Is It Permitted to Leave Egg Whites Overnight?

Greetings,

No, because a peeled egg that remained overnight is subject to an evil spirit, and it is forbidden to eat it. And even if the egg whites are covered or placed in the refrigerator, that does not help. In order that they not become forbidden, the solution is to mix them into other foods before daybreak.

Sources: This is stated in tractate Niddah (17a) in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, that one who eats peeled garlic, peeled onion, and a peeled egg that remained overnight is liable for his life, and his blood is on his own head. And even if they are tied up and sealed, an evil spirit rests upon them. This is brought as halacha in Shulchan Aruch Harav (Laws of Guarding One's Body and Soul, section 7). It is also written in Sefer Shemirat Haguf VeHanefesh, part 1 (siman 3, seif katan 5), and in Shevet HaLevi part 2 (Yoreh Deah, siman 7, letter 8) regarding a refrigerator.

The solution of mixing them into other foods is sourced in the Semak (siman 171). It is also written in Ben Ish Chai (second year, Parashat Pinchas, letter 14), in Kaf HaChaim, part Yoreh Deah (siman 116, letter 92), in Yabia Omer, part 2 (Yoreh Deah, siman 7, letter 9), and in Even Yisrael, part 9 (siman 126, letter 3). It is likewise cited in the name of the Chazon Ish, of blessed memory, in Sefer Shemirat Haguf VeHanefesh, part 1 (bottom of page 25).

As for what we wrote, that the decisive point is daybreak, in fact in She'elot u-Teshuvot Divrei Yatziv, part 2 (siman 16), he holds that only peeled garlic, onion, and egg that were in this state במשך כל הלילה are forbidden to eat. This also appears to be the view in She'elot u-Teshuvot Sheraga HaMeir, part 8 (siman 90, letter 7).

However, the view of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, of blessed memory, is that the determining time for overnight standing is daybreak. Therefore, factories that are open twenty-four hours, where onions were peeled before daybreak, should fry them before the time of daybreak passes over them (Shulchan Yosef, page 94).

It is likewise written in She'elot u-Teshuvot Shevet HaKehati, part 2 (siman 247), that one must be careful not to peel eggs and garlic at the end of the night in such a way that at the moment of daybreak the garlic and egg will be peeled. He further states that he heard from a trustworthy witness that the righteous Rabbi Yaakov Landau, may his memory be for a blessing, the chief rabbi of Bnei Brak, was particular that in factories under his supervision they should not leave a peeled egg at daybreak, and should not open the eggs then.

Shabbat shalom,

Hillel Meirs