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I saw an article (Are Mice Kosher?) which got me thinking. Then I remembered our holy Torah writes (Vayikra 11:29)

The following shall be unclean for you from among the things that swarm on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and great lizards of every variety.

This is really a problem for me as I have been using a mouse for years for my computer without knowing of this issue.

Would there be a good kosher alternative? I have a heard of a company called Gemara which makes a half-flesh half-earth mouse (model reference Sanhedrin 91a)? Would that be enough to be permitted?

Or is there somewhere a permitted mouse with a hekhsher?

This question is Purim Torah and is not intended to be taken completely seriously. See the Purim Torah policy.

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mbloch
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5 Answers5

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There are two heiterim: Yeshaya (7, 15) מָא֥וֹס בָּרָ֖ע וּבָח֥וֹר בַּטּֽוֹב- a mouse is bad, but in a hole it’s good, meaning, as long as you put your mouse in a hole, it should be kosher. Eichah (3, 45) וּמָאוֹס תְּשִׂימֵנוּ בְּקֶרֶב הָעַמִּים׃- and a mouse shall be put among the nations, meaning, if there is a rov of goyim, your mouse is kosher. The question is if you need both of the heiterim or just one, and the answer can be found in the pasuk from Eichah- it starts with the word and, which isn’t needed there, so we can understand that the ‘and’ comes to connect the two heiterim. You need it in a hole, and you need to be among goyim.

Lo ani
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  • That first one might make it even worse, since the Gemara says (Gittin 44b and elsewhere) לאו עכברא גנבא אלא חורא גנבא, it's not the mouse that's the thief, but the hole (where it hides what it found). – Meir Mar 08 '19 at 16:32
  • But as long as it stays in its hole it shouldn’t be a problem – Lo ani Mar 09 '19 at 18:02
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This is really the reason why many are שומר נגיעה, careful to use a touch screen.

Y     e     z
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I don't know the exact halacha, but when I was studying privately with a local Chareidi rabbi recently I saw that he double-wrapped his mouse in plastic. He said it was like double-wrapping food if you need to cook in a non-kosher oven or double-wrapping the siddur in your backpack when you need to enter a restroom and can't leave it outside. It looked like the mouse didn't work so well when wrapped, but he was having trouble using his computer anyway because he double-wrapped his monitor to stay separate from the impure thoughts that come from the Internet, so I assume he uses his computer only for emergencies.

I suggested he look into tablets with screen protectors, though I don't know if a double layer impedes the touch interface.

Monica Cellio
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Trackballs!

https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/wireless-trackball-m570

(Admittedly, I had a long-running joke-feud with another IT guy who insisted my trackball was a dead (because it was upside-down) mouse. I, in turn, insisted his mouse was a dead trackball. If we found the other's gear unattended we would flip over the offending pointing device.)

Loren Pechtel
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  • Wecome to Mi Yodeya! I see you’ve discovered our Purim Torah section. Please stick around and explore all we have to offer. – LN6595 Mar 10 '19 at 01:22
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I'm not seeing the problem. Like any sheretz, a mouse is a source of tumah only after it's dead. But if it's dead, you're not going to be using it with your computer anyway.

Meir
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  • hmmm... I would have thought a live mouse would be really hard to use with your computer -- you want to move the cursor one way but the mouse scampers another way. – Carl Witthoft Mar 08 '19 at 16:56