Question:
I have submitted several questions related to situations around my obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The OCD mostly revolves around kashrut. This question is somewhat related to this one I submitted a few weeks back:
https://dinonline.org/2024/04/02/unattended-kosher-food-in-hospital-room/
Today, I went for a walk on Shabbat with my daughter leaving nobody else at home. Unfortunately, I did not have a key so I left the front door unlocked. When we left there was a package outside and when we returned someone had brought it in. After Shabbat my wife was able to review footage we have from our security cameras and confirm it was my mother-in-law. In any event, while I left the door unlocked with little concern, the situation has caused me to consider the potential kashrut implications of leaving the house open and unattended. For example, I know one is not supposed to leave a gentile in their kosher kitchen unattended unless there is a Jew coming in and out frequently. We were gone for about 30 minutes. My wife has been able to confirm from the footage that nobody, aside from my mother-in-law, entered the front door but the sliding door in the backyard was also unlocked and there is no footage there to review. Does someone need to be concerned in a situation like this that someone might enter the home and tamper with the kosher food and/or kitchen? I would suspect not, unless one knew definitively that someone came into the home, but would value your perspective. Normally, the OCD compulsions would have me have my wife recheck all the kosher symbols on products in the house and discard leftover food in the refrigerator. That said, I have been working hard and making progress with my therapist on breaking free of these compulsions and want to be intentional to differentiate between an irrational compulsion and what might be required under Halacha. So far, I have avoided checking or throwing things out. Are there any concerns that arise from a situation like this? If so, what should be done?
Answer:
Hello,
We are not afraid that someone entered your home without permission and switched anything in the kitchen, because they don’t have permission to be there and are afraid of being caught. Besides, from the footage you know that no one entered.
Best wishes
