Making Meat
Dr. Mark Post of the University of Maastricht stunned the world several summers ago by producing the most expensive burger in history. Working from stem cells taken from a live cow, his team cultured muscle tissue that they then turned into an edible product resembling ground beef. Amongst all the specifications for kosher animals in this week鈥檚 parashah, lab-grown meat is unsurprisingly absent. Jews therefore want to know鈥攊s it kosher? Could it even be pareve? (Muslims likewise want to know if it is halal.)
This is the subject of my current responsum for the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards; the answer depends on many technical questions. One tantalizing precedent for miracle meat is found in a Talmudic story about Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Hoshaya : 鈥淓very Sabbath eve they would study the [mystical] Book of Creation, and they would create for themselves a third-grown calf and they ate it鈥� (BT Sanhedrin 67b). Later rabbis argued that this miracle meat could be considered pareve. That won鈥檛 prove the point for Dr. Post, nor for those of us focused on the halakhic considerations, but it shows us that meat isn鈥檛 always meat!
讗诪专 讗讘讬讬: 讛诇讻讜转 讻砖驻讬诐 讻讛诇讻讜转 砖讘转, 讬砖 诪讛谉 讘住拽讬诇讛, 讜讬砖 诪讛谉 驻讟讜专 讗讘诇 讗住讜专, 讜讬砖 诪讛谉 诪讜转专 诇讻转讞诇讛. …
诪讜转专 诇讻转讞诇讛鈥斪涀撟�讘 讞谞讬谞讗 讜专讘 讗讜砖注讬讗. 讻诇 诪注诇讬 砖讘转讗 讛讜讜 注住拽讬 讘讛诇讻讜转 讬爪讬专讛, 讜诪讬讘专讬 诇讛讜 注讬讙诇讗 转讬诇转讗 讜讗讻诇讬 诇讬讛.
Abaye taught: the laws of magic are like the laws of Shabbat. Some acts are [forbidden and punished] by stoning, some are forbidden but exempt [from the death penalty], and some are permitted outright. 鈥�
As for an act that is permitted outright, that is like the story of Rav Hanina and Rav Hoshaya: Every Sabbath eve they would study the [mystical] Book of Creation, and they would create for themselves a third-grown calf and they ate it.
