I kinda sorta pulled a fast one the other day. I was asked to address the issue of why we don't eat chicken with dairy products, even though the verse in the Torah specifically mentions cooking a kid in it's own mother's milk. Any animal that gives milk is most definitely not a chicken; regardless of its constitutional right to have that printed on its drivers license. I certainly addressed that issue in a previous TftD, but the title hinted that I would be addressing the issue of גזירה לגזירה לא גזרינן/Chazal don't pile Rabbinic decrees on top of Rabbinic decrees. For example, despite the wide spread misconception, there is no prohibition to touch muktzeh. The prohibition to move muktzeh itself is already a Rabbinic decree, so there is not prohibition to touch muktzeh lest one come to move it.
So what was the subtle fast one I pulled and what should you have asked? The conclusion was that the Torah prohibits eating beef/lamb/goat that has been cooked with milk from a kosher animal. Eating cold meat with cold dairy --- even together, such as roast beef and cheddar on sourdough (you may feel that is an awfully detailed hypothetical to have been just made up on the spot... ayup) -- is only forbidden by Rabbinic decree. Eating poultry cooked with dairy is also forbidden only be Rabbinic decree. It should follow from the rule of גזירה לגזירה לא גזרינן that there should be no prohibition whatsoever to eating a sandwich made with sliced, cold, turkey breast and Jarlsberg cheese on rye with Dijon mustard. (Again... seems pretty detailed...)
The truth is that the rule of גזירה לגזירה לא גזרינן may be the one rule that has not only an exception, but that has more exceptions that not. None the less, any variance does require an explanation. Let's take a closer look at this whole topic.
The Torah expresses the prohibition of dairy and meat mixtures with these words: לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו/you shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk. That phrase is repeated three times, expressing three different prohibitions and three different exclusions. The three prohibitions -- all Torah prohibitions, mind you -- are to forbid eating, cooking, or even having any benefit from the combination. The three exclusions are: birds, non-domesticated kosher animals, non-kosher animals.
Chazal added a fence around the basic prohibition to forbid eating even cold mixtures of meat and dairy -- even when not mixed at all, but simply at the same meal. Chazal also brought in birds and non-domesticated kosher animals -- but only in regard to eating, not to prohibit cooking and selling. The is to say, the prohibition of eating cold mixtures of meat with dairy is the prohibition. The prohibition to poultry and wild animals with dairy is not a new prohibition; rather it is a Rabbinic expansion of the definition of the "meat" which is included in the Torah prohibition of eating mixtures of meat with dairy.
One reason the Torah uses that phrase is to tell us just how repugnant a practice this is; kill the animal and then boil it in the very substance that nourished and sustained it?! Yet, that was the practice of many of the nations. First lesson: Without the Torah, people can and do fall to all sorts of abominations.
No you know not only why you can't have a turkey and Swiss, you know why you shouldn't.
So what was the subtle fast one I pulled and what should you have asked? The conclusion was that the Torah prohibits eating beef/lamb/goat that has been cooked with milk from a kosher animal. Eating cold meat with cold dairy --- even together, such as roast beef and cheddar on sourdough (you may feel that is an awfully detailed hypothetical to have been just made up on the spot... ayup) -- is only forbidden by Rabbinic decree. Eating poultry cooked with dairy is also forbidden only be Rabbinic decree. It should follow from the rule of גזירה לגזירה לא גזרינן that there should be no prohibition whatsoever to eating a sandwich made with sliced, cold, turkey breast and Jarlsberg cheese on rye with Dijon mustard. (Again... seems pretty detailed...)
The truth is that the rule of גזירה לגזירה לא גזרינן may be the one rule that has not only an exception, but that has more exceptions that not. None the less, any variance does require an explanation. Let's take a closer look at this whole topic.
The Torah expresses the prohibition of dairy and meat mixtures with these words: לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו/you shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk. That phrase is repeated three times, expressing three different prohibitions and three different exclusions. The three prohibitions -- all Torah prohibitions, mind you -- are to forbid eating, cooking, or even having any benefit from the combination. The three exclusions are: birds, non-domesticated kosher animals, non-kosher animals.
Chazal added a fence around the basic prohibition to forbid eating even cold mixtures of meat and dairy -- even when not mixed at all, but simply at the same meal. Chazal also brought in birds and non-domesticated kosher animals -- but only in regard to eating, not to prohibit cooking and selling. The is to say, the prohibition of eating cold mixtures of meat with dairy is the prohibition. The prohibition to poultry and wild animals with dairy is not a new prohibition; rather it is a Rabbinic expansion of the definition of the "meat" which is included in the Torah prohibition of eating mixtures of meat with dairy.
One reason the Torah uses that phrase is to tell us just how repugnant a practice this is; kill the animal and then boil it in the very substance that nourished and sustained it?! Yet, that was the practice of many of the nations. First lesson: Without the Torah, people can and do fall to all sorts of abominations.
No you know not only why you can't have a turkey and Swiss, you know why you shouldn't.
Comments