Ask The Rabbi

Ask The Rabbi

category: 

In our shul, (Beit Knesset, synagogue,) there is a large electric urn in which water is boiled for several days at a time. The water is not changed every morning, and this presents a problem due to ‘ruach ra’ah, (evil spirit,) and the Alter Rebbe decides in his laws of looking after one’s bodily and mental health”A person should not drink liquids that sat overnight… in a vessel made of metal…” and I heard that in ‘770’, the Rebbe’s shul, there is also a large electric urn and the water is not changed there on a daily basis either. Is it permissible to drink the water from the urn in the abovementioned circumstances?

There is an answer from the Rebbe regarding this question. If the prohibition is ‘an evil spirit’, we say that if the congregation is generally not careful about it, this cancels out the danger since it is written “HaShem protects the ‘fool’ (innocent person)”. The Rebbe refers to this concept also regarding the Halacha (ibid Par. 9) of drying the feet thoroughly before putting on socks and shoes. Since people are generally not careful about it the matter is cancelled out and one need not be careful about it. (Shulchan Menachem.)

Sources