The newest in a much-lauded series by a world-renowned authority on Jewish law and contemporary life, this volume includes sections on such issues as rabbinic confidentiality, the use of surveillance systems, fax machines, and automatic telephone answering machines on Shabbos, observance of mitzvos in polar regions, and much more. The author, a distinguished scholar, outlines the issues, brings the opinions of various halachic decisors, and explains the basis of disagreements between them. A must for anyone interested in Jewish law. Author: J. David Bleich CoverType: Hardcover Pages: 436
R. Simeon says: The word “camel” occurs twice, once referring to a camel born from a camel [as forbidden], and the other, to a camel born from a cow. And the Sages who disagree with R. Simeon—what do they do with the repetition “camel, camel”?—One is to forbid [the camel itself] and the other to prohibit its milk. And whence does R. Simeon derive the prohibition of a camel’s milk?—He derives it from the word “et,” [with] the camel. (BEKHOROT 6b)
In August 1994, a watchful supervisor of kosher milk production became aware of the fact that a surgical procedure had been performed upon the abdomen of a number of cows. He had valid reason to fear that the procedure might render the animal a treifah, i.e., an animal whose meat may not be eaten because it has sustained the perforation of one of the organs whose congenital absence, excision or perforation gives rise to such status.1 Jewish law forbids not only eating the meat of such an animal but also prohibits the consumption of milk produced by the animal as well. Acting in a highly responsible manner, the Rabbinate of K’hal Adath Jeshurun of Washington Heights, New York City, acting upon the initiative of its distinguished Dayyan, Rabbi Chaim Kohn, issued a “kashrut alert” on August 16th directing establishments under its supervision to refrain from producing or selling any milk product “pending further clarification.” On August 18th it announced that all milk products under its supervision may be used. One day earlier, on August 17th, Rabbi Raphael Blum, the Kashuer Rav, of Bedford Hills, New York, issued a letter addressed to the members of his community in which he ruled that all earlier purchased milk products must be regarded as non-kosher and that all dairy utensils must be kashered. On that very day the Central Rabbinical Congress of the U.S.A. and Canada convened an extraordinary meeting of its members and following extensive deliberations issued a statement declaring all supervised milk products to be acceptable. On the basis of statements subsequently issued by a number of rabbinic supervisors, including New Square Kosher Certification, it is apparent that dairy cows upon whom this surgical procedure has been performed have been removed from herds whose milk are under such supervision.2
I. Left Displaced Abomasum and Its Treatment
The primary cause of the problem requiring surgical intervention for its correction is apparently the diet provided dairy cows in order to increase the cows’ production of milk.3 Housing cows in short stalls may be an aggravating factor since cows confined in such stalls may experience difficulty in rising to their feet. Struggling to rise may cause a malposition of an already dilated abomasum. The problem appears to be virtually non-existent in countries such as Australia and New Zealand where cattle are not normally fed grain but are simply allowed to graze in unconfined pastures. 4 The high carbohydrate diet provided in this country, or perhaps the accompanying reduction in consumption of grass, results in a high concentration of unabsorbed free fatty acids which decrease motility of the smooth muscle of the cow’s fourth stomach, the keivah or abomasum. As motility decreases, gas formation is increased by the liberation of carbon dioxide from the reaction between rumen bicarbonate and abomasal hydrochloric acid. As a result the abomasum becomes filled with gas. The abomasum normally lies to the right of the ventral midline along the abdominal wall. When distended by gas, the abomasum may become displaced and move to the left flank between the rumen and the body wall. As the distorted abomasum rises and moves out of place it may also become twisted at the point of connection of the abomasum to the intestine. In both its rising and twisting the abomasum behaves in a manner similar to a balloon filled with air. This twisting of the abomasum interferes with the free flow of the contents of the abomasum into the duodenum and the intestines. If the condition is not treated, the cow will stop eating and its milk production will decline drastically or it will suffer torsion displacement of the abomasum and die. Corrective treatment of this condition consists of anchoring the abomasum in its proper place.
Left displaced abomasum (LDA), as the condition is known, was first recognized in 1950. Since then the diagnosis has been made with increasing frequency. Professionals in the field report that it is their impression that surgical correction of LDA has become much more common in recent years.5 It is thus not entirely surprising that rabbinic authorities remained unaware until recently of what has now become a relatively high incidence of surgical treatment to correct this condition that causes the animal to become a treifah. The incidence of LDA is the subject of a recent study by Dr. Steven Eicker of Cornell University’s New York State College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York. His study of some 13,000 cows on 26 farms in New York State6 shows a variation between farms in the occurrence of left displaced abomasum of between five and fifteen percent.7 The mean for the farms surveyed is between seven and eight percent. None of the farms surveyed showed a prevalence of less than five percent.8
1. See JTA Daily News Bulletin, August 25, 1994, p. 4 and Der Algemeiner Journal, August 26, 1994, p. 1, col. 5.
2.Copies of all statements herein cited are in the possession of this writer.
3. Much of the technical information reported herein may be found in Glen F. Hoffsis and Sheila M. McGuirk, “Diseases of the Abomasum and the Intestinal Tract,” Current Veterinary Theory, J. L. Howard, ed. (Philadelphia, 1986), II, 724-737.
4. See D. C. Blood and O. Radostits, Veterinary Medicine (Baltimore, 1989), p. 274.
5. An early survey of the prevalence of LDA in dairy herds conducted some twenty years ago showed that only 24% of herds reported even one case of LDA and a prevalence rate of just 1.16% among the affected herds. See C. E. Coppock, “Displaced Abomasum in Dairy Cattle—Etiological Factors,” Journal of Dairy Science, vol. 57, no. 8 (August, 1974), pp. 926–933.
6. The dairy farms included in this survey are mostly large farms, primarily in western and central New York. The investigation was retrospective, thereby assuring that no procedures were modified because of participation in the study, and the procedures were in no way related to any experimental or pedagogic endeavor.
7. The figure of 0.4% given by Rabbi Moses D. Tendler, Der Algemeiner Journal, August 26, p. 9, col. 1, represents a conjecture with regard to the incidence of intestinal torsion, a twisting of the intestine rather than of the abomasum. Intestinal torsion is a relatively rare condition that is not a significant source of concern with regard to the kashrut of dairy products and is but one of a variety of infrequently performed surgical procedures that may render an animal a treifah.
8. Dr. Eicker’s study forms part of an unpublished doctoral dissertation. An abstract of preliminary data reported by Dr. Eicker and a group of his colleagues indicate incidence rates of LDA of 10%. See S. W. Eicker et al., “The Incidence of Left Displaced Abomasum Diseases in Large Commercial Dairy Herds in the Northeastern United States,” Journal of Dairy Science, vol. 76, supplement (June, 1993), p. 297.
