Meat and fish, sakanta chamira me'issura, bal teshaktzu — to discover and understand
יורה דעה · סימן קט״ז
דברים האסורים משום גילוי וסכנה
🌱 Introduction Level · מתחילים
✦ ❖ ✦
A first approach to Siman 116: the 7 seifim of the Mehaber and the glosses of the Rama, the Hebrew text with a fluent English translation. Beyond the "classic" laws of kashrut, the Torah commands us to preserve life and health. Uncovered drinks (גילוי), the prohibition of eating meat and fish together (קינוח והדחה), sweat, dangerous practices and the great principle סכנתא חמירא מאיסורא ("danger is graver than prohibition"), revulsion (בל תשקצו) and the imperiled animal (מסוכנת).
Topic: Prohibitions due to danger — uncovered drinks, meat and fish, danger, bal teshaktzu Source: שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן קט״ז
Compiled by: הרב יוסף חיים סממה DAAT · daattorah.com
📑 Study outline
1.The text of the Mehaber: the 7 seifim, by thematic groups
Siman 116 leaves the terrain of classic kashrut (tum'a, meat-and-milk, mixtures) for an entirely different register: the preservation of life and health. Certain foods and practices are forbidden not because they are impure, but because they involve danger (סכנה) or revulsion (בל תשקצו). The Mehaber (Rabbi Yossef Karo) records here ancient decrees (uncovered drinks), rules of dietary caution (meat and fish), and the great principle the Rama will formulate: סַכַּנְתָּא חֲמִירָא מֵאִיסּוּרָא — "danger is graver than prohibition." Let us explore the 7 seifim by groups.
Drinks left uncovered (משקים שנתגלו) — the Sages forbade them, fearing that a snake might have drunk from them and injected its venom (שמא שתה נחש מהם והטיל בהם ארס). But today, when snakes are not common among us, it is permitted.
A decree that depends on its reason. Gilui was never an absolute prohibition: it guards against a real danger — snake venom. The Mehaber himself says so: where there are no snakes, the prohibition lapses. This is the exact opposite of חֵלֶב (siman 115), which "was counted in a decree" (נמנה במנין) and holds even when its reason fades. The Taz (s.k. 1) stresses this contrast; and the Pitchei Teshuva (s.k. 1) notes that the Shla and the Gra were nonetheless careful about it.
Seif 2 — Meat and fish: do not eat or roast them together (tzara'at / reicha)
One must take care not to eat meat and fish together (שלא לאכול בשר ודג ביחד), because it is harmful, leading to tzara'at (קשה לצרעת) — a danger to health. Gloss of the Rama: likewise, one should not roast meat alongside fish (אין לצלות בשר עם דג) because of the smell (משום ריחא); however, after the fact (bediavad) it is not forbidden.
Two levels of caution. The Mehaber forbids consuming meat and fish in the same mouthful (a health concern, tzara'at). The Rama adds a further guard: not to roast them side by side, because of the smell (reicha) that passes from one to the other — but reicha alone forbids only lekhatchila: if already done, it is permitted. Severity rises a notch if they were actually cooked together (see Taz s.k. 2: danger is treated more strictly than a prohibition).
Seif 3 — Between meat and fish: kinuach ve-hadacha
One rinses one's hands between meat and fish (ירחץ ידיו בין בשר לדג), and eats a little soaked bread in between to rinse the mouth (פת שרוי… כדי לרחוץ פיו). Gloss of the Rama: some hold that one need only be concerned if they were cooked together and eaten so, but eating them one after the other is no concern; and the custom is not to rinse the mouth or the hands in between, but to eat and drink something between them (לאכול דבר ביניהם ולשתות), which constitutes "wiping and rinsing" (קינוח והדחה).
Kinuach ve-hadacha = "wiping and rinsing." The Mehaber prescribes a physical rinse (hands + soaked bread). The Rama keeps a simpler custom: eat and drink something between the meat and the fish. This is the gesture millions of tables still practice: one does not pass directly from one to the other. The Pitchei Teshuva (s.k. 2) notes that goose fat in a fish dish raises the same concern — with no distinction between poultry and cattle.
Group B — Sweat and the great principle of danger (seifim 4-5)
One must beware of human sweat (זיעת האדם), for all human sweat is deadly poison (סם המות), except the sweat of the face (חוץ מזיעת הפנים).
A warning of caution. Seif after seif, the siman lists sources of physical danger to the body. Sweat — except that of the face — is among them: one does not mix it into food. As with gilui, this is a health warning that prepares the great principle of the next seif: the Torah wants a person to flee what harms the body.
Seif 5 — Dangerous practices and sakanta chamira me'issura
One must take care: not to put coins in the mouth (dried saliva of the sick may be on them); not to place the palm under the armpit (the hand may have touched a leper or a poison); not to put bread under the armpit (because of sweat); not to leave a cooked dish or drinks under the bed (מפני שרוח רעה שורה עליהם — for an evil spirit rests upon them); and not to thrust a knife into an etrog or a radish (lest someone fall on the point and die). Gloss of the Rama: likewise, let one beware of all things that lead to danger, for danger is graver than prohibition (סכנתא חמירא מאיסורא), and one is more concerned about a doubt of danger than a doubt of prohibition. Therefore they forbade walking in any place of danger — under a leaning wall (קיר נטוי), or alone at night; drinking water from rivers at night; and the widespread custom is not to drink water at the tekufa (the change of season); and one should flee the city during an epidemic (לברוח מן העיר כשדבר בעיר) — leaving at the start of the plague and not at its end. All this is on account of danger: one who guards his soul keeps far from them (שומר נפשו ירחק מהם), and it is forbidden to rely on a miracle or to endanger one's life; see Choshen Mishpat, siman 427.
סַכַּנְתָּא חֲמִירָא מֵאִיסּוּרָא — "danger is graver than prohibition": the master rule of the siman. In the face of a doubt, one is stricter about a risk of danger than about a risk of prohibition. From it flow all the duties of caution: avoiding risky places, not relying on a miracle, fleeing an epidemic.
From the concrete to the principle. The Mehaber lists dangerous acts (coins, armpit, under the bed, an embedded knife). The Rama extracts the general rule: anything that leads to danger is to be avoided, and שומר נפשו ירחק מהם. This is the classic seat, in the Shulchan Arukh, of the duty to preserve one's life and health — a principle modern poskim will apply to smoking, driving, and medical precautions.
Group C — Revulsion and the imperiled animal (seifim 6-7)
It is forbidden to eat foods and drinks that the soul finds revolting (שנפשו של אדם קצה בהם), such as those mixed with vomit, excrement, or fetid pus (קיא או צואה וליחה סרוחה). Likewise, it is forbidden to eat and drink from filthy, revolting vessels — such as chamber vessels (כלים של בית הכסא) or glass vessels used for bloodletting (כלי זכוכית שמקיזים בהם). Likewise, one should not eat with soiled hands or on dirty vessels — for all these fall under "do not make your souls detestable" (אל תשקצו את נפשותיכם).
בל תשקצו — "do not make your souls detestable" (אל תשקצו את נפשותיכם, Vayikra 11:43): a prohibition against consuming what disgusts the soul, or in revolting vessels, or with soiled hands. The Taz (s.k. 6) notes that one is not liable to malkut but to makat mardut (a lav she-bichlalut).
Beyond danger: dignity. Seif 6 no longer speaks of poison but of revulsion. The Torah seeks not only to preserve the body but to preserve the nobility of the self. Eating what is repulsive, or from filthy vessels, debases the soul — and that is itself a prohibition.
An animal in danger of death (מסוכנת), even though it is permitted through shechita, the scrupulous are stringent upon themselves not to eat it (המדקדקים מחמירים על עצמם שלא לאכלה). Gloss of the Rama: an animal that a sage permitted by his reasoning alone (הורה בה חכם מסברא), where the law is not explicit — the man of spirit (בעל נפש) does not eat of it.
Piety beyond the letter. The "imperiled" animal is technically permitted after slaughter. But this siman, wholly devoted to preserving life, inspires in the scrupulous (המדקדקים) an added restraint. The Rama broadens it: when a leniency rests only on a sage's reasoning and not on an explicit law, the בעל נפש — one mindful of his soul — prefers to abstain.
2. Context — the duty to preserve life
The preceding simanim dealt with the "classic" prohibitions of kashrut (tereifot, chelev and dam, meat-and-milk, mixtures). Siman 116 opens a different register: the Torah commands us to preserve life and health. Some things are forbidden not through tum'a, but through danger (סכנה) or revulsion (בל תשקצו). The great rule, formulated by the Rama in seif 5, is סכנתא חמירא מאיסורא — "danger is graver than prohibition": we are more concerned by a doubt of danger than a doubt of prohibition.
The great questions of the siman
Question
Where?
Typical answer
Uncovered drinks (gilui)
Seif 1
Once forbidden (snake venom); lifted today
Meat and fish
Seifim 2-3
Not together (tzara'at/reicha); between them: kinuach ve-hadacha
Human sweat
Seif 4
Deadly poison, except the sweat of the face
Dangerous practices
Seif 5
Sakanta chamira me'issura; one who guards his soul keeps far
Revulsion and the imperiled animal
Seifim 6-7
Bal teshaktzu; the scrupulous / baal nefesh abstain
The cross-cutting idea: the body and life are entrusted to our keeping. Sometimes it is physical danger (poison, risky places), sometimes a health danger (meat-fish, sweat), sometimes an affront to dignity (bal teshaktzu). Each time, the watchword is caution — and in doubt, the scale tips toward stringency whenever life is at stake.
3. The key concepts of this siman
To understand Siman 116, one must master a small vocabulary describing danger, caution, and revulsion.
גילוי (gilui) — "the uncovered": drinks left exposed, once forbidden for fear of snake venom. A decree dependent on its reason: where there are no snakes, it lapses (batel ha-ta'am batela ha-gzeira) — unlike the חֵלֶב of siman 115, "counted in a decree" (נמנה במנין).
ריחא (reicha) — "the smell": the odor passing from one roasted food to another. For meat-and-fish, the Rama forbids roasting them side by side because of reicha — but reicha alone forbids only lekhatchila (bediavad, permitted).
קינוח והדחה (kinuach ve-hadacha) — "wiping and rinsing": between meat and fish, one rinses (hands, mouth) or — per the Rama's custom — eats and drinks something in between. The meat-fish caution still alive today.
סכנתא חמירא מאיסורא — "danger is graver than prohibition": the master principle (Rama, seif 5). In doubt, one is stricter about a risk of danger than of prohibition.
רוח רעה (ruach ra'a) — "an evil spirit": rests upon foods and drinks left under the bed; hence the custom not to leave them there. The Pitchei Teshuva (s.k. 4) notes that bediavad it remains permitted.
בל תשקצו (bal teshaktzu) — "do not make your souls detestable": forbidden to consume what is revolting, in repulsive vessels, or with soiled hands (seif 6).
Two watchwords of the attitude:שומר נפשו ירחק ("one who guards his soul keeps far") and the prohibition of relying on a miracle or endangering one's life (lismokh a-nes / lesaken nafsho). This is the halakhic foundation of health-related caution.
4. Meat and fish — the table of caution
Seifim 2-3 reduce to a table. We cross which action? (eating, roasting, cooking together, passing from one to the other) with the status (forbidden, bediavad, custom).
Situation
Source
Result
Eating meat and fish together
Seif 2 (Mehaber)
🔴 Forbidden (harmful, tzara'at)
Roasting side by side (reicha alone)
Seif 2 (Rama)
🟡 To avoid; bediavad permitted
Actually cooked together
Taz s.k. 2
🔴 Forbidden even bediavad (danger ≥ prohibition)
Passing from one to the other
Seif 3
🟢 Kinuach ve-hadacha: eat / drink in between
Goose fat in a fish dish
PT s.k. 2
🟡 Same concern; no poultry / cattle distinction
The logic in one sentence: one does not consume meat and fish in the same mouthful, avoids roasting them together (though reicha alone passes bediavad), and always interposes a kinuach ve-hadacha — eating and drinking something — when moving from one to the other.
The danger point (Taz s.k. 2): what carries danger is treated more strictly than a mere prohibition for nullification — even dry-in-its-kind requires sixty. This is the direct application of sakanta chamira me'issura to the kitchen.
5. The Shach and the Taz — the great commentators
In Yoreh De'ah, the Shulchan Arukh is never read alone. Two great commentaries accompany it on every page and structure practical study: the Shach and the Taz. They are the reference nossei kelim in Yoreh De'ah (no Mishna Berura here, which comments only on Orach Chaim).
The Shach (ש״ך) — abbreviation of שפתי כהן, Siftei Kohen, by Rabbi Shabtai haCohen (Lithuania, 17th century). It is the reference commentary on Yoreh De'ah, of great analytical depth.
The Taz (ט״ז) — abbreviation of טורי זהב, Turei Zahav, by Rabbi David haLevi Segal (Poland, 17th century). Often in dialogue — and sometimes in disagreement — with the Shach.
The Taz explains why gilui can "lapse" on its own: it is not a decree that was "counted" (davar she-ne'esar be-minyan), which would require a fresh vote to lift it. It holds only as long as snakes are common: where they are not common — it is permitted. This is unlike chelev of siman 115, which was "counted in a decree" and therefore holds even when its reason fades.
A key entry of the Pitchei Teshuva
Pitchei Teshuva s.k. 1 — The Gra's caution despite the abrogation
The Pitchei Teshuva notes that although the gilui prohibition is lifted by strict law (snake venom being no longer a concern), the Shla and the Gra were nonetheless careful about it. It is a fine example of the difference between strict law (me-ikar ha-din) and the supererogatory piety of the baal nefesh.
We see the method: the Taz and the Pitchei Teshuva do not repeat the Mehaber — they explain the mechanism (a decree that depends on its reason) and nuance it (the Gra's residual caution). This is exactly what is deepened at the Lamdan level, with the gilui / chelev contrast and the debate over nullifying dangerous things.
6. The gloss of the Rama (הגה)
The Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles) adds to the Mehaber's text glosses that reflect Ashkenazi practice and, above all, formulate the great principle of the siman. Here are his most notable interventions.
On seif 2 — do not roast meat and fish (reicha)
Gloss of the Rama: וכן אין לצלות בשר עם דג משום ריחא מיהו בדיעבד אינו אסור — "likewise, one does not roast meat with fish because of the smell; however, bediavad, it is not forbidden". The Rama adds a guard beyond merely eating them together.
On seif 3 — the custom of kinuach ve-hadacha
Gloss of the Rama: וכן נוהגין שלא לרחוץ הפה ולא הידים ביניהם ומ״מ יש לאכול דבר ביניהם ולשתות דהוי קינוח והדחה — "the custom is not to rinse the mouth or the hands between them, but to eat and drink something between them, which makes the kinuach ve-hadacha". This is the living form of the meat-fish caution.
On seif 5 — the great principle: sakanta chamira me'issura
Gloss of the Rama: וכן יזהר מכל דברים המביאים לידי סכנה כי סכנתא חמירא מאיסורא ויש לחוש יותר לספק סכנה מלספק איסור — "let one beware of all things that lead to danger, for danger is graver than prohibition, and one is more concerned about a doubt of danger than a doubt of prohibition". Hence: dangerous places (leaning wall, alone at night), river water at night, the tekufa, fleeing an epidemic (at its start, not its end), and the conclusion: שומר נפשו ירחק מהם, forbidden to rely on a miracle or endanger one's life (cf. Choshen Mishpat 427).
On seif 7 — the baal nefesh and the leniency "by reasoning"
Gloss of the Rama: בהמה שהורה בה חכם מסברא ולא נמצא הדין בפירוש שהיא מותרת בעל נפש לא יאכל ממנה — "an animal that a sage permitted by reasoning, where the law is not explicit, the man of spirit does not eat of it". Piety goes beyond the permissive letter.
In this siman the Rama is the voice of the great principle: he extracts from the Mehaber's concrete cases the general rule sakanta chamira me'issura, and adds throughout the note of caution of the shomer nafsho and the baal nefesh.
Everything rests on an asymmetry of doubt. Facing a doubtful prohibition, halakha often allows leniencies (safek de-rabbanan le-kula, nullification, etc.). But facing a doubtful danger, one systematically leans toward stringency:
Risky places: one does not pass under a leaning wall, nor alone at night.
Water / season: caution with river water at night, and at the tekufa.
Epidemic: one flees the city — at the start of the plague, not at the end.
Miracle: forbidden to rely on it or to endanger oneself.
Domain
Doubt of prohibition
Doubt of danger
Default attitude
Sometimes leniency
🔴 Stringency (chamira)
Dangerous places
—
🔴 Forbidden (leaning wall, alone at night)
Epidemic (dever)
—
🔴 Flee, at the start of the plague
Relying on a miracle
—
🔴 Forbidden (asur lismokh a-nes)
Shomer nafsho yirchak mehem. "One who guards his soul keeps far from them." This is the classic seat, in the Shulchan Arukh, of the duty to preserve one's life and health — the basis on which many contemporary poskim discuss smoking, reckless driving, and medical precautions.
8. Modern practical cases
How do these rules apply today? Here are four common situations illuminated by our siman.
Case 1 — Meat and fish on the menu (kinuach ve-hadacha)
A meal where fish is served, then meat (or the reverse). Seif 3 commands: one does not pass directly from one to the other. The Rama's custom — eating and drinking something in between (kinuach ve-hadacha) — suffices; one also avoids cooking or roasting them together (reicha alone passes bediavad, but cooked together is stricter). Poultry fat that fell into a fish dish raises the same concern. For your own situation, consult your Rav.
Case 2 — Sakanta chamira me'issura: smoking, driving, precautions
The great principle (seif 5) — "danger is graver than prohibition" and shomer nafsho yirchak — grounds the halakhic stance toward risky conduct: many contemporary poskim strongly discourage, even forbid, smoking on this basis; the same applies to reckless driving, extreme sports, and observing medical precautions. And always: it is forbidden to rely on a miracle or to endanger one's life. For your own situation, consult your Rav.
Case 3 — Ruach ra'a and bal teshaktzu: hygiene at the table
Leaving foods or drinks under the bed (seif 5): the custom is to avoid it (ruach ra'a), though bediavad it remains permitted (PT s.k. 4). And more broadly (seif 6): one does not consume what is revolting, nor in filthy vessels, nor with soiled hands — that is bal teshaktzu, the prohibition of "making one's soul detestable." Here distinguish the lekhatchila (the custom to keep) from the bediavad. For your own situation, consult your Rav.
Case 4 — Gilui, lifted today
Why does the prohibition on uncovered drinks no longer apply (seif 1)? Because its reason has vanished: snakes are no longer among us (batel ha-ta'am batela ha-gzeira) — unlike chelev (siman 115), "counted in a decree," which remains. There remains, however, an optional caution among some (Shla, Gra). For your own situation, consult your Rav.
The thread running through the four cases: the Torah entrusts you with the keeping of your body and your life. First ask — is there a danger? an affront to dignity? a custom to keep? — and remember that, in doubt, danger prevails. But the concrete decision always belongs to the Rav, who knows the factual details.
9. Summary of Siman 116
The essence of Siman 116 in a few sentences:
Uncovered drinks (gilui) were forbidden for fear of snake venom; lifted today (seif 1).
Meat and fish: do not eat them together (harmful, tzara'at) nor roast them (reicha, bediavad permitted) (seif 2).
Between them: kinuach ve-hadacha — eat and drink something (the Rama's custom) (seif 3).
All human sweat is deadly poison, except that of the face (seif 4).
Dangerous practices (coins, armpit, under the bed, embedded knife) → the great principle sakanta chamira me'issura; shomer nafsho yirchak; flee the epidemic; no reliance on a miracle (seif 5).
Bal teshaktzu: forbidden to consume what is revolting, in filthy vessels or with soiled hands (seif 6).
The imperiled animal (mesukenet): the scrupulous abstain; the baal nefesh does not eat from a leniency "by reasoning" (seif 7).
Memory table
Situation
Rule
Uncovered drinks (gilui)
🟢 Lifted today (no snakes)
Eating meat + fish together
🔴 Forbidden (harmful, tzara'at)
Passing from meat to fish
🟢 Kinuach ve-hadacha (eat / drink in between)
Doubt of danger
🔴 Stringency — sakanta chamira me'issura
Revolting foods / filthy vessels
🔴 Forbidden — bal teshaktzu
Imperiled animal (mesukenet)
🟡 The scrupulous / baal nefesh abstain
Comprehension questions
Check your understanding:
Why were the משקים שנתגלו forbidden, and why is it lifted today (seif 1)? What contrast with chelev (siman 115)?
What is the difference between eating and roasting meat and fish (seif 2)? What does ריחא bediavad mean?
What is קינוח והדחה? What form did the Rama adopt (seif 3)?
What does seif 4 say about זיעת האדם? What is the exception?
Name three dangerous practices from seif 5. How does the Rama derive the principle סכנתא חמירא מאיסורא from them?
What does שומר נפשו ירחק mean? Why is it forbidden to rely on a miracle (seif 5)?
What does בל תשקצו forbid (seif 6)? Give two examples.
What is a מסוכנת animal? Who abstains, and what does the Rama rule for the בעל נפש (seif 7)?
How does the principle of danger apply today to smoking and driving?
What do the Taz (s.k. 1) and the Pitchei Teshuva (s.k. 1) say about gilui?
To go further
If you wish to deepen this siman:
📚 Level 2 — Lamdan: the pilpul, the gilui / chelev contrast (counted in a decree), the yesod of sakanta chamira me'issura, the nullification of dangerous things (is danger nullified in sixty?), anchored in the sugyot
✨ Level 3 — Synthesis: the comparative tables (meat-fish, doubt of prohibition / doubt of danger), the golden rules, and quick memorization of the 7 seifim
⚖️ Level 4 — Halakha lema'aseh: the practical psak (Shach, Taz, Pitchei Teshuva) and contemporary poskim on smoking, health, and the meat-fish separation
The sources for this level can be consulted on Sefaria: