On today’s
daf TB Zevakhim 79 Rava summarizes the rules of nullification in different kinds of mixtures. These
rules will become more and more relevant when we study the laws of kashrut. “Rava
says, in summary of these halakhot: The Sages said that the
status of an item in a mixture is determined by the taste, i.e., if the
taste of one substance is noticeable in a mixture with another substance it is
not nullified, and the Sages said that a prohibited item is nullified by
the majority, and the Sages also said that the status of an item in
a mixture is determined by the appearance, i.e., if the appearance of a
substance is recognizable in a mixture it is not nullified. Rava elaborates:
With regard to a type of food mixed with food not of its
own type, the nullification is determined by the taste (מִין בְשֶאֵינוֹ מִינוֹ בְטַעְמָא). In the case of a type of
food mixed with food of its own type, the nullification is
determined by the majority (מִין בְמִינוֹ
בְרוּבָא). In a case where there is a
possibility to determine the status of an item based on appearance, the
nullification is by appearance. (חֲזוּתָא
בְמַרְאֶה)” (Sefaria.org translation)
Rambam
elaborates in his Mishneh Torah.
1. מִין בְשֶאֵינוֹ מִינוֹ בְטַעְמָא “When a forbidden substance becomes
mixed with a permitted substance of another type, [it causes it to become
forbidden] if its flavor can be detected. When [a forbidden substance becomes
mixed with a permitted substance of] the same type and it is impossible to
detect [the forbidden substance] by its flavor, its presence becomes nullified
if there is a majority [of the permitted substance].
“What is implied? When the fat of the kidneys falls into
beans and becomes dissolved, the beans should be tasted. If the taste of fat
cannot be detected, they are permitted. If [not only] the taste, [but also] the
substance of the fat is present, they are forbidden according to Scriptural
Law. If the flavor could be detected, but there is no substance, they are
forbidden by Rabbinic Law…
(Obviously
a Jew cannot taste mixture lest he actually taste the forbidden food and
transgress the law of the Torah. One summons a Gentile to sample the mixture to
see if he can taste the forbidden food. But generally we use the following
rules of thumb-gg) Into what quantity [of a permitted substance] must a
forbidden substance be mixed for it to be considered nullified because of its
tiny proportion? [Each forbidden substance according to] the measure the Sages
specified for it. There are substances that are nullified in a mixture 60 times
its size (non sanctified food like a stew for tonight’s dinner-gg), others in a
mixture 100 times its size (terumah-gg),
and still others in a mixture 200 times its size. (kelayim and orlah-gg)”
(Forbidden foods 15:1-2, 5) (Sefaria.org
translation)
The Shulkhan Arukh poskins
in Yoreh De’ah
2. מִין בְמִינוֹ
בְרוּבָא
“If the mixture is composed of two
foods of the same nature (like 2 types
of meat, for example a kosher cut of meat and a nonkosher cut of meat -gg) and
the pot is overturned in such a way that it is impossible to determine if the
quantity of the permitted food was indeed sixty times greater than that of the
forbidden food, if it was recognized before the accident that the permitted
food made up the majority of the mixture, it is permitted; otherwise, it is
forbidden.
GLOSS: Foods with the same name, although of different forms, are of the same
nature; in this case, it is the similarity of name, not taste.” (88:1) (Sefaria.org translation)
Rambam gives
the example from our daf
3. חֲזוּתָא
בְמַרְאֶה
“A mikveh is not
disqualified, neither because of a change of its water's taste, nor a change of
its smell, only because its color changes. Any substance that may not be used
to constitute a mikveh initially disqualifies one, if it causes its
color to change.
What is implied? Wine, milk, blood, or other liquids that are classified as
fruit juices do not disqualify a mikveh if three lugim of them
fall into it, because it was only said that three lugim of drawn water
disqualify a mikveh. They do, however, disqualify it if they change the
color of its water.” Mishneh Torah, Sefer Toharah, Mikvaot 7:1) (Sefaria.org translation)
