Bullish Or Not?
‘Where One A Cow And [The Other] Its Calf…’
(Chullin 82)
The mishnah on our daf teaches that if someone sold a cow to one person and its calf to another, the first buyer may immediately slaughter his animal and the second buyer must wait until the following day to slaughter his animal so as not to violate “v’shor oseh oso v’es bno lo sish’chatu b’yom echad – an ox, a sheep – you may not slaughter it and its offspring on the same day” (Vayikra 22:28).
Conveying Rights
Rashi (sv “l’inyan dina tnan”) explains that this halacha is based on the Tosefta, which states that a person who sells an animal but retains its offspring (or retains the offspring and sells the parent) grants the buyer the right to immediately slaughter his animal. It’s understood that the seller will wait until the following day to slaughter his animal.
If the seller subsequently sells the remaining animal to a second buyer, he does so with the stipulation that the buyer too must allow the first purchaser to slaughter his animal first. (This follows the rule that a buyer does not acquire greater rights than what the seller himself possessed.)
One Seller
The Rosh (ad loc.) comments (based on Rashi’s explanation) that this halacha only applies if the two animals were purchased from the same seller. If they were purchased from two different sellers, each buyer can immediately slaughter his animal.
The Rosh notes that R. Yosef states (based on the mishnah’s latter statement) that even if the two buyers bought from the same seller, the second buyer may eat from his animal if he rushes and slaughters his animal first.
The Tvuos Shor (to Simlah Chadasha 16:28) asserts that the same rule applies when the seller is a gentile. Since his shechita is not kosher according to halacha, he does not convey any specific rights or restrictions and the second buyer may slaughter his animal posthaste.
An Informed Seller
The Levush (cited by Ma’adanei Yom Tov to Rosh ad loc.) maintains that a buyer has the right to slaughter his animal first only if he makes it clear that he intends to slaughter it for its meat. Sans such notification, the seller may assume the animal is being purchased to work in the field. Indeed, the Gemara (Bava Basra 92a) says that most bulls are purchased for plowing, not slaughtering.
A Bull or A Cow
From the above, it would seem that the Levush is referring to a bull, not a cow. Rabbi Yosef Grossman (Otzar Erchei Hayahadus p.32) notes that even though Vayikra 22:28 appears to be referring to a male animal – a father and its offspring – the Gemara (Chullin 78b-79a) understands the verse to be referring to an animal whose offspring clings to it – i.e., a mother.
Yet, since the Torah used language that implies that the parent is male, Chanania rules that a father is included and, indeed, Shmuel rules accordingly. The problem of “oso v’es bno” regarding a father, however, only definitely applies if one male is present and we are therefore sure he is the father. Otherwise, the problem of “oso v’es bno” for a bull only exists out of doubt (mi’safek).
A Lesson In Compassion
Rabbi Grossman, in explaining the reason for the mitzvah, notes that even though the Torah permitted slaughtering animals and eating their meat, we are enjoined from being cruel in the process. We are supposed to develop within ourselves the trait of compassion.