03 Nov Kashruth Question of the Week

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.