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.

1-5771 Mitzvah N-90

Torat Emet

1-5771 Mitzvah N-90

10/11/10

Negative Mitzvah 90– This is a negative commandment: do not eat a limb or any part taken from an animal while it still is living.

Hafetz Hayim – As Scripture says: “You shall not eat the life with the flesh” (Devarim . 12:23); and by the Oral Tradition it was learned that this is an admonition not to eat a limb or part that was cut from a living creature. If someone ate an olive's amount from a living animal, he should receive whiplashes. Even if he ate a whole organ or limb, if it contained an olive's amount he should be whipped; and if it did not contain an olive's amount, he would be free of penalty. Yet if he ate an organ or limb from a living creature and also some flesh from a live animal he would violate two prohibitions, This commandment and (#87 – You shall not eat any flesh in the field that is trefah [Ex. 22:30])

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

While the Hafetz Hayim takes this law from Deuteronomy, it is also part of the “Seven Commandments of Noah” which were given right after the flood and are considered, under Jewish Law, to apply to all human beings, not just Jews. Jews have 613 commandments to follow according to tradition, but non-Jews are only obligated for seven, and this is one of them. We should understand that any person who would tear a limb from a living animal in order to eat it, by this act is showing that he or she has no basic compassion or humanity. The unspeakable pain to the animal by this action should be considered as evidence of the heartlessness and cruelty of the human who acts is such a way. The punishment is lashes and we can see that the pain of the whip is in direct measure to the pain that person caused the animal. If any other part of the animal besides the limb or organ is consumed, it is a double violation of cruelty and eating trefah. I have to assume that the reason the law is mentioned is because at one time this was the practice in some locations. I like to think that the only “people” who do such things today are psychopaths.

The underlying assumption here is that animals have feelings. Perhaps they are not “sentient” creatures as human being are but there is increasing evidence that human beings are not as unique as we would like to believe we are. In fact, anthropologists are having an increasingly hard time drawing the line where human beings begin and where animals end. To say that animals don't have the same feelings as we do, is just not true. We can site many laws in Judaism that take into account the feelings of animals; sending the mother bird away before taking her eggs; not boiling a goat in its mother's milk; permission to violate Shabbat to save the life of an animal. These are just a few examples.

But even if you don't like to admit that animals have feelings, there is also the damage that such acts of cruelty have on people as well. There is plenty of evidence that those who have tortured and murdered other people, started out torturing and killing animals. Judaism took the killing of all animals out of the hands of most Jews, regulating the killing of animals by assigning one class of people, those trained in the laws of Shechita, of ritual slaughter, as the only ones given permission to kill animals. Most Jews do not kill animals even for their own food. Hunting is not a Jewish sport. Neither is cock fighting, dog fighting, bear baiting or other forms of animal cruelty that seem to plague society even in our modern times.

I don't think that Judaism would have a problem with training animals to perform tricks for public amusement, as long as the training did not involve inflicting pain and suffering on the animal. A reward for proper actions is permitted, but the punishment involved must take into account the feelings of the animal. An animal trainer must not be heartless.

Animals who are guilty of cruelty to humans can be put to death. If an animal who never harmed anyone suddenly turns and wounds or kills a human being, such an animal must be restrained and kept away from the public. If the animal should escape and attack again, not only will it be put to death but the owner is also liable for not properly restraining the animal.