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The Basur IS Asur |
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Halachot
on Kashering Meat or Fowl and the Reasons For it by
Adina Levy and Tzivi Gottlieb The
Torah states “And you shall eat no blood whatever, weather of fowl or
animal.” But what does this
really mean? Why would the torah
state such a thing? There must be
some underlying reason as to why the torah would say this so outright without
giving us an explanation. The
Chachamim provide us with an understandable explanation, which we can then apply
to our everyday lives. For example,
when a person finds blood in eggs, in meat, in chicken or in fish.
The Chachamim supply us with the methods for carrying out this mitzvah of
not eating blood.
The Sefer Hachinuch deals with the reasoning of not eating blood.
It explains that blood is evil in nature and by eating it the evil could
possibly transfer to the consumer. The
Sefer Hachinuch quotes the Ramban, who felt that, what is eaten by man is
converted into the body. Blood is
the very life and the very soul of an animal.
The soul of an animal is coarse and unrefined, therefore, if a man eats
blood there will be coarseness in his soul.
The Ramban also says that a soul should not eat a soul.
In the Bait Hamikdash we sacrificed animals in order that our live should
be spared. We spilled the animal
blood to save our own, so our eating the very life of what represents us would
be wrong. This is another
explanation given by the Ramban.
Blood has different Esurim depending on the organism it comes from.
For example, the torah never states that the blood of a person is Asur.
The Navi however, comes to tell us that the blood of a person is Asur.
If one would bite into a piece of bread and blood flows from the gums
into the bread then that piece of bread must be cut off and thrown away.
If the blood is still in the mouth it may be sucked (however this cannot
be done on Shabbot). All blood that
has left the body is Asur.
According to the Torah the blood of an egg is Mutar.
However, according to the Rabanim the blood of the egg is Asur because of
the fear that the egg might contain embryonic development.
We learn in tractate Chullin 64b that if blood is found in the white part
of the egg one may remove that part and use the rest.
If the blood is found in the yolk the whole egg is Asur and the whole egg
must be thrown away. For this
reason the eggs must be examined before being used.
The blood of fish and kosher locusts are Mutar.
However, if the blood of the fish is put into a vessel and it isn’t
obvious that it is fish blood it is Asur to eat because it has the appearance of
a wrongdoing. However, when in the
vessel it is obvious that it is the blood of fish, for example, it contains the
scales, then it is Mutar.
In some cases the Rabanim give us no finite Halachah. For example, if blood is found in milk because of irritation
in the cow. Cases such as these
should be brought to one’s local Orthodox Rabbi (L.O.R.).
In order to remove the forbidden blood from meat and fowl, the meat and
fowl has to go through the process of Mileicha
(soaking and salting) or Nitzielah
(broiling). The
meat or fowl is washed thoroughly for half an hour and the water must cover the
entire piece of meat. If there is
visible blood on the meat or fowl it must be completely rubbed off.
When Kashering fowls, the place where it was Shechtid must be scrubbed
clean. If there is a blood clot
from a wound on the meat or fowl, that part of the meat or fowl must be cut off
before being soaked. Before soaking
the meat or fowl the head must be taken off.
If by mistake the meat or fowl goes through the whole process of soaking
and salting with the head still on one must ask their local Orthodox Rabbi what
to do.
The water used for soaking the meat or fowl must be lukewarm.
If the water is cold the blood will congeal and then it won’t come out
during salting. If the water is too
hot it might cook the meat or fowl with the blood still in it.
If after soaking a piece was cut into two the part that was cut must be
washed well.
On Erev Shabbot or when pressed for time one does not have to wait a full
half an hour. If necessary one can
rub the meat or fowl and then let it soak.
When there is no blood in the water it may then be salted.
After the meat or fowl is soaked the water is drained so the salt won’t
dissolve and become ineffective in removing the blood.
Because the meat or fowl isn’t totally dry one should be cautious that
the salt doesn’t fall off the meat or fowl.
The salt used for this process should be thicker than flour or else it
would dissolve right away and not remove the blood.
However, it can’t be too big or else it will fall off.
The salt should be medium sized like cooking salt.
It should also be dry so it spreads well.
The salt is spread all around the meat and the fowl must be open properly
so it can be salted on the inside. When
the meat or fowl is being salted it must be put in a place where the blood can
easily drain off, like a board. The
board may not have cuts or holes. When
salting fowl and some beefs the hollow side must be faced down so the blood can
drain out easily. Meat or fowl
should stay in the salt for an hour. In
pressing situations one is permitted to have the meat or fowl in salt for only
twenty-four minutes.
When the salting period is over the salt is shaken off and the meat or
fowl is thoroughly rinsed in water three times.
A woman with Yirat Hashem must supervise the rinsing because the maid
might use less water then she should, for she must carry all of it.
When Kashering the head it must be split open before soaking and the
brain must be removed. The membrane
covering the brain must be opened. The
brain is soaked and salted separately. The
head must be salted on the inside and outside and may still have hair on it.
Bones with marrow still attached to the meat may be salted with the meat.
If the marrow is separated from the meat they must be salted separately.
They shouldn’t be placed near each other when being salted.
In Kashering the feet of Behamot the hoofs must be cut off so the blood
can drain from them. The hoofs must
be placed in the salt hoof down so the blood can drain.
This too can be salted with the hair.
In Kashering the heart and the lungs they must be cut open before soaking
so the blood can flow from it. The large tubes of the lungs must also be cut
before soaking.
The liver is a blood organ therefore it contains a lot of blood.
In Kashering the liver one must salt the liver and then broil it over a
fire. The fire must be an open fire
(not an oven) that has been cleaned of coal and ashes.
The liver cannot be wrapped in foil or paper.
Before broiling it must be cut open and rinsed thoroughly. The open parts must be placed on the fire so the fire can
drain out the blood. When on the
fire it should be sprinkled with salt and broiled until it is edible.
After broiling the blood must be rinsed off three times and then it may
be cooked. The spleen is Kashered like the meat, but the membrane must be removed before soaking. The veins must be removed. In order to do this, the tip of the vein is pulled out. Doing this will automatically pull out three cords of veins that are attached. The cords must not be broken, but if they are, then they have to be dug out. There are also veins that are Asur because they are so bloody and cannot be salted. The mesentery (membrane) and other intestines should be salted on the exterior, to which the fat clings. Meat
left unsalted for three consecutive, twenty-four hour days must not be cooked
unless it was soaked in between.
It is customary that after being plucked, chicken should be singed over a
fire to remove remaining feathers. When
singeing, the fire can only be fueled by straw and not over a large flame.
One should also be cautious while doing this, that the chicken should be
moved sporadically in order that it shouldn’t be heated. As shown, blood contributes to the very essence of man and is the very essence of animals. Therefore, one must be very careful to adhere to the stringent rules of Lo Tochal Al Hadam. We know this to be a very important mitzvah because if someone does eat even a Kizait of blood deserves Korase. In the time of the Bait Hamikdash if someone ate blood by accident they would have to bring a Karbon. This mitzvah and its reasons show how humane Jews are and how respectful Jews are of animals. The Rambam states that there are many other religions that eat the blood of animals for rituals and idol worship. The Greeks are an example of this. So by us not eating blood and being so careful in getting the blood out we show the tremendous difference in morals and humanity of Jews and non-Jews. The fact that the laws on Kashering meat and fowl are extremely meticulous reveals how much we are willing to do the will of Hashem. Bibliography 1.
Minchat Chinuch 2.
Shulchan Aruch – Yoreh Deyah 3.
Mishna Torah (Rambam) 4.
The Mitzvot by Avraham Chill 5.
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 6.
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