The  Basur  IS  Asur

Basar She Nisalem Min HaAyin

 by Elana Schwarzberg

            Basar She Nisalem Min HaAyin, meat that has disappeared from the eye, is a term in the gemara from which we learn out very important halachot. In Pesachim tet amud bet we come across two situations that may arise.  The first case: an individual purchases meat from a specific store, in a town with nine kosher butchers and one traif butcher.  He then forgets where the meat came from, what is he to do? May he assume that the halacha of rov will apply here? The gemara in ketubos tet vav amud alef answers this question.  Since the meat is kavuah, meaning you bought it at a specific store, we follow the halachic ruling of ”kol kavuah ki mechtza al mechtza damei”. Whatever is fixed is treated as fifty,fifty.  Meaning that the minority and majority of are legally viewed as each making up the total amount, so since there are nine kosher and one traif, so if you treat it as fifty, fifty there is no majority.

            The second case that is brought down is: if you are in the street, in a town with nine kosher butchers and one traif one and come across a piece of meat, and you want to eat it, what does you do? After all it is basar she nisalem min haayin. Since the meat is not kavuah we do not fol]low the ruling of kol mechtza al mechtza damei, rather by the halacha of kol diparesh mirubah paresh, whatever separates is assumed to have separated from the majority. Which in this case would make the meat halachicly mutar.

            Similarly, in chulin tzadi heh amud alef, we learn of another case: if meat is left alone in an unsecured area for an amount of time the meat becomes asur.  The reasoning behind this halacha is that one never knows what may happen to their meat while left alone, perhaps a bird will come and switch the meat. This is the meaning behind the need for simanim in all our meats.  The Rambam, simply explains the need for simanim and the issues that arise when dealing with gentiles verses Jews, Jews with Jews, and Jews with Jews that are not trustworthy.

            The Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh Daiah, siman samech gimel siif alef, further explains the Rambam. According to the Torah, when purchasing meat from a peddler or in more modern times a butcher is buying meat from a wholesaler, if rov of the merchants are Jews then one can follow the rule of kol di paresh and asume the meat is Kosher. If the majority of the people handling the meat are gentiles then the meat is asur.  However if the peddler or storeowner is a gentile, but the only place he could have gotten the meat from is Jews the meat is Kosher. In all of these cases the meat must have simanim that they are kosher.  Later on the Shulchan Aruch in siman kuf yud chet siif heh, we learn that wine and meat have a special status and require two seals, some meforshim say, only  when dealing with a shaleach that is a gentile or an unreliable Jew are two requred. It is interesting to note that the Ramah seems to be stricter with this halacha when dealing with an unreliable Jew rather then a gentile. Things like dairy products, beer, and vinegar only require one siman. The reason we find plumbas on our chicken is it is a siman, this is also the reason we double wrap our meats.

One may be curious to know who can we trust to watch the meat so it does not become basar she nisalem min haayin. Dioraisa, anyone, even a gentile as long as none of them have reason to be suspected of being not trustworthy or trying to switch it to make a profit.

            According to the rabbanim, besides for 24 supervision by Jews, the only other way to insure strictly kosher meat is by signs. So, right after schitah the meat is marked with special plumbas and dyes. Shochtim also make special cuts and make sure that the meat is sealed so that there will be no doubt that the meat is strictly kosher. Today meat is sealed specially with vacuum packs to ensure that the meat has not been tampered with. Meat that has no sign is strictly forbidden and may not be eaten.  There are those who say that me meat that was unattained, but when returned to is found exactly as left, then the meat is permissible, the Bais Yosef disagrees with this ruling and follows the stricter ruling.

            Meat that is unattended, but is kosher, and clearly has simanim that it is kosher, bidieved it is permissible.