that it ensures everyone has food for the Purim seudah. The other opinion suggests that the purpose is to increase friendship and goodwill among Jews.

Poskim note a possible nafka mina (practical difference) between these two opinions, which is whether one needs to send food that is specifically edible by the recipient. If the goal is to provide food for the Purim seudah, then sending food that is not edible by the recipient would mean the mitzvah has not been fulfilled. However, if the goal is to promote friendship and goodwill, the act of sending the food is most important, and it matters less whether the recipient will actually eat it.

In this article, we will address a situation in which someone sends food that does not meet the recipient’s standard of kashrus. The question here is twofold:
1. Has the sender fulfilled the mitzvah of Mishloach Manos, even b’dieved?
2. Is there anything wrong, lechatchila, with sending such items?

Let’s break this down into three different scenarios:

Scenario 1: The sender gives baked goods that are Pas Palter to a recipient who is careful to eat only Pas Yisroel.

In this case, b’dieved, the sender has fulfilled the mitzvah according to all opinions. This is because Pas Palter is considered Halachically permissible. Those who refrain from eating it do so as a chumra—they are being strict and going beyond the letter of the law. Since Pas Palter is inherently permissible, the sender has sent something that is Halachically edible to the recipient. The fact that the recipient chooses not to eat it does not invalidate the Mishloach Manos.

However, lechatchila, this is not ideal. The Poskim mention that when sending Mishloach Manos to a wealthy person, one should ideally send foods they are accustomed to eating, rather than cheap,  inferior items they would not normally consume. By the same logic, when sending to a person who observes the chumra of Pas Yisroel, lechatchila one should send food that is acceptable to them—specifically Pas Yisroel.

Scenario 2: The sender gives dairy items that are not Cholov Yisroel to a recipient who is careful to eat only Cholov Yisroel.

Scenario 2 is more serious. Unlike Pas Yisroel, which is a chumra, for many, Cholov Yisroel is a Halachic requirement. Although many Poskim today permit Cholov Stam, not everyone accepts these leniencies. There are many who consider non-Cholov Yisroel to be completely forbidden, to the point where they would kasher their utensils if they had been used with non-Cholov Yisroel, while others consider it a chumra and would not kasher.

Therefore, if one were to send such food to a recipient who only eats Cholov Yisroel, there is an argument to be made that, even b’dieved, the mitzvah of Mishloach Manos has not been fully fulfilled—at least according to the opinion that the mitzvah’s purpose is to provide food for the seudah. Since the recipient is forbidden to eat it, the sender has not given him something he can use for the seudah and the mitzvah has not been fulfilled.

Although there are Poskim who maintain that one would still be yotzei b’dieved in this situation, this is at best a Halachic question and should be avoided.

As for lechatchila, sending non-Cholov Yisroel is certainly not ideal. As mentioned before, to perform the mitzvah in the best possible way, one should only send items that are acceptable to the recipient and that they will actually be able to eat.

Scenario 3: The sender gives food that has a subpar hechsher, or a hechsher that the recipient does not find acceptable.

This scenario lies somewhere in between and is more difficult to define clearly. Some hechsherim are recognized as unreliable by most, and Halachically problematic, potentially falling into the category of being outright forbidden. Sending such items would be similar to Scenario 2, if not worse – since these items lack any real Halachic basis to be considered permissible. Even b’dieved, one might not be yotzei by sending such foods.

On the other hand, there are hechsherim that are technically still within normative parameters of Halacha and are considered acceptable, although some people choose not to rely on them as a chumra. In this case, since the refusal to rely on such hechsherim is seen as a personal stringency, the situation would be more akin to Scenario 1—sending non-Pas Yisroel items to someone who is careful to only eat Pas Yisroel and, b’dieved, the sender is yotzei.

However, once again, lechatchila, the best way to perform the mitzvah is by sending foods that the  recipient will be able to eat and therefore items with a questionable hechsher should be avoided. In conclusion it is important to be cautious about the items one sends for Mishloach Manos. Ideally, one should aim to send products that are considered mehadrin and adhere to the highest standard of kashrus.