Over the next two dappim, various conceptualizations arise about the nature of what transfers or actualizes prohibited food substances. Is it the taste? Is it the name — that is, if two substances are both called “wine” but have different flavors, are they considered a mixture of distinct items or of similar items? This impacts whether or not they can be nullified in majority. Furthermore, if the non-kosher substance mixes but it has — or causes — a foul taste, does that affect the kashrus?

These halachos point toward a deeper philosophical point: Is there an objective reality, or is reality defined by our perception and interpretation of matters?

Before you are quick to say, “Of course there’s an objective reality — otherwise, how is anything true?” … it’s not that simple. Consider sight and sound:

We are not actually seeing color. What we see is the contrast and the way a surface interacts with light, reflecting certain wavelengths into our retina, which then stimulates specific nerve patterns. In reality, every color is actually “all the colors except that one” — because the surface is absorbing all wavelengths except for one, and reflecting that one to us.

Sound, likewise, is nothing more than vibrations in the air causing our eardrum to resonate, which our auditory nerves translate into what we call “sound.” in a vacuum, such as outer space there would be no sound at all. It’s possible to imagine a creature that “hears” color and “sees” sound. (Indeed, if you place sand on a metal sheet atop a speaker, the sand will dance in patterns in response to the music — effectively, “seeing” sound.) Bats or Dolphins “see“ mostly with their ears, and certain adept blind people are able to get around by using clicking noises and sonar, known as echolocation.

It doesn’t stop there. Language itself is evocative — internal ideas and experiences matched to combinations of sounds we call words. It’s difficult to say if words truly mean the same thing to each person. Cross-cultural differences magnify this: in Japanese, certain formal apologies also carry shades of “thank you.” In l’shon kodesh, “shalom” means “peace” and “hello” — because of the conceptual associations embedded in the word.

The Baal HaTanya notes that in l’shon kodesh, the two main words for “things” are davar (literally, “word”) and chefetz (“desired object”). This indicates that things do not exist independently, but only relative to what is articulated and/or desired. ( ( https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2271263/jewish/How- )

Many modern philosophers grapple with this. George Berkeley (1685–1753) took it farthest with “esse est percipi” — to be is to be perceived. He argued that physical objects have no independent existence outside of minds perceiving them. Reality is a collection of ideas in the mind, sustained by God’s continuous perception. Without perception, nothing exists. This dovetails intriguingly with quantum physics’ “observer effect.” ( https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/berkeley/ )

The Torah’s principle of Torah lo bashamayim hi (Bava Metzia 59b) — that the Torah’s application rests in the Sanhedrin’s subjective judgment — can be understood in this light. So too with kavua vs. bitul b’rov (Kesuvos 15a): majority nullification is not just statistics but about how reality itself is “composed.”

A more down-to-earth approach would be that even divinely ordained halacha must operate in the physical world, bound by human perception — “A judge has only that which his eyes see” (Sanhedrin 6b). But then, why did God design a world where truth is perception-bound leading to inaccuracies and potential injustice? That question is more easily answered if there is truth to the idea that reality is perception.