Not Wanted – Dead Or Alive
‘A Mouse That Fell into A Cask Of Beer’
(Avodah Zarah 68b)
May one drink water from an aquarium containing a crab, lobster, octopus, seahorse, or any other sea creature that the Torah forbids us to eat? Irrespective of its lack of appeal, we may ponder the halachic definition of such water – and its implications.
A Taste Absorbed from Pickled Food
Our sugya discusses the kashrus of beer into which a mouse fell. The Rosh asks what could be unacceptable about this. After all, we are familiar with Haman’s claim to Achashveirosh that the Jews considered the king inferior to a fly, for if a fly falls into a Jew’s wine, he removes it and drinks the wine, but if a gentile, even the king, touches a Jew’s wine, the Jew rejects it (Megillah 13b). Apparently, then, non-kosher creatures that fall into permitted food do not prohibit it.
The Rosh therefore assumes that our sugya concerns a mouse that remained in the beer for a whole day and was therefore “pickled” (soaking for 24 hours is halachically equivalent to pickling in vinegar). Pickling food is like cooking food and exudes its taste. Tosafos agree.
Was the “Pickled” Mouse Alive or Dead?
The Rosh did not dwell on this question, but it aroused a tremendous difference of opinion among halachic authorities. Some hold that as pickled meat exudes a taste, it makes no difference whether the meat is from a live or dead mouse. Others maintain that a live animal exudes no taste at all, while still others believe that even though a live animal exudes a taste, nevertheless only the taste of a dead animal prohibits food (Responsa Shoel Umeishiv, 3rd edition, p. 43).
The Hen That Jumped into Butter
The writings of the poskim are full of examples of stories that generated halachic storms. In Frankfurt, a simple hen caused a tremendous dispute among the talmidei chachamim when it fell into a pot of boiling butter. The hen died within seconds but its memory remains alive among the poskim. One rav commanded that the butter be discarded and not even be given to gentiles, as the taste of the hen’s limbs was absorbed by the butter while it was alive and a limb from a live animal is forbidden also to gentiles as one of the seven Noachide mitzvos.
Judging this case, the Chasam Sofer (Responsa, Yoreh Deah 94), tends to agree with this decision and also asserts that an animal exudes a taste while still alive. A very tragic case in which an infant drowned in a vat of honey was considered by the poskim (Pri Chadash and Beis Hillel, cited in Responsa Shoel U’Meishiv, ibid.) and they had to decide if the honey would be allowed for consumption.
A Kosher Fish with the Taste of a Non-Kosher Fish
We return to the fish. Apparently, if a live mouse remaining for a whole day in a barrel of beer exudes its taste into the beer, then a non-kosher fish staying for a long time in an aquarium exudes its taste into the water.
This subject is very topical if we consider shops owned by gentiles in which live kosher and non-kosher fish are sold. The kosher fish are in effect “pickled” with the non-kosher fish for a day or two and, apparently, the kosher fish absorb the taste of the non-kosher fish and should become forbidden. In the same vein, we should clarify the halacha of a drink into which water well from an aquarium containing a non-kosher fish.
The Difference Between Land and Marine Animals
Indeed, Maharam Schick (Responsa Yoreh Deah 101), a student of the Chasam Sofer, asserts that his mentor’s comment concerns land animals. These absorb the water in which they stay and exude their taste therein. Marine animals are immune to water and do not exude their taste.
