Daf Yomi

Bullish or Not?

“Where Two Bought, [One] A Cow and [The Other] Its Calf…”

(Chulin 82)

The Mishna on our daf teaches that if someone sold a cow to one individual and its calf to another, the one whose transaction was first is allowed to immediately slaughter his animal, while the second purchaser must wait until the following day to slaughter his animal in order that there be no transgression of the Torah’s command in Parshas Emor (Vayikra 22:28), “V’shor o’seh oso v’es b’no lo sish’chatu b’yom echad” – An ox, a sheep, [or a goat], you may not slaughter it and its offspring on the same day.”

Conveying Rights

Rashi (sv. “l’inyan dina t’nan”) explains that this halacha is based on a Tosefta that when one sells an animal but retains its offspring (or vice versa) for himself, it is understood that he grants the buyer the right to immediately slaughter the purchased animal. The understanding is that the seller will wait until the following day to slaughter his animal. Therefore, if the seller subsequently sells the remaining animal to a second buyer, he does so with the stipulation that the second 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 that which the seller himself possessed.)

One Seller

The Rosh (ad loc.) comments, based on Rashi’s explanation, that the Mishna’s halacha will apply only if the two animals were purchased from the same seller. However, if they were purchased from two different sellers, there is no halachic restriction on either of these new buyers. The Rosh, indeed, makes note of R. Yosef, in the Gemara on our Mishna, who states, based on the Mishna’s latter statement, that even in the instance of the two original buyers, if the second buyer hurried and slaughtered his animal first, he is a quick and efficient individual who can no longer be in violation of the law, and he gains by doing so in that he can eat its meat [on that same day].

The Tvu’os Shor (to Simlah Chadasha 16: s.k. 28) asserts that the same rule applies when the seller is a gentile. Since his slaughter is not a valid slaughter according to halacha, he does not convey any specific rights or restrictions, and the second buyer may slaughter his animal posthaste, even though he preempts the first buyer.

An Informed Seller

Levush (cited by Ma’adanei Yom Tov to Rosh ad loc.) maintains that a [first] buyer maintains the right to slaughter his animal first only in the event that he informs the seller that his intention is to slaughter it for its meat. However, in the absence of such notification, the seller may assume that the animal is being purchased for the purposes of plowing, as the Gemara (Bava Basra 92a) states that most bulls are purchased for the purposes of plowing rather than for slaughtering.

A Bull or a Cow?

From the above, it would seem that the Levush is referring to a bull and not a cow. The question is, does the Torah’s command apply to a bull as well as a cow? Rabbi Yosef Grossman (Otzar Erchei Hayahadus p.32) notes that even though the wording in the verse (Vayikra 22:28) cited above appears to be referring to a male animal – a father and its offspring – the Gemara (supra, Chulin 78b – 79a) understands that the simple meaning and intention of the verse is to refer to an animal whose offspring clings to it – and calves cling to their mother. Nevertheless, since the Torah used such language which implies that the parent is a male, Chanania ruled that a father is included and indeed Shmuel rules accordingly. This would, of course, only be where there is only one sire present and as such, we can be sure that he is the father. In the event more than one sire is present, the prohibition of “oso v’es b’no” will only apply to the bull and its young mesafek – due to doubt, and not with the same force as the cow and its young.

A Lesson in Compassion

Rabbi Grossman, in explaining the reason for the mitzvah, notes that even though the Torah permitted the slaughter of animals and eating their meat, even so we are enjoined from inflicting any cruelty in the process. Even more so, we should develop within ourselves the character trait of compassion.