Treif in the Torah: Not Just for Dogs Parashat Mishpatim / פָּרָשַׁת מִּשְׁפָּטִים Jan. 28, 2022 / 26th of Sh'vat, 5782 Exodus 21:1 - 24:18

And you shall be people of holiness to Me; therefore, in the field terefah [flesh that is torn] you shall not eat; to the dogs you shall cast it.

ובשר בשדה טרפה [NEITHER SHALL YE EAT] ANY FLESH THAT IS TORN IN THE FIELD – The same holds good in case the animal has been torn in the house, only that Scripture speaks of what usually happens mentioning the field because it is the place where it is usual for cattle to be torn. A similar instance is, (Deuteronomy 22:27) “for he found her in the field”, but the same law would apply if he found her elsewhere. Another example is, (Deuteronomy 23:11) “Any man that is unclean by reason of uncleanliness that chanceth him by night”; the same law, however, applies to an uncleanliness that happens by day, but night is mentioned because Scripture speaks of what usually happens (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 22:30:3). The Targum renders ובשר בשדה טרפה by ובשר תליש מן חיוא חיא “flesh that is torn off from a living animal”, i. e. flesh that has been torn off through a laceration caused by a wolf or a lion, from a living beast which is permitted to be eaten (e. g., a stag), or from cattle permitted to be eaten.

לכלב תשלכון אתו YE SHALL CAST IT TO THE DOGS — You may give it to a heathen as well as to the dog. Or, perhaps this is not so, but כלב/dog is to be taken literally? Scripture, however, states with regard to carrion, (Deuteronomy 14:21) “Thou shalt give it to a stranger or sell it unto an alien”, from which it follows by a conclusion à fortiori that you may derive whatever benefit you like from the Trefa (and so you also may give it to heathen). But if this be so, what is the force of Scripture expressly saying “to the dog”? It is to teach you that the dog is to be given preference in this respect and Scripture tells you at the same time that God does not withhold the reward due to any of His creatures. The dog is entitled to reward because it is stated, (Exodus 11:7) “But against the children of Israel shall not a dog move its tongue”, and this happened. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Give it the reward it deserves (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 32:30:3).

[TO THE DOGS.] The lamed prefaced to kelev (dogs) was vocalized with a pattach because the reference is to the dog who guards the oxen and the flock. Torn meat is not fit for anyone, only for a dog. Rabbi Moses Ha-Kohen says that torn meat is unhealthier than meat from an animal that dies of natural causes. There is something poison-like in torn meat that is harmful to the health of a human being. Hence Scripture does not permit one to give torn meat unto the stranger that is within thy gates (Deut. 14:21) or to sell it unto a foreigner (Ibid.) as it does to meat from an animal that dies of natural causes (Ibid.).

As it is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Yehuda says in the name of Rabbi Shimon:

With regard to meat cooked in milk, eating it is forbidden and deriving benefit from it is permitted, as it is stated: “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; you shall not cook a kid in its mother’s milk” (Deuteronomy 14:21).

And elsewhere the verse states: “And you shall be holy men to Me; therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by animals in the field” (Exodus 22:30).

Just as there, with regard to an animal torn by animals, which is forbidden as a treifah, i.e., an animal possessing a wound that will cause it to die within twelve months, eating it is forbidden but deriving benefit from it is permitted, so too here, with regard to meat cooked in milk, where the verse mentions being holy just as the other verse did, eating it is forbidden but deriving benefit from it is permitted.

Not to eat the flesh of a beast that is terefah (lit. torn), as it is said, “Neither shall ye eat flesh that is torn of beasts in the field” (Ex. 22:30).

And you shall be people of holiness to Me; therefore, flesh in the field that is torn you shall not eat; to the dogs you shall cast it.

(21) You shall not eat anything that is a neveilah [has died a natural death];

give it to the stranger in your community to eat, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people consecrated to the LORD your God.

You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

(4) If one cut the gullet in the standard manner of slaughter with a back-and-forth movement, and he severed the windpipe not in the standard manner, or if one severed the windpipe and thereafter cut the gullet, or if one cut one of the simanim and waited until the animal died, or if one cut one siman and concealed the knife beneath the second siman and severed it from below, Rabbi Yeshevav says: The animal is an unslaughtered carcass and imparts ritual impurity through contact with it and carrying it. Rabbi Akiva says: The animal is a tereifa, and although eating it is prohibited, it does not transmit ritual impurity. Rabbi Yeshevav stated a principle in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua: Any animal that was rendered unfit during its slaughter because the slaughter was not performed properly is an unslaughtered carcass; any animal whose slaughter was performed properly and another matter caused it to become unfit is a tereifa. And Rabbi Akiva conceded to his opinion.

[8] Thus one learns that the Torah forbade that which died, which is a neveila, and it forbade one that was on the verge of dying because of its wounds even though it has not died yet, which is a treifa. Just as you would not distinguish with regard to death between one that died of its own, whether it fell and died, whether it was strangled until it died, whether it was trampled by a wild beast which killed it. Similarly, do not distinguish between an animal that is on the verge of dying, regardless of whether it was torn apart by an animal and battered, whether it fell from the roof and broke the majority of its ribs, whether it fell and crushed its limbs, whether it was shot with an arrow and its heart or lung was punctured, whether it developed an illness on its own that punctured its heart or lung, or it broke the majority of its ribs, or the like. Since it is on the verge of death regardless of the cause, it is a treifa, whether the cause was flesh and blood or by the hands of Heaven.

Translation by Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein

One may buy eggs from any place, and needn’t worry lest they are from neveilot or tereifot.

(5) The congealed milk in the stomach of the animal of a gentile and of an unslaughtered animal carcass is prohibited. With regard to one who curdled milk by using the skin of the stomach of a kosher animal as a coagulant to make cheese, which may then have the taste of meat cooked in milk, if the measure of the skin is enough to impart flavor to the milk, that cheese is prohibited. In the case of a kosher animal that suckled milk from a tereifa, the milk in its stomach is prohibited, as the milk is from the tereifa. If it was a tereifa that suckled milk from a kosher animal, the milk in its stomach is permitted, as the milk is from the kosher animal. In both cases, the milk that an animal suckles has the status of the animal from which it was suckled, and not that of the animal which suckled, because the milk is collected in its innards and is not an integral part of its body.

Keiva: This is the congealed milk in its stomach.