Marit ayin

Mar'it-ayin (Mish.: מַרְאִית הָעַיִן; Modern Hebrew: מַרְאִית-עַיִן 'appearance to the eye'; Ashkenazic transliteration: maris ayin), is a concept in halakha (Jewish law) which prohibits certain actions which might seem to observers to be in violation of Jewish law, even if they are in fact permissible, in order to prevent onlookers from drawing false conclusions. For example, according to the Torah law it is forbidden to eat the blood of an animal, but the blood of fish is permissible. However, according to the principle of marit ayin, it is forbidden to eat the blood of fish, as an onlooker might believe the blood is from an animal, and mistakenly conclude that eating animal blood is allowed. According to Ovadia Yosef, former chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel, marit ayin applies only when the onlooker might mistakenly interpret the action as violating a law given in the Torah.