Ben pekuah
In Jewish law, a ben pekuah (Hebrew: בֵּן פּקוּעָה) is an animal fetus removed alive from its mother, shortly after the mother was slaughtered in conformance with the rules of shechita (kosher slaughter). According to Jewish law, a ben pekuah may later be slaughtered for consumption without adhering to shechita.
Status under Jewish law
According to the
Anything that is inside an animal at the point of slaughter is considered an organ of the animal. Therefore, if a mother was pregnant when slaughtered and a live offspring is removed, the offspring is considered a part of the mother. If the mother was slaughtered in adherence to shechita, then the offspring, a ben pekuah, is deemed already to have undergone ritual slaughter, and may therefore be theoretically slaughtered for human consumption without adhering to shechita. According to rabbinic law, if the animal is killed immediately there is no need to perform shechita however, if the animal has started to walk it must be killed with shechita, but the animal's meat remains kosher even if the slaughter fails to conform fully to the regular requirements.[2][3]
The offspring has the same status as the mother, so if the mother was found to be
When a ben pekuah mates with another ben pekuah, their offspring is deemed a ben pekuah. However, when a ben pekuah mates with a regular animal, consumption of their offspring is forbidden altogether.[5]
Modern innovations
A company in
References
- ^ "Kosher and Halal". Meat Science. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
- ^ "Ben Pekuah | yeshiva.co". www.yeshiva.co. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
- ^ שולחן ערוך, יורה דעה, יג:ב.
- ^ Yosef, R' Avraham (December 16, 2009). "כשרות בני פקועה לדורותיהם". מורשת שו"ת. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
- ^ שולחן ערוך, יורה דעה, יג:ד.
- ^ Gray, Darren (2016-04-15). "New herd targets kosher markets, but ruffles feathers in Jewish community". The Age. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
- ^ "The New 'Ben Pekuah' Meat". The 5 Towns Jewish Times. 2016-01-07. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
- ^ "Why Is This Meat Different From All Other Meat?". Tablet Magazine. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2021-03-22.