Taster’s Choice
There are certain minhagim that men should keep in their back pocket. One such example is the mitzvah of tasting Shabbos food on Friday. When your wife asks you why you are touching the food that she worked so hard to prepare, you should state, “I am fulfilling the verse of toameh chayim zachu.” Admittedly, the mitzvah is to taste the Shabbos food to see if it needs more salt or spices, not just to satisfy one’s gastronomical urges. But that is just nitpicking.
Another custom that is good to follow is the practice of not eating leftovers. If you call home and ask, “What’s for dinner?” and your wife answers, “Leftovers,” your response should be, “It’s not my minhag.” I am exaggerating a bit, but not by much. There is nothing wrong with eating leftovers per se. To wit, the Mishnah Berurah (157:4) quotes the Zohar that states that one should not cook food for the next day, nor leave over food for the next day. The upshot of this practice is that with an empty fridge and pantry, one’s prayers for sustenance will have an added urgency. It also means that you’ll have to visit the supermarket every day. Once the food has already been left over and is available there is no custom not to eat it. So the retort “It’s not my minhag” would really be misleading. One of my daughters really hates leftovers and I hope she doesn’t read my article and get any ideas. She doesn’t mind eating our relative’s leftovers or a neighbor’s leftovers. There is just something wrong with ours. Perhaps she is makpid on this very Zohar and can’t stand the fact that we are not in compliance with divrei Kabalah. She holds our family to a higher standard!