Matos: 5786 - Rabbi Shimon Sonnenfeld - A Torah thought for Parshas Re'eh: why is "You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk" stated three times, and how could Avraham Avinu have served the angels meat…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please.

00:02 Speaker 2 It’s Erev Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Re’eh. This Shabbos we bless the month of Elul, and you can already feel Elul in the air. Rosh Hashanah, a new year. On Shabbos we’ll read Parshas Re’eh. It contains the prohibition, “Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.” The Gemara says that the Torah says “Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk” three times. Why three times? One is a prohibition against eating: you may not eat meat and milk together. The second is a prohibition against cooking. Even if I don’t eat it, the very act of cooking meat and milk together violates a prohibition. And the third is a prohibition against deriving benefit from it. The Midrash in Pesikta DeRav Kahana says that when Hakadosh Boruch Hu came to give the Torah to Moshe Rabbeinu, the ministering angels came and argued, “Place Your glory upon the heavens.” Why don’t You give the Torah in heaven? Hakadosh Boruch Hu said to them: Yesterday you were with Avraham, and you ate meat and milk. You violated a prohibition. How can you ask to receive the Torah? The ministering angels conceded. But a question is asked: Avraham Avinu cooked the—It says, “Avraham ran to the cattle and took a tender, good calf, and gave it to the young man.” He cooked meat and milk together, and cooking is also prohibited. So how was Avraham Avinu any better than the angels? He too cooked meat and milk, which would seem to be prohibited. Why, then, did Hakadosh Boruch Hu give the Torah to the Jewish people, to Avraham’s children, and not to the ministering angels? It seems like a very strong question. What made them preferable to the ministering angels? There’s a very interesting explanation. It says, “Avraham ran to the cattle and took a tender, good calf.” Why does it say “a calf,” literally “the son of cattle”? Just say “a young calf.” The Torah usually speaks concisely. So why use two words, “son of cattle”?

02:15 Speaker 2 It could say “a calf” or “an ox.” What does “tender and good” mean? Well, the Gemara also says that “good” describes something from which nothing has to be separated or taken away; it remains as it is. You don’t have to set anything aside from it. That is called “good.” That’s why it says of Yiftach, “He dwelt in the land of Tov.” Outside Eretz Yisroel is “good.” What does “He dwelt in the land of Tov” mean? There they are exempt from maaser; there’s no need to set aside maaser, so it’s called “good.” Of Moshe Rabbeinu it says that when he was born, “She saw that he was good.” Why “good”? Because, as it says, he was born circumcised—in other words, complete. So why does it say here of Avraham Avinu, “He took a tender, good calf”? What exactly is being emphasized? There’s a very interesting explanation. Avraham Avinu was wealthy. He had male and female servants; he was very rich in silver and gold, right? There is an opinion that he was a king. Whenever Avraham Avinu wanted to eat meat, how did he do it? Did he have to go and slaughter an animal himself every time? A wealthy man with male and female servants—did he have to slaughter an animal himself every time he wanted meat? If he left it to his servants, the meat would be neveilah. They could not perform shechitah. So how did he eat meat? He had a solution, which is something we learn about in Chullin. We learned this: a ben pekuah. When someone slaughters a pregnant cow and a calf comes out, does that calf require shechitah or not? It’s a dispute. We learned that it’s a dispute between the Sages and Rabbi Meir. The Sages say it is exempt from shechitah. Rabbi Meir says that even if it walks around, it is like any other cow and requires shechitah. The halacha was decided like the Sages: it does not need shechitah, unlike Rabbi Meir, who says it does.

04:25 Speaker 2 Why didn’t they rule like Rabbi Meir? The Gemara says elsewhere that, in truth, the halacha should have followed Rabbi Meir, but the Sages could not fully grasp his reasoning, so they ruled like the Sages. They could not fully grasp his reasoning. This answers the question we asked: seemingly, Avraham Avinu also cooked meat and milk. A ben pekuah does not require shechitah. What did Avraham Avinu do? He took a ben pekuah and also took a female ben pekuah. If someone breeds a male ben pekuah with a female ben pekuah, their offspring, for all generations, do not require shechitah. According to one opinion, the prohibition of meat and milk does not apply to them either. What did Avraham Avinu do? He bred a male ben pekuah with a female ben pekuah, so he did not need to slaughter the offspring. Right, we asked how he managed without doing the slaughtering himself: he had a male and female ben pekuah, and their offspring were exempt from shechitah. So Avraham Avinu did not have to slaughter them. What does “tender and good” mean? The offspring of a male and female ben pekuah are also exempt from the gifts to the kohanim. That is why it is “good”: it is whole. There is no need to separate anything from it, to take the priestly gifts and give them to a kohen. So it is “tender and good,” and, according to a certain opinion, the prohibition of meat and milk does not apply to it either. Consequently, Avraham Avinu did not need to slaughter it because it was a ben pekuah, and the prohibition of meat and milk did not apply to it either. Now, the Torah was given down here, in this world. Here in this world, the Sages could not fully grasp Rabbi Meir’s reasoning, so they ruled like the Sages. But the ministering

06:29 Speaker 2 angels wanted the Torah to be given to them in heaven. In heaven, they could fully grasp Rabbi Meir’s reasoning, so there they would rule like Rabbi Meir. And what is the ruling there? That a ben pekuah is prohibited; only according to the Sages is a ben pekuah permitted. So it turns out that Avraham Avinu did not violate any prohibition of meat and milk, because down here the halacha follows the Sages, not Rabbi Meir. But if the Torah had been given in heaven, the halacha would have followed Rabbi Meir, whose reasoning they can fully grasp there. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu says to the ministering angels: Yesterday you ate meat and milk there. Avraham Avinu did not violate a prohibition by cooking meat and milk. But you want the Torah in heaven, where you can grasp Rabbi Meir’s reasoning and the halacha would say it is prohibited. So how can you ask to receive the Torah? You ate meat and milk. That’s a very interesting, beautiful explanation. Have a peaceful Shabbos and a good month.

07:32 Speaker 3 Amen.