''Mar'it-ayin'' ( Mish.: מַרְאִית הָעַיִן; Modern 'appearance to the eye'; Ashkenazic transliteration: ''maris ayin''), is a concept in

halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

(Jewish law) which prohibits certain actions which might to observers to be in violation of

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

, even if they are in fact permissible, in order to prevent onlookers from drawing false conclusions. For example, according to the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

law, the blood of an animal is forbidden to eat, but the blood of fish is permissible. However, according to the principle of ''marit ayin'', it is forbidden to eat the blood of fish, as an onlooker might believe the blood is from an animal, and mistakenly conclude that eating animal blood is allowed. According to

Ovadia Yosef Ovadia Yosef (, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) also known as Maran (Hebrew language, Hebrew: מרן) "Our Master", was an History of the Jews in Iraq#Otoman rule, Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, hakham, posek, and the Sephardi Jews, Sephar ...

, former chief

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

rabbi of Israel, ''marit ayin'' applies only when the onlooker might mistakenly interpret the action as violating a law given in the Torah.

In private

There is a disagreement in the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

as to whether the concept of ''marit ayin'' applies in private. Beit Shamai believes that ''marit ayin'' applies even in private, whereas Beit Hillel believes that ''marit ayin'' does not apply in private.

Changes over time

According to the

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulhan Arukh'' ( ),, often called "the Code of Jewish Law", is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Rabbinic Judaism. It was authored in the city of Safed in what is now Israel by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in ...

, if something which was prohibited in the times of the Talmud because of ''marit ayin'' is no longer a concern due to modern day circumstances, the prohibition is cancelled.

Examples

Some examples of marit ayin include: * Eating or drinking kosher food at a non-kosher restaurant * Killing and eating an animal that is ben pekuah without

shechita In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; ; ; also transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is ritual slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to ''kashrut''. One who practices this, a kosher butcher is called a ''sho ...

* Hanging up wet clothes on Shabbat, since people may think they were washed that day

References

{{Halakha Jewish law principles Jewish philosophical concepts Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law

In private

Changes over time

Examples

See also

References