Torat Emet

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11-5771 Mitzvah N-106

Torat Emet
11-5771 Mitzvah N-106
12/29/2010

Negative Mitzvah 106– This is a negative commandment: do not eat the kind of food eaten by a wayward and rebellious son

Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “You shall not eat over blood.” (Lev. 19:26). Which is understood to mean “you are not permitted to eat the kind of meal that leads to bloodshed.” that is, the food eaten by a wayward and rebellious son. This verse of Scripture is also an injunction not to eat any flesh of an animal before its life expires. And it is also an injunction not to take any food before we pray. This is in force everywhere, in every time, for both men and women.

The wayward and rebellious son is a son who will not listen to his parents and who is totally out of control. The Torah declares that the parents should bring their son before the court and declare that their son is out of control. If the court agrees, then the son is liable for the death penalty. The Sages of the Talmud are so appalled by this law that they go to great lengths to limit it. After all, what kind of parent would come before a court to testify against their son in a capital offense? A minor is not responsible for his actions and an adult would not be responsible to his parents. So the Sages limited this law to the few months between 12 and 13 years of age when a child may be between childhood and adulthood. Later Sages declared that this law was never actually used; that it was written as a warning to children to listen to their parents.

For our purposes, the definition of a wayward and rebellious son was that he would eat meat at an inappropriate time and his parents could not stop him. ( It could also involve drinking, but that is not the direction of this Mitzvah). In ancient times, meat was only eaten on special occasions and to eat meat at other times was a waste of meat since a whole animal would have to be killed and one person could not eat it all. There was no way to preserve the rest of the meat so it was a great waste and a real act of rebellion to eat meat when others were not eating (which they might do on a holiday or other celebratory meal). This Mitzvah, therefore, tells us not to eat like a wayward or rebellious son and eat meat indiscriminately allowing the leftovers to be wasted.

Because this is a rather limited use of this Mitzvah, and because it is only a hypothetical case (according to the Talmud it never happened in history), there are other meanings associated with this verse. Since the Torah tells us that “blood is the life” of an animal, we can also use this verse to prohibit not only the blood of a properly slaughtered animal, but also to prohibit the blood of an animal that has not yet died. This too is a rather limited situation; the animal is, after all dying and will be dead in a little while. Instead of listing this law here, we may be able to include this lesson in the law that prohibits eating a limb from a living animal. As the first two reasons seem to be very limited in their application, this may be the reason why there is a third lesson to be learned from this verse, the lesson that we should not eat before we have prayed.

I am not sure how the Sages make the connection from the rebellious son to the requirement to pray before we eat. I can see that they might learn it from the fact that there are blessings recited when slaughtering an animal and that might cover the time between the slaughter and eating. I can imagine that this could also refer back to the wayward and rebellious son who, they speculate, eats before he prays (if he didn’t, he would not be rebellious). I am just not sure how they made this connection. It is the rule, however, not to eat breakfast until after reciting the prayers of Shacharit.

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10-5771 Mitzvah N-105

Torat Emet
10-5771 Mitzvah N-105
12/20/10
Negative Mitzvah 105– This is a negative commandment: eat no fruit of a tree in the three first years since its planting
Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “three years it shall be as forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten” (Lev. 19:23). Even what is doubtfully (not certainly) orlah, fruit of the first three years, is forbidden. In lands other than Israel, there is a law given to Moses orally at Sinai that what is certainly orlah is forbidden, while fruit that is doubtfully orlah is permissible. Over certain, indisputable orlah in the Land of Israel, whiplashes are deserved; while in other countries one should be flogged with whiplashes of disobedience.
This is in force everywhere, in every time , for both men and women.
I see this law of “orlah” as similar to the eight day waiting period for Brit Milah, and for the time a calf can remain with the mother before being eligible for sacrifice. Just because we have something, does not mean that we can do what we please. These perhaps are “first born fruit” that belong to God just as the firstborn of the herd and the first born of the flock belong to God. In any event, the Torah is explicit that the first fruits cannot be eaten. But that is only one level of this Mitzvah. The Hafetz Hayim gives us much more to ponder as he explains orlah.
The first difference is between orlah in Israel and orlah outside of Israel. In both locations we cannot eat the fruit of a tree in the first three years after planting. But three years is a long time. We can forget exactly when we planted the tree or whether this was the new tree or if it was a completely different tree. We could be doubtful if we are holding fruits from the new tree or if they are mixed up with fruits from older trees. What happens when we are not sure that the fruit we have is orlah or not?
If we are in the Land of Israel, we treat fruit that we are unsure of as if they are orlah and we refrain from eating them. This is a strict law that only applies to the Land of Israel. Outside of Israel, fruits that are certainly orlah cannot be eaten, but fruits that are doubtful, can be eaten. The rules about fruit outside of Israel is not in the written Torah but is claimed to be a law from the Oral Torah, the law that Moses was taught while he was up on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and nights. This Oral Torah eventually will become the Mishna and the Talmud. The Rabbis see both the Written Torah and the Oral Torah as having equal standing under the law. Yet here, the punishment violating the law differs between Israel and the diaspora. When one is certain about the status of orlah, and uses it anyway, in Israel such a person is flogged as one who violated a biblical command. Outside of Israel, the biblical command is not in force, but the Rabbis commanded that the person be flogged for disobeying a rabbinic ordinance. This is a different kind of flogging, one that is not the formal punishment of the court but one that is used to insure compliance with rabbinic law. These whippings are not tied to the same formal rules as the biblical flogging but were still limited to 39 lashes in most cases.
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9-5771 Mitzvah N-104

Torat Emet
9-5771 Mitzvah N-104
12/12/10
Negative Mitzvah 104– This is a negative commandment: do not eat Hametz (food with grains that are leavened) on the day before Passover, after noon.
Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “You shall eat no leavened bread over it.” (Deut. 16:3). This means at the time of the Pesach sacrifice. The Pesach sacrifice was performed beginning in the seventh hour of the 14th day of Nisan. Whoever eats Hametz on the day before Passover after six hours from the day’s beginning should receive whiplashes; and the Sages of blessed memory forbade eating it, or having any benefit from it, from the beginning of the sixth our; while in the fifth hour eating is forbidden but benefit from it is permissible.
This is in force everywhere, in every time , for both men and women.
There are some Rabbis today who claim that Passover is really two different holidays. Pesach was celebrated with a symbolic dinner featuring roasted lamb and it was eaten at the end of the 14th day of Nisan, after dark (the very beginning of the 15th of Nisan.) From the 15th of Nisan on, was the Festival of Unleavened Bread which was observed by eating only Matzah for seven days. These two festivals eventually merged into one holiday beginning with a Seder and lasting seven days in Israel and eight days in the lands of the diaspora.
The Talmud records that on the 14th of Nisan, beginning in the seventh hour from sunrise the Kohanim would begin the long process of sacrificing everyone’s paschal lamb for the dinner that night. Basically this pressed every Kohen into service that day, creating long lines of people with lambs and goats bringing them to the Temple for sacrifice. The lamb would be killed, the blood spilled properly and the lamb was then given back to the family to be roasted whole for their Pesach Seder.
The Rabbis measured hours by dividing the daylight and nighttime into 12 equal segments. As the days got longer, the daylight hours were longer and the nighttime hours were shorter. In the winter, the daylight hours were shorter and the night hours were longer. Since Pesach was near to the vernal equinox, the days and night are pretty much the same and we can identify the seventh hour from sunrise as 1:00 pm. Clearly the Torah does not want us to mix Hametz with our Paschal lamb so the last time we can eat Hametz is the beginning of the sixth hour from sunrise or Noon. After than time, a person could not eat Hametz nor could that person derive any benefit from it. That is he can’t sell it for money nor use it to feed animals or any other way that might benefit the person. The Rabbis then extended the time back to the fifth hour, 11:00 am as the time when one could no longer eat Hametz lest they err and mistakenly eat it after noon. One can derive benefit from it from 11:00 am to Noon.
Today, we make it only a little more complicated. Since we cannot own or derive benefit from Hametz, it has become the custom to sell unused Hametz to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday. While it remains in our homes, it is locked away as the property of someone else and not only would eating it be a sin on Pesach, but it would be stealing as well. This sale of Hametz is often done by signing a document at your synagogue stating that you are appointing the Rabbi to act as your agent to sell your Hametz on your behalf to a non-Jew. It requires your name and all the addresses where your Hametz can be found. This must be done by the end of the fourth hour (10:00 am) so that the Rabbi has the time to find the non-Jew and sell all the Hametz he or she has been authorized to sell. This means that by 11:00 am, whatever Hametz you still own has been sold and is now the property of someone else. You would be stealing to use any of it after that time. A small amount of Hametz is usually pulled from that stash the night before and used for “bedikat Hametz” the “Search for Hametz,” to insure that all Hametz has been used up or put away for sale. The last bit is then searched out and finally burned the following morning after 10:00 am and before noon. In this manner we are sure that all Hametz has been removed by the proper time and we can then concentrate on preparing for our Seder.
I should also mention that when you appoint the Rabbi to sell your Hametz on your behalf, it is customary to give a small donation which usually goes to charity. On the sale of Hametz you will have to go back into the archive and see Positive Mitzvah 22.
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8-5771 Mitzvah N-101,102,103

Torat Emet
8-5771 Mitzvah N-101,102,103
12/06/10
Negative Mitzvah 101,102,103– This is a negative commandment: do not eat bread from the new crop of grain before the Omer offering [was brought to the Sanctuary]. It is likewise a negative commandment to eat no kali (grains from one of the five species mentioned in the Bible that were roasted in fire) from new grain, before the Omer offering. And it is also a negative commandment not to eat karmel (grains that were crushed by hand and not roasted in fire) from new grain before the Omer offering.
Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “And you shall eat neither bread nor kali (parched grain) nor karmel (fresh grain) until this very day” (Leviticus 23:14). All this applies to grain of the five species alone which are wheat, barley, spelt, oats and rye; that is forbidden. If someone eats bread, parched grain, and karmel – an olive’s amount of each – he violates three prohibitions. When the Sanctuary was in existence, it was forbidden on the sixteenth of Nisan until after the offering of the Omer. At the time when the Sanctuary is not in existence, it is forbidden the entire day of the sixteenth of Nisan, by the law of the Torah. And in the Diaspora, where two festival days are always observed, it is forbidden by the law of the Sages on the entire day of the seventeenth as well. As long as planted grain took root before the Omer, even if it ripened after the Omer, the Omer makes it permissible.
          This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.
There are some early authorities who hold that the law on new grain in lands outside of Israel is only by the enactment of the Sages, as a protective measure; and they decreed it nowhere but in areas bordering on the Land of Israel. Therefore most of the world of Jewry is not careful about it. Even though it is not in our power to oppose the ones who are lenient, nevertheless,every scrupulously observant person should be strict for himself in everything possible for him; because according to many great early authorities it is a prohibition by the Torah in all respects.
The Law of the Omer is that new grain cannot be used until the first sheaves are “waived” at the Sanctuary on the Second day of Passover, the sixteenth of Nisan. There was some controversy between the school of Hillel and the School of Shammai about if the date was the second day of Passover or the Shabbat of Passover. That was finally resolved by following the ruling of the school of Hillel that established the date as Nisan sixteenth. The effect of this law was to see an increase in the price of grain and flour (made from last year’s grain) in the days preceding Pesach and a sharp drop in prices as the new grain hits the market after the ceremony in the Sanctuary. Basically you can’t use new grain in any form until after the Omer is waived. The Omer is waived every day from the second day of Pesach, seven weeks until the day before Shavuot. We still count the days and weeks of the Omer each evening. A sheaf was “waved” every day during the 49 days of “Sefira” (counting).
The difference between the teachings of the “early authorities” is: some who say that we should keep the laws of the Omer because they are Torah laws, and the others who maintain that, like the other harvest laws in Judaism ( like the Sabbatical laws and the laws about leaving the corners of the fields), it applies only to the land of Israel. Outside of Israel, the Torah law is not in effect and anyone who would keep these laws anyway would be stringent in keeping a Rabbinic law, which may be important, but it is not as important as a Torah Law (which we say comes from God). Clearly the Hafetz Hayim would have us keep these laws but he has to admit that there are many good authorities who do not require it. He promotes a strict interpretation of this law, but admits that one who does not keep the law and follows the lenient authorities, have not violated these prohibitions. “Protective measures” refer to enactments of the Sages that prevent Jews from accidentally violating a Torah Law. In our case, some of the Rabbis felt that if the Jews of the diaspora did not have the habit of keeping the laws of the Omer, they might, when they travel to Israel, make a mistake and eat new grain before the Omer is offered.
I see the observance of this law in the Diaspora today as an unnecessary stringency. We no longer separate the new grain from the old grain and we no longer “wave” the sheaf of grain as an Omer offering.
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7-5771 Mitzvah N-97-98-99-100

Torat Emet
7-5771 Mitzvah N-97-98-99-100
11/29/10
Negative Mitzvah 97– This is a negative commandment: do not eat swarming creatures of the ground
Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “And every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth is an abomination; it shall not be eaten” (Leviticus 11:41). “Swarming creatures of the ground” means snakes, scorpions, beetles and worms. Whoever eats of them a whole creature should be given whiplashes. And if it was not complete, then if he ate an olive’s amount he should receive whiplashes. All swarming creatures eaten are reckoned together to add up to an olive’s amount.
This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.
Negative Mitzvah 98– This is a negative commandment: do not eat worms of fruit or seeds
Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “even all the swarming things that swarm upon the earth, them you shall not eat.” (Leviticus 11:42).
This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.
Negative Mitzvah 99– This is a negative commandment: do not eat swarming creatures of the water.
Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “You shall not make yourselves detestable with every swarming thing that swarms.” (Leviticus 11:43) and swarming water creatures are included: for example, frogs, crabs, and so forth; or worms and leeches; or sea animals and the sea dog. Whoever eats an olive’s amount from them should receive whiplashes.
This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.
Negative Mitzvah 100– This is a negative commandment: do not eat creeping things.
Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “neither shall you defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls, upon the earth .” (Leviticus 11:44). The creatures called “remmes” are what come from molds, not deriving from male and female creatures. Whoever eats an olive’s mount of them should receive whiplashes.
This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.
Since the Torah is very specific about what animals cannot be eaten, each kind of an animal has its own special prohibition lest you think that one forbidden animal is not included in the general prohibition of swarming things. Other than locusts, which we no longer eat because we are unsure which may be kosher and which are not, all insects are forbidden, including those that swarm in the air (flies, dragonflies, etc.) those that swarm on the earth (worms, scorpions, ants etc.) those that swarm in the water (crabs, frogs, leeches etc.) and those found inside fruits or grains (weevils, larvae etc.)
The sea animals that are included here are also the sea mammals. A sea dog is what we call a seal and includes walrus, whale and porpoise. There is a fish that is called “dolphin” or Mahi Mahi that is kosher. The bottle nose dolphin is a mammal and is forbidden.
Again, the only way to violate these laws is to eat them intentionally. When eaten in error or accidentally, there would be no punishment. So if you eat an apple and find that you have also eaten a worm by mistake, then you may feel sick but you have not violated a law of Kashrut. (The only thing worse than finding a worm in an apple is finding half a worm!)
While many of these creatures are not a regular part of a Western diet, they are eaten in other parts of the world and in some places are considered delicacies. Frog, crab, shrimp and lobster are all forbidden but are considered in this country to be normal sea food. Other insects and sea animals are eaten in other cultures all the time. These laws in no way should be considered as reasons to forbid them from eating what is their custom. These laws do not apply to other cultures; these creatures are forbidden as food for Jews.
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6-5771 Mitzvah N-95-96

Torat Emet
6-5771 Mitzvah N-95-96
11/22/10

Negative Mitzvah 95– This is a negative commandment: do not eat non-kosher fish.

Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “And they shall be an abomination to you; of their flesh you shall not eat” (Leviticus 11:11). Whatever does not have fins and scales is non-kosher, and if anyone eats an olive’s amount from it, he should receive whiplashes.
This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.

Negative Mitzvah 96– This is a negative commandment: do not eat winged swarming creatures.

Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “And all winged swarming creatures are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten” (Deut. 14:19). These are non-kosher kinds of grasshoppers, flies, gnats, bees, wasps, and so forth. If someone eats an olive’s amount of them, he should be given whiplashes. If he ate a whole creature, even if it did not comprise an olive’s amount, he should receive whiplashes. Pure (kosher) kinds of grasshoppers however, are allowed to be eaten. They have three signs of purity: whatever has four legs, and four wings covering most of the length and most of the circumference of its body, and two jointed legs with which to jump.
This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.

As far as fish is concerned, fins and scales are the universal signs of kosher fish. This leaves out most bottom dwellers that do not have fins (shrimp, lobster, crab) and most large sport fish that do not have scales (shark, marlin) as well as others that do not fit this description (catfish and certain other fish without scales). There are two fish that start out life with fins and scales but the scales fall off as the fish matures. These are sturgeon and swordfish. Since these species are in doubt, there are many who just refrain from eating them but the Conservative Law and Standards Committee has ruled that these fish are kosher and can be eaten. This rule applies only to these particular kinds of fish that shed their scales as they grow. The roe of kosher fish is also kosher. The roe of non-kosher fish is not kosher. Shellfish have neither fins nor scales and they are all forbidden (oysters, clams, scallops, mussels). Fish sold as Dolphin or Mahi Mahi is not the mammal (porpoise) and is a kosher fish. This is NOT a complete list of kosher and non-kosher fish. One should consult such a list if the species of fish is unfamiliar.

Current issues with fish involve cross breeding to create a larger stock of fish to bring to market. For example, Salmon is a very popular fish and is kosher, but there is a program taking place to find a fish that would be similar in color and taste to Salmon, but the fish being used does not have scales. For this reason, many kosher fish markets now sell fish with their scales so that one can easily see that the fish is kosher. Frozen fish is also a problem because often these fish are processed at sea, in huge blocks as they are netted in the open waters. Often non-kosher fish are also caught in the net and are not properly separated from the rest of the fish. Since there is no rabbinic authority to supervise this freezing process, there are many who do not eat frozen fish or fish sticks that are not supervised by a reliable authority.

In the case of insects, there is note in the Hafetz Hayim that the Shulchan Aruch requires a fourth sign of a kosher grasshopper. It must be called “Hagav”. I do not know of any authority who actually has identified by species which grasshoppers are kosher and which are not. As far as I know, we no longer eat insects of any kind at all. This will really only be a problem if one is traveling to China where roasted insects are popular. I am told by non-Jewish people, that scorpions and ants (fried or chocolate covered) are actually tasty, but they are treyf, so what can I do? I also believe that the worm in a Tequila bottle not only is treyf but makes the Tequila treyf as well. My best advice is to not eat any insects.
Eating a whole insect that may not be an olive’s amount on purpose is to be liable for punishment. If you are riding a motorcycle, or standing outdoors and you swallow an insect accidentally, there is no punishment other than your own gag reflex. I can’t say that I have seen everything, but I have never seen grasshoppers sold under Rabbinic supervision.

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5-5771 Mitzvah N-94

Torat Emet
5-5771 Mitzvah N-94
11/15/10
Negative Mitzvah 94– This is a negative commandment: do not eat non-kosher fowl.
Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “And these you shall hold in abomination among the fowl; they shall not be eaten” (Leviticus 11:13); any bird that divides its feet when a string is stretched for it [to walk on, placing] two talons on one side and two talons on the other, or that takes in food from the air and eats in mid-air, is a bird of prey, and is non-kosher. Whatever dwells with non-kosher birds and resembles them is non-kosher. If someone ate an olive’s amount from a non-kohser kind of bird, he should receive whiplashes. The eggs of a non-kosher species of bird are forbidden to be eaten, by the law of the Torah.
This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.
There are many different ways that Kosher and non-kosher birds are identified. I am not an expert on kosher birds so I will quote here from Rabbi Isaac Klein [Guide to Religious Jewish Practice: JTS Press; p. 304-5] “The Torah does not prescribe any identifying marks for birds; instead, it enumerates the species that are forbidden – a total of twenty-four according to the reckoning in the Talmud (Hulin 63b). The implication is that those not listed are permitted. The rabbis of the Talmud, however, deduced four distinguishing marks of birds that are permitted. A permitted bird has a crop; the sac in the gizzard can be peeled off; it has an extra toe – i.e. in addition to the three front toes, it has another toe in the back; it is not a bird of prey. According to one opinion, a bird that divides its toes when it rests, i.e. two toes in front and two in the back, is not permitted (Mishna Hulin 3:6) Despite these identifying marks, it has become the accepted practice that only those birds that have been traditionally accepted as permitted may be eaten (Shulchan Aruch: Yorah Deah 82: in Rema). They are: chicken, turkeys, ducks, geese, and pigeons. Pheasants have been considered permitted in may places.”
The problem with all of this is that the Torah does not list any way to determine a kosher bird from a non-kosher bird. The rabbis try to find some distinguishing marks on the non-kosher birds but as you can see from Klein, they pretty much have given up on this. Today we only eat birds that have a tradition of being eaten. This is particularly interesting in the case of turkey and pheasant. Turkey is not in the Torah and was not discovered by Europeans until they came to the “new” world. I am not sure why turkey was eventually put on the list but it definitely is on the list of permitted birds today. Pheasant was a bird that was not domesticated and was only hunted. Since a hunted bird is not killed properly, according to the laws of shechitah, it could not be eaten. Because it was so tied to the hunt, Jews never ate it and so there is not a strong tradition of eating pheasant. In some places, where pheasant are raised on farms and slaughtered according to the laws of shechitah, they are permitted to be eaten. In places that did not have a tradition of eating pheasant, they still do not permit it.
If you are unsure that the bird you want to eat is a kosher bird, you have no recourse but to show it to a rabbi for a ruling on if that bird is permitted. Or you can just shop at a kosher butcher where only accepted kosher birds are sold.
The Talmud also notes that since birds do not produce milk for their young, they should not be considered meat but in fact they are meat and NOT parve. The sages were concerned about people eating fowl and thinking they were eating meat and get confused. Fowl is considered to be Meat today.
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4-5771 Mitzvah N-93

Torat Emet

4-5771 Mitzvah N-93
11/07/10

Negative Mitzvah 93– This is a negative commandment: do not eat meat from a non-kosher domestic or untamed animal.

Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “But these you shall not eat, etc….” (Leviticus 11:4); and whatever does not chew its cud or does not have a parted hoof is non-kosher. If anyone eats an olive’s amount from a non-kosher animal, whether domestic or untamed, he should receive whiplashes. Human flesh is under a prohibition derived from a positive commandment since it not within the scope of the instruction, “These are the living things which you may eat …” (Lev. 11:2) [The Torah did not include it among the permitted kinds]. Whatever comes out of the forbidden kinds, such as milk from non-kosher domestic or untamed animals is forbidden to be eaten by the law of the Torah. However, honey from bees or wasps is permissible since they do not emit it from their bodies. Human milk is permissible: but a grown person is forbidden to suckle at the breast. If there is milk in a heathen’s possession and no Jew saw him doing the milking, it is forbidden, since he may have mixed into it milk from a non-kosher kind of animal. The cheese of a heathen is permitted by the law of the Torah, because we are not apprehensive that perhaps it came from a non-kosher animal, since the milk of a non-kosher animal cannot be made into cheese. Only the Sages of blessed memory forbade the cheese of a heathen for many reasons.
This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.

The Hafetz Hayim is all over the place in this lesson and there is a lot to cover. Non-kosher animals are different from kosher ones for a number of reasons. In the category of large four legged mammals, kosher animals must have both a fully split hoof and must chew its cud. In the category of fish, the kosher fish must have fins and scales. Kosher birds have no sign if they are kosher or not. We don’t eat birds of prey and the kosher birds appear on a list in Leviticus chapter eleven. Reptiles cannot be eaten and only kosher locusts can be eaten but since we don’t know which locusts are permitted, we just don’t eat them anymore. (Most people are happy about this!) These rules apply to both domesticated animals and wild animals. [There are also rules as to how the animals are slaughtered but that is not part of this Mitzvah]

If the animal is not kosher, then the products of the animal are not kosher. You can’t use the milk from non-kosher animals and you can’t eat the eggs from non-kosher birds. Bees are not kosher but you can use the honey since the sages did not consider honey to be in the same category as eggs and milk. I am not sure if they are correct in this assessment of bee anatomy but I am not going to be the Rabbi who declares honey treif.

Human flesh is not listed in these categories and so we are reminded that human flesh cannot be eaten because of a different Mitzvah. Just because it is not listed here should not tempt you to give human flesh a try. Human milk is permitted for everyone to drink but simple morality tells us that grown human beings have no business suckling at the breast. This should be obvious but I guess it has to be stated somewhere and here, in the laws of Kashrut, it can be found.

As usual, Kosher laws prohibit us from buying milk from a non-Jew if we don’t know where he got his milk. It is possible that he may have milked a non-kosher animal and mixed it in with the other milk. Since milk today is regulated and must state where it is from, we don’t usually have to worry about this prohibition. I am not an expert in cheese production so I can’t vouch for the fact that cheese cannot be made from the milk of non-kosher animals. I have never heard of horse cheese or pig cheese, only cheese from cows and sheep and goats. If any of my readers know of cheese from non-kosher animals, please let me know.

Cheese today is or is not Kosher because of the use of rennet as a catalyst for cheese making. Rennet comes from the stomachs of animals and if those animals are not kosher or slaughtered in a kosher manner, the rennet is not kosher and in any event it can’t be used in milk to make cheese. There are other ways to make cheese that does not involve rennet that are used in kosher and vegetarian cheeses. There are some authorities in Conservative Judaism who see rennet not as a meat byproduct but as a refined chemical and therefore can be permitted in all cheeses. There is not a lot of uniformity in our movement about this so one should check with your Rabbi as to whether or not non-hekshered (unsupervised) cheeses are permitted. In any event, the problem with cheese is not the source of the milk but the process of making the cheese.

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3-5771 Mitzvah N-92

Torat Emet

3-5771 Mitzvah N-92
11/01/10

Negative Mitzvah 92– This is a negative commandment: do not eat meat that was cooked in milk.

Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.” (Exodus. 34:26); For eating an olive’s amount of the both, one should receive whiplashes. He is punishable even if he has no enjoyment in eating it: for example, if it was so unduly hot that it burned his throat when he ate it, or he put something bitter into it with the result that he had no enjoyment whatever in eating it. Nevertheless, he should be given whiplashes. If meat and milk were prepared not by cooking but by steeping (soaking), or they were salted together, it is forbidden to be eaten by the law of the Sages, but benefit from it is permitted. If the meat of an untamed animal or a fowl was cooked with the milk of either a domestic or an untamed animal, the ban on eating it is only by the law of the Sages. It is permissible to cook fish or locusts with milk, and permissible to eat them.
This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.

There is not much different here than in last week’s lesson. In fact, the only real difference is that the quote is from a different chapter of Exodus. This tells us that there is another law being taught, one that is different enough from last week that it needs to be taught separately.

Here, the difference seems to be in the way the food is cooked. The law applies even if there are good reasons not to eat it. If the food is too hot to be eaten or has been prepared so that it tastes terrible, the fact that it is being eaten still warrants flogging. If the mixture was not “cooked” but mixed in another way, then one is still in violation of the law but not by Torah law, but by the extension of the Sages. Since the law refers to “its mother’s milk”, untamed animals that one cannot milk or poultry that has no milk might be understood to be exempt from the law. The Sages have ruled that these too are prohibited and the mixture must not be eaten. The reason for this prohibition by the Sages is because both of these are “meat like” and if they permitted it, it would be too easy to make an error and think that other meats could also be eaten with milk. This kind of an extension of Torah law is common in rabbinic literature where it is considered a “fence” protecting us from getting too close to violate a Torah law. Fish and locusts clearly are not meat and therefore there is no prohibition of eating these if they are cooked in milk.

I should note here that not all locusts are permitted to be eaten and we are not very sure today which locusts the Torah permits and which it prohibits. For this reason we don’t eat locusts anymore. (I know that will make you feel better!)

The rules of the Sages prohibit eating these kinds of meat with milk but it does not extend to deriving benefit from them. One can sell these food, cooked improperl,y to those who are not bound by Torah Law.

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2-5771 Mitzvah N-91

2-5771 Mitzvah N-91
10/26/10

Negative Mitzvah 91– This is a negative commandment: do not cook meat in milk.

Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.” (Exodus. 23:19); If someone cooks meat in milk using an olive’s amount of the both, he should receive whiplashes, even if he does not eat it. It is forbidden to have any benefit from it, and it requires burial, and it is even forbidden to have any benefit from its ash if he burns it. This applies, however, specifically to meat of a kosher animal in milk from a kosher animal, even if it was n’velah(see 90 & 86); then whiplashes should be suffered for cooking it. But if it was meat of a kosher animal in the milk of a non-kosher animal or meat from a non-kosher animal in the milk of a kosher one, or it was the meat of a kosher untamed animal or fowl in milk, cooking it and having benefit from it are permitted , but not eating it.

This applies everywhere and always, for both men and women.

This is all pretty straight forward except for one thing. The assumption in all of this is that the punishments for cooking meat in milk are only valid if the cooking was done with intention. None of these punishments applies if the cooking was done in error or by mistake. While there is no punishment for the person caught cooking meat and milk together by mistake still, the utensils used do become trayf and need to be re-kashered in most instances. You can see this in the halacha above when you note that there needs to be at least an olive’s amount (about 45 cubic cm.) of one or both the meat and the milk in order to merit the punishment. Less than that was considered an error. Later the rule of 1/60th came into play that if the amount of milk in meat or meat in milk was less than 1/60th of the volume of the other, then it was considered as if nothing had happened.

In general, if something is forbidden, then any use of it at all is forbidden; in our case, even gaining any benefit from anything that results from the cooking: the dirty pot could not be used to feed animals, the ashes could not be spread in the garden and you certainly can’t sell the trayf food to a non-Jew and pocket the money (or even get a tax deduction). In cases where there may be doubt about if the animal was cooked in its mother’s milk, that is an untamed kosher animal (where we don’t usually get milk from them) or fowl ( who have no milk)then we can benefit from the cooking; that is we can sell it to non-Jews even if we can’t eat it. There was a time when fowl could be eaten with milk but the Talmud expressly says that since there could be confusion between the two kinds of meat, from mammal and from fowl, then we don’t allow anyone to eat either meat with milk.

I should note here that, in cases of error, the dishes used are not kosher until they are re-kashered. There are some exceptions. If both the milk and the meat are mixed cold, then neither can be eaten and the plate that held the mixture needs only to be washed and not used for the rest of the day. If hot meat was placed on a cold dairy plate or hot milk placed in a cold meat bowl, the food may not be eaten but the plate or bowl needs only to be washed thoroughly. If cold meat is placed on a hot plate, or milk is put into a hot bowl, then cooking can take place and a full re-kashering, if possible, needs to be done. This means either immersion in boiling water or passing through flame. Ceramic dishes cannot be kashered and can no longer be used.

There is a common misconception that if you bury the utensil in a flowerpot or in the back yard overnight, this will re-kasher the utensil. This is just not true. If it needs to be re-kashered, then it must be heated beyond the temperature it was at when the violation occurred either through immersion or passing through a flame. If this is not possible, then the item can’t be re-kashered. I suggest, however, before any item is thrown away, a Rabbi should be consulted; since there are often many exceptions and exemptions. While our neighbors may be very kosher in their home and we may have many friends who are strict in their observance of Kashrut, it is best to consult a Rabbi with any questions since there are many people who rely on “stories” rather than law in dealing with violations of Kashrut. When it comes to the rules of milk and meat, it is always best to verify what we are doing with a reliable authority.