This past Shabbat I finished reading Jacob Katz’s excellent book The “Shabbes Goy”: A Study in Halakhic Flexibility. He noted a dramatic change when the Jewish people left their traditional, insulated, and self-regulatory communities and entered the wider society. During this time reformers and people of the Haskala rejected much of halakhic observance.
The weakening
of the restricted framework of traditional society, which made it possible for
others to cast off the halakhic yoke, motivated the Orthodox to harness
themselves to it all the more tightly…
This state of
affairs led to an apparently surprising development: Responsa literature,
instead of diminishing as ever larger segments of the community rejected
halakhic domination, actually underwent tremendous expansion. This is to be
explained by the fact that those remaining under the jurisdiction of halakha accepted
its yoke in shaping their lives to a greater extent than earlier generations.
This
development is further apparent in the shift in topics considered in these
responsa. Until modern times the legal rules of the third part of the Shulhan Arukh, Hoshen Mishpat, played a
central role in response collections, with most of the actual applies dealing
basically with civil law. In recent generations, most of the scholarly responsa
fall under the headings of Orah Hayyim and
Yoreh Deah, that is, they relate to
the observant Jews personal conduct and his religious ritual.[1]
I cited Katz because today our daf TB Pesakhim 44 discusses three different rules that play a major role in the laws of kashrut which are found in Yoreh Deah. Since we been studying about the laws concerning a mixture that contains hametz, the Gemara discusses three rules concerning other mixtures.
The first rule is “a permitted substance does not join together with a prohibited (אֵין הֶיתֵּר מִצְטָרֵף לְאִיסּוּר) substance. If one eats a permitted food with a prohibited food, and together they constitute the minimum prohibited measure, he is exempt from punishment for this act of consumption” (Sefaria.org translation) Rabbi Yoḥanan teaches that the only exception to the rule is the Nazirite. Permitted food eaten or drank with a forbidden product will produce a Torah prohibition which you will be liable. Using the Nazirite who was forbidden eat or drink anything made of grapes as example, if the Nazirite dipped his bread in wine and even though the amount of wine was less than an olive-bulk, the bread will make up the difference and the Nazirite will be liable for violating a Torah law. Ze’eiri Rabbi Yoḥanan’s exception to also include offering up leaven on the altar which is forbidden and hametz on Passover.
The second rule is “That there is sufficient (amount of a forbidden substance) in the mixture that when one eats from the mixture he will consume an olive-bulk of (a forbidden substance) in the time it takes to eat a half-loaf of bread (כְּזַיִת בִּכְדֵי אֲכִילַת פְּרָס). (Sefaria.org translation) Rashi says it is the time it takes to eat four eggs which will be plus or minus 4 minutes. Rashi claims that this rule has no scriptural basis, but is a law directly from Moses from upon Mount Sinai. An example of this for this would be a meat dish with a dairy condiment on top. One bite would not equal the olive-bulk requirement, but as the person keeps on eating within this four minute window he would eat that olive-bulk requirement and thus violate a Torah law of eating milk and meat together. This rule of the time it takes to eat a half-loaf of bread also applies to positive commandments as well. For example, we are commanded to eat an olive-bulk size of matza at the Seder table. Observant Jews will consume it in less than four minutes.
The third rule is “taste of a forbidden food is like that of its substance (טַעַם כְּעִיקָּר).” For example, if a piece of nonkosher meat is cooked in a stew with vegetables, the taste of the forbidden piece of meat will colonize the dish and all the food therein will be forbidden. Another example from kashruth concerns nonkosher pots. When the forbidden mixture of milk and meat are cooked together in a pot, the pot absorbs the taste of that dish. When the pot is heated again within 24 hours, the absorbed taste will be expunged into the food rendering it nonkosher and forbidden as well.
I recognize that these rules are more
complicated than I have explained them. We shall study more about them more in
detail when we reach massekhet Hullin which deals with the laws of kashruth
beginning May 2, 2026!
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