14 Jan KASHRUS QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT

Is there an issue with having a cleaning
person in your house when you are not
home?
A cleaning lady is always an issue. There’s a
fundamental issue with having a non-Jewish
individual in your house without supervision who doesn’t know
the halachos of kashrus and isn’t so careful about it. Who’s watching
that she’s not washing your milchig dishes with the fleishig things
or vice versa or putting them into the
wrong dishwasher? You’ll never know the
difference because she’ll put them there,
wash them, and put them back where they
belong. So this is a very serious issue. You
hire help, you go to work, and they know
you go to work and won’t be home for eight
hours. So who knows what’s happening in
your kitchen? This is not some concern
that I’m manufacturing. This is a concern

that halacha discusses. Therefore, if you don’t have a viable
method of monitoring your kitchen while you’re not home,
and the help knows you’re not home, they can’t be there. Now,
if you could put in a video system that can get every corner of
your kitchen, that may be a suggestion. If you have some sort of
a method in your home that they can’t touch your dishes, pots
and pans, and unsealed foods then that’s great. But if not, you
have a question if your kitchen is kosher.