JHM Responsa 11 c

JHM Responsa 11 c

Kashrut

V1306E

1935-12-26

Ets Haim – Livraria Montezinos, Foundation Stichting Cultureel Erfgoed Portugees-Israëlietische Gemeente.
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Joseph v David d'Ancona

d'Ancona

Jore De'a

TRUE

The status (kashrut) of meat at a wedding attended by Sephardim and Ashkenazim

In a city where there was both a Sephardi and an Ashkenazi community it had been the custom for many generations that the Shochet and those that check the meat, have to abide by the stringencies of both communities. As a result, the god-fearing people in both communities only ate meat which is kosher according to both communities. One time, a Shochet in the slaughterhouse started to cut the throat of an animal, while a fellow Shochet was standing next to him, and he observed that the first Shochet had cut one way, when suddenly a large ox ran in the middle of the slaughterhouse which stunned the first Shochet and made him raise the knife off the animal. He then asked his friend who had not been stunned at all, to check the required signs and the lungs of the animal, and he himself returned to his room, where he washed the knife, returned it calmly to its holder, put it away in the cupboard, locked the cupboard and returned home. His friend checked the signs and the lungs, found everything in order, and declared the animal to be kosher. Then a butcher took parts of the animal to his store, and the next day he sent a 1/2 liter piece of meat to a wedding hall, which had ordered the meat, where there were already many other large and important pieces of meat from another butcher. That same day [i.e. one day after the slaughter] the first Shochet arrived early at the slaughterhouse, and when he took out the knife, he realized that he had forgotten to check it after the slaughter of the previous day. And now he finds an indented flaw, and the point of the flaw is in the direction of the point of the knife. He now rushes to the butcher to tell him there is a problem, and the butcher in turn rushes to the wedding hall and tells the attendant. However the piece of meat was already placed together with two other large and important pieces, weighting altogether three Liters that they received from another butcher and they were cooking them together. The attendant recognized the small piece and removed the other prices from the pot and placed them in a very large pot in which there already many large important pieces and also gravy and soup, and the weight of all of the pieces, including the soup and the gravy was 35 litres (and needless to say the attendant was ignorant) and now she cooked the entire mixture. And now the bride and groom were from the Sephardi community, and the bride had no father or mother, but the brother of the mother was Ashkenazi and arranged the wedding and gave over large amounts of money that he had gathered from many sources to pay for the wedding. And the guests included both Sephardim and Ashkenazim. And when he heard what had happened after some hours, he became furious and asked the attendant to show him the two pieces of meat that she had placed in the large pot and cooked with the rest, but she could not recognize them. Then the bride’s uncle and the groom’s father became fearful [of disobeying] the word of G-d, and they sought advice and went together to the two Baté Dinim of their communities to ask for a verdict, and the rabbis of both communities joined for a common verdict. What should they advise?

[after a long detailed discussion] all the guests may eat their food in joy and good hearts just as long as no single person eats a portion of all of the pieces of meat [in the large pot].