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Thought for the Day: Treasure Hunting in Torah -- From Issur v'Heter to The Merit of Enjoying Shabbos

I am learning the laws of meat and milk in my afternoon seder. I am using, at the recommendation of R' Fuerst, the sefer מעדני השלחן. It is written in a similar style to the Mishna Brura. It has the text of the Shulchan Aruch on top, followed by the באר היטב below, then the many body of the sefer:
  • מעדני השלחן: main text/p'sak halacha
  • מטעמי השלחן: underlying reasons and deeper analysis
  • פאר השלחן: references to source material.
I don't do any yomi programs. Instead, I have the luxury to fulfill my obligation to just delve into Torah. In particular, when I find something that doesn't match my expectations, I often get to take a deep dive. It is amazing the pearls that are there!

For example, 89:3, the מעדני השלחן says, tangentially, that the obligation to eat meat is the same for Shabbos and Yom Tov. Bit of a shock, no? There certainly is an obligation/strong suggestion to eat meat (not poultry, but cow/sheep/what have you among the kosher land animals) and drink wine (not just for kiddush) on Yom Tov, but I have never heard there was any such obligation on Shabbos. In fact, I confirmed with R' Fuerst that was true. (R' Fuerst also pointed me to a Darkei Tshuva that says if one prefers dairy, then that is perfectly appropriate for even a Yom Tov meal. More on that later,  בעזרת השם)

So whence came that statement of the מעדני השלחן get? Yay! We have the פאר השלחן. Let me just give you the highlights of my investigation. It starts with a reference to the Piskei T'shuva on the laws of slaughtering, siman 18 of Shulchan Aruch, Yore Dei'ah. The Piskei T'shuva quotes from the Beis Yaakov who was addressing someone particularly pious who was nervous about the town shochet. Everything was done correctly, but this person still had reservations and wondered if it was ok for him to refrain from eating meat from that shochet. Now, the Beis Yaakov was first published in 5456 (1696 CE), so that meant this person would not be eating meat -- one shochet in town, no refrigeration. The Bais Yaakov said the meat was fine, but this person had the right to be stringent except on Shabbos and Yom Tov, as he would then be failing to fulfill a mitzvah if he didn't eat meat.

So that's the source of the statement in the מעדני השלחן. But exactly what mitzvah is being abrogated? Fortunately, the kollel has a new print of the Bais Yaakov -- with cool footnotes and additions. The Bais Yaakov is siman 95, so off I went. The t'shuva  is a bit long, with very interesting insights. I found the line quoted by the Piskei T'shuva. No more details... but a footnote! The footnote took me to a P'nei Yitzchak -- published in 5491 (1731 CE). The topic of the P'nei Yitzchak is regarding the p'sak to be stringent except on Shabbos. After all, if it is kosher, there is no reason to be stringent; if it isn't kosher, then you certainly shouldn't eat it on Shabbos and Yom Tov!

The P'nei Yitzchak answers: The meat is 100% kosher. By eating the meat only on Shabbos and Yom Tov, though, this scrupulous individual is making Shabbos and Yom Tov special -- thus fulfilling the dictate to make Shabbos and Yom Tov enjoyable.

Ah... It is not eating meat, per se, that is a mitzvah, but saving something special for Shabbos that is the mitzvah. That clears things up, no?

By the way, what is the reward for making Shabbos enjoyable?  The P'nei Yitzchak Zuta quotes Chazal (Shabbos 118b): for just enjoying Shabbos, one is granted his heartfelt requests. A win-win situation if there ever was one.
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