It is clear that one must not eat or drink in the restroom,
as doing so is inappropriate. But is it
forbidden also to bring food into the restroom?
Many people keep sucking candies or other small snacks in their pockets
throughout the day. Must they remove
these products from their pockets before entering the restroom? For that matter, may food or beverages be
stored in the bathroom cabinets?
Hacham Ovadia Yosef cites the ruling of the Shalmeh Sibur that
although there are harmful forces of impurity in the restroom, these forces
affect only the hands (which is why one must wash his hands after entering the
restroom even if he does not perform his bodily functions). They have no effect on food products, and so
one may bring food into the restroom.
However, as Hacham Ovadia brings, other Poskim – including
Rav Haim Palagi (Turkey, 1788-1868) and the Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of
Baghdad, 1833-1909) – disagree, and maintain that the impurities of the
restroom indeed impact food and beverages, and they should thus not be brought
into the restroom. Hacham Ovadia ruled
that one should act stringently in this regard, and refrain from bringing foods
or beverages into the restroom, but one may rely on the lenient position of the
Shalmeh Sibur after the fact, or if one has nowhere to place the food, such as
if he is in a public area. This is
particularly so given that our restrooms, which are more hygienic than the
restrooms of old, and from which the bodily waste is immediately expelled, may
not have any impurities at all. Hacham
Ovadia writes that if one must bring food into the restroom, he should
preferably ensure that it is wrapped. If
unwrapped, exposed food was brought into the restroom, then it should be rinsed
three times before it is eaten.
There is even greater room for leniency when dealing with
foods given to children, as some Poskim maintain that the impure forces of the
restroom pose harm only to adults, who are obligated to observe the Torah, but
not children. Therefore, if a
schoolteacher keeps candies in his pocket to give to the children, he may give
them to the children even if the candies had been in his pocket when he used
the restroom. Preferably, though, he
should remove them from his pockets before entering the restroom.
If a person keeps in his pocket pills which he must take at
certain times, they may be brought into the restroom, as they are likely not
considered food, in addition to the factors noted above (the lenient ruling of
the Shalmeh Sibur, the relative cleanliness of modern restrooms, and the fact
that pills are not exposed). Medications
that are flavored – such as chewable tablets and sweet liquid medicine – must
be treated like food, and should preferably not be brought into the
restroom. Therefore, one may store
ordinary pills in the bathroom cabinets, but flavored medications should
preferably be stored elsewhere. Of
course, if flavored medications were brought into or stored in the restroom,
they may nevertheless be used, just as food which was brought into the restroom
may be eaten after the fact, as discussed.
Many apartments in Israel are constructed with a utility
room off the bathroom, where the washing machine is located, and many people
use that area for storing food products.
It is permissible to bring food products to and from the utility room
through the restroom. This leniency is
based on the factors discussed above, as well as the fact that since the
restroom was from the outset intended to serve as a passageway, and not
exclusively as a restroom, it perhaps does not have impurities.
A woman should preferably refrain from nursing her infant in
the restroom, as the impurities could affect the milk. In fact, the Poskim write that a woman should
preferably refrain from nursing her infant for 18 minutes after using the
restroom, and it would thus seem that all the more so, she should not nurse in
the restroom. Rav Chaim Kanievsky
(1928-2022) refuted this line of reasoning, asserting that it is only after a
woman uses the restroom that she should wait for 18 minutes before nursing her
infant. There is thus no proof that a
woman should not nurse in the restroom. Rav
Chaim therefore ruled that Halacha allows nursing in the restroom, though it is
preferable not to. Rav Yisrael Bitan
questioned this view, noting the Shulhan Aruch's ruling (Orah Haim 4:8) that
impurities are always present in the restroom, even when it is not being used
for bodily functions. Therefore, a woman
should avoid nursing in the restroom, though, needless to say, when she has no
alternative – such as when she has no other private room – she may, in light of
the grounds for leniency discussed earlier (in addition to the possibility that
the impurities do not affect children).
Likewise, a woman should not express milk from her body in the restroom
unless this is necessary.
Summary: One should not bring food or beverages into the
restroom, or store food or beverages in the restroom. If a person is in a public area with food or
beverages and has nowhere to keep them outside the restroom, he may bring them
into the restroom, and should preferably ensure they are covered. If a food product was brought uncovered into
the restroom, it should be rinsed three times before being eaten. Tasteless pills may be brought into or stored
in a restroom, but flavored medications are considered food and thus should not
be brought into or stored in the restroom.
A woman should not nurse her infant in the restroom unless she has no
other private room in which to nurse.
