Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 499 - The Laws Applying for Skinning, Scalding and Salting on a Fastival

Bechoros 33a.

The person is considered to be troubling himself because skinning an animal in such a manner is more difficult than skinning it in the ordinary manner.

Beitzah 34a.

Ibid. 11a. This license is granted even though the hide is still moist and unfit to be sat upon, and is, therefore, deemed muktzeh, as stated in subsection 8, below.

See that subsection for the laws that apply regarding moving a hide that is dry.

Beitzah, loc. cit.

Were there to be meat on the hide, it would definitely be permitted to move the hide because the hide would be considered secondary to the meat. See sec. 498:13.

There is reason to think that treading on the hide would be forbidden because doing so will squeeze out its fluids. Thus, it makes the hide fit to sit upon and helps in the tanning process. However, as the Alter Rebbe proceeds to explain, doing so on a festival is permitted for the reasons explained in the main text.

This leniency is only granted if there is a chance that the hide will spoil if it is not moved into the shade and trod upon. However, if the person knows that the hide will not spoil if left alone, it is forbidden to perform these activities. See the end of subsection 5 below.

Beitzah 11a-b.

As mentioned in sec. 497:29 and in sec. 519:1, our Sages granted certain leniencies to ensure that people appropriately rejoice on the festivals. See also the Kuntreis Acharon (note 1 and 2) to this section, which is summarized in footnotes 35 and 36 below.

See sec. 529:2, 7, where the Alter Rebbe mentions eating meat as an expression of rejoicing on a festival.

See subsection 10, below, where the Alter Rebbe mentions similar laws with regard to forbidden fats.

See Beitzah 11b. In his Kuntreis Acharon (note 1), the Alter Rebbe mentions that our Sages were so concerned that a person might refrain from slaughtering an animal that they permitted him to move the slaughtered animal’s fats. The question then arises: Why did the Sages feel it necessary to add the rationale that it is permitted to move an animal’s hide because it is fit to sit upon? After all, an animal’s hide is much more valuable than its fats. Therefore, it would seem that if the Sages granted the person license to move an animal’s fats even though they are not fit to sit on, then certainly license should be granted to move an animal’s hide.

The Alter Rebbe resolves this question in the Kuntreis Acharon by explaining that, as reflected by his ruling in the main text, one is granted broader license than just moving a hide – one is even permitted to place the hide in a place where people may tread on it, thus facilitating the tanning process. As the Alter Rebbe explains, such a leniency is granted only because unlike fats, the hides are fit to be sat on.

Beitzah 11a. The rationale for this ruling is as follows: The person would like to dry out the hide to prepare it to be tanned. Since this would normally be forbidden on a festival because it involves troubling oneself with a weekday task that is not necessary for the festival, the person would seek to use a ploy to circumvent this prohibition by salting the meat on the hide. In this way, he would seek to be permitted to sprinkle salt on the hide because it would be done as meleches ochel nefesh, part of preparing food for the festival.

See the Shulchan Aruch of Rav Yosef Caro (Yoreh Deah 69:18) and the gloss of Rama there.These sources explain that if meat is salted in a container that does not have holes, it will wallow in the blood that it releases, and then reabsorb it. A hide could be compared to a container that does not have holes. Unless the hide is held on a slant, the blood that flows out in the salting process will collect on the hide and be reabsorbed.

See sec. 321:2. In that source the Alter Rebbe explains that salting a hide is one of the preliminary steps in the tanning process, and is therefore considered a melachah that is forbidden on Shabbos.

Beitzah, loc. cit. See also the Kuntreis Acharon (note 3), which is summarized in footnote 37 below. In that source, the Alter Rebbe explains that in his time it was still common practice to rely on this leniency. (In today’s world, with the advent of refrigeration, it is no longer common to slaughter animals on festivals.)

This section is not extant in the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch. See the Shulchan Aruch of Rav Yosef Caro and the gloss of Rama (Yoreh Deah 76:1-2). Salting is not required in order to remove the blood from meat that will be roasted, for the blood will flow out of the meat while it is roasting.

Talmud Yerushalmi, Beitzah 1:6.

As the Alter Rebbe proceeds to state, he is referring to the leniencies stated in subsections 3 and 4 above.

The person is allowed these leniencies so that a lack of meat will not reduce his festive joy.

See sec. 497:31 and sec. 518:1, where the Alter Rebbe rules in a similar manner.

Examples of a situation in which a hide will definitely not spoil, even if left in the sun, would be the hide of an animal that was slaughtered in very cold climates or the hide of an animal that was slaughtered close to nightfall before the end of a festival.

See sec. 496:1 and notes.

See sec. 308:8. See also sec. 302:3, where the Alter Rebbe discusses feathers in detail.

See footnote 19 above.

See also footnote 35 below, which summarizes the Kuntreis Acharon (note 1). In that source, the Alter Rebbe notes that it is permitted to move feathers on a festival to prevent the person from incurring a financial loss, even though, unlike a hide, feathers are not fit to sit upon. In that Kuntreis Acharon, the Alter Rebbe also mentions that, from the halachos presented in sec. 308:12, 16, it can be derived that moving an article so that it will not be stolen is equivalent to moving it from the sun to the shade.

In that source, the Alter Rebbe writes: “It is permitted to move hides, whether or not they have been processed, because they are fit to be used as support and to sit on.”

See subsection 3 and footnotes, above.

In the present age, it is permitted to move the hide and place it in a refrigerator or freezer.

See sec. 501:16, where the Alter Rebbe rules in a similar manner regarding the laws applying to shells that were separated from nuts on the festival.

The hide is categorized as nolad because it first became an independent entity on the festival.

The Alter Rebbe’s intent is that according to Scriptural Law, these prohibitions do not apply. However, according to Rabbinic Law, there are some restrictions, as explained in that source.

As explained in subsections 3 and 4 above, salting is part of the tanning process.

Beitzah 11a. An animal’s fat is divided into two categories, shuman and cheilev. It is permitted to eat both the shuman and cheilev of an undomesticated animal. However, it is only permitted to eat the shuman of a domesticated animal.

It is forbidden to place the meat on the non-kosher fats during the salting process (see the Shulchan Aruch of Rav Yosef Caro, Yoreh Deah 64:20, 105:9).

As stated in subsection 9 above, salting cheilev, forbidden fats, is forbidden on a festival.

I.e. the person is permitted to move the forbidden fats if he is worried that if left out in the open, they will be taken by non-Jews or animals.

See subsection 3 above, where the Alter Rebbe rules in a similar manner regarding moving a hide.

The Alter Rebbe addresses this ruling in the Kuntreis Acharon (note 1), and notes that it is based upon Magen Avraham 499:9. The Alter Rebbe contrasts the ruling in this subsection with the law presented in subsection 3 above. As stated in subsection 3, the Sages permitted moving the hide of an animal slaughtered on a festival for two reasons: because otherwise the hide might spoil, and because the hide is fit to sit upon. However, in this subsection, the Alter Rebbe rules that on a festival, it is permitted to move the forbidden fats of an animal slaughtered on that festival solely because these fats would spoil if they were not moved. True, as mentioned above in subsection 3, our Sages add a further rationale with regard to the license to move a hide – that one is permitted to move it because it is fit to sit upon. However, as the Alter Rebbe explains in the Kuntreis Acharon, that rationale is necessary because the Sages permitted the person to place the hide where people will tread upon it, which is a preliminary stage in the tanning process. Hence, the reason this leniency is granted for hides – while similar leniencies are not granted for forbidden fats (or feathers) – is because hides are fit to sit on and fats and feathers are not.

The Alter Rebbe explains this ruling and the ruling in subsection 10 above, in the Kuntreis Acharon (note 2) to this section. In subsection 10, the Alter Rebbe permits moving the forbidden fats from an animal on a festival, provided the animal was slaughtered on the festival. This ruling even applies if the owner intends to sell the forbidden fats. However, as the Alter Rebbe notes in the Kuntreis Acharon, Turei Zahav 499:5 rules more stringently, and on a festival, forbids moving fats that one intends to sell as merchandise even when the animal was slaughtered on the festival. The Alter Rebbe explains that his ruling in subsection 10 is in accordance with that of Magen Avraham 499:9. In that source, Magen Avraham explains that the main reason it is permitted to move the forbidden fats on the festival is because if the person were not granted license to do so, it is feared that he would refrain from slaughtering because of the financial loss he would suffer. Hence, this license is granted even if the forbidden fats will be used for merchandise, because this rationale applies in this instance as well. Indeed, the Alter Rebbe ruled in a similar manner in subsection 7 above. In that source, the Alter Rebbe permits a person who slaughters a chicken on a festival to move and store away its feathers so as not to incur a financial loss. Although only a small financial loss would be incurred, for feathers are not very valuable, the Alter Rebbe nonetheless uses this same rationale for permitting the feathers to be moved.

Nevertheless, the restriction mentioned by Turei Zahav is accepted when the animal was slaughtered before the festival. The Alter Rebbe explains the rationale for this restriction as follows: Fats are not considered muktzeh and may be moved on a festival because they are fit for kindling, and are therefore considered to be similar to (but not identical with) keilim, useful articles. Thus, just as keilim may be moved on a festival, fats may be moved on a festival. If, however, the fats were set aside to be sold as merchandise, they will not be used for kindling and therefore do not resemble a k’li. Hence, in this instance the fats are considered muktzeh at the onset of the festival, and remain in that category for the entire festival. By contrast, the fats of an animal that was slaughtered on the festival itself were not deemed muktzeh at the onset of the festival.

The Alter Rebbe substantiates this ruling in his Kuntreis Acharon (note 3). In this source, he explains that wood, beeswax, fats, and the like are not similar to keilim, because they are not useful articles. Hence, there are authorities who rule that such articles should be deemed muktzeh and are forbidden to be carried on a festival like they are forbidden to be moved on Shabbos (see sec. 308:8). True, such articles may be moved when they are being used for kindling (see footnote 36 above), but they may not be moved for any other reason. In sec. 502:8, the Alter Rebbe rules that this approach should be followed as an initial preference, unless there is a great need.

In this Kuntreis Acharon, the Alter Rebbe also discusses the license granted to lightly salt meat over hides. The Alter Rebbe notes that Magen Avraham 499:10 questions whether license to do so should have been granted in his era. Nevertheless, the Alter Rebbe does not accept the Magen Avraham’s perspective and permits this practice.

The Alter Rebbe also mentions a third point in this Kuntreis Acharon: that only one halachic authority – Rav Tzvi Shpitz – ruled that nolad is permitted to be moved on festivals just as it is permitted to be moved on Shabbos. The Alter Rebbe disputes this ruling and brings proofs that nolad is forbidden on festivals.

Beitzah 11a. This type of wood is not placed in the same category as a block of wood, a stone, or other objects that are not designated for any specific function and are therefore classified as muktzeh (see sec. 308:8).

See sec. 504:7, where the Alter Rebbe explains that our Sages forbade crushing groats on a festival since it is a strenuous activity that is not befitting to perform on a festival. Hence, the block of wood is placed in this category.

See sec. 308:4-6, where the Alter Rebbe discusses this category of muktzeh. Among the examples of articles placed in this category, the Alter Rebbe mentions: knives used for ritual slaughter or circumcision, razors used by barbers, and knives used by scribes to sharpen their quills.

Beitzah, loc. cit.; Shabbos123a.

In that source, the Alter Rebbe presents other laws regarding moving muktzeh for the purpose of preparing or eating food. See also the Kuntreis Acharon (note 5) to sec. 598, which discusses relevant issues.