Gefilte Fish, Cottage Cheese, And Scotch

Recently, there was a boycott started in Israel against local cottage-cheese manufacturers. Consumers complained, “Why should cottage cheese cost 50% more in Israel than in the United States and Europe?” I’m lucky that this boycott has not spread to the United States, because my kids love cottage cheese with their noodles.

I have often heard in relation to different items that the rabbis should get together and do something about the price of this or that. Since we live in a free-market society, usually consumers can take matters into their own hands, as they did in Israel. If there is collusion occurring, then I would agree that rav ha’machshirim should get involved. What would happen if the rabbis did get together and ban the consumption of cottage cheese? Would one be able to consume the cottage cheese he already had in his fridge?

Similarly, the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs (FJMC) (affiliated with the Conservative movement) joined with other groups both in Israel and in the Diaspora in “suggesting a boycott of scotch from distillers located in West Dunbartonshire Council in Scotland, at Kiddush and [in] public and private” celebrations. Among the distilleries named in the boycott are Morrison Bowmore, Loch Lamond, and Chivas Brothers. The council had adopted a boycott of Israeli goods, so this counter-boycott was suggested. I don’t believe that this boycott has caught on in the Orthodox world, but if there was an edict issued to ban these drinks, would one be able to finish the bottles that he already purchased?

The Mishnah Berurah discusses a similar question. It seems that in Europe every once in a while those involved in the fish trade would get together and raise prices. This placed a difficult burden on those who wished to honor their Shabbos with fish. To counter these fishmongers, the rabbanim would occasionally ban the consumption of fish on Shabbos until the price returned to normal.

What if such a ban was issued and a homeowner had a roll of frozen gefilte fish in his freezer? Could he still serve it? The Mishnah Berurah says that he can! The ban would only take effect on future purchases. One could argue that perhaps the answer would ultimately depend on the exact text of the edict. Was the edict against the purchase of fish for Shabbos or against the consumption of fish on Shabbos?

Perhaps we can find a source for the Mishnah Berurah. The Gemara (Chulin 17a) quotes an interesting shitah of Rebbe Akiva. Rebbe Akiva holds that the mitzvah of shechitah did not take effect until the Bnei Yisrael entered into Eretz Yisrael. During the years that the Bnei Yisrael traveled in the desert, they were permitted to slaughter cattle in ways that would render the animal a neveilah nowadays. Rebbe Yirmiya raised the following question: According to Rebbe Akiva, what is the status of beef from animals that were killed in the desert in a non-shechitah fashion and subsequently brought inside Israel? In the desert, that meat was permitted for consumption. However, in Eretz Yisrael, only animals that had a proper shechitah were permitted. So did meat that was once considered kosher become treif upon its entry into Israel or do we say that permitted meat always retains its kosher status?

The Gemara leaves this question unresolved. Rashi is bothered by the obvious question: What difference does it make? Nowadays all animals must be ritually slaughtered. Why even discuss a question that was only relevant at one long-ago point in time? Rashi answers that we get rewarded for expounding Torah thoughts even if they are no longer relevant. The Rosh agrees in principle with Rashi. Of course, there is reward for learning topics of Torah that will never be relevant. Yet he says it is not the normal construct of the Gemara to record halachic questions that are no longer relevant. True, the Gemara does debate and clarify historical facts, but those discussions are usually relegated to Aggadata. Here the Gemara raised a halachic question and left it unresolved with the tag of “Taiku” which is exclusively used for matters of halacha.

The Rosh therefore says that the question at hand is in fact relevant in the following scenario: A person vowed not to consume meat during a certain stretch of time. However, when he was supposed to start curtailing his meat consumption, he found his fridge full of meat. Can he go on a one-day meat-eating binge to finish off his beef, or do we say that when the calendar date that the vow took effect came, he must absolutely stop cold-turkey?

There is much written on the Rosh’s comparison between his scenario and the Gemara’s query. There are those Acharonim who severely restrict the comparison to only very specific circumstances. Perhaps we can argue that refraining from consuming gefilte fish in a time of price gouging on Shabbos would be a mitzvah derabanan. Since the Gemara’s question was left unresolved, we say safeik derabanan l’kula. In cases where there is question whether or not an action will violate a rabbinic decree, we can be lenient. So it would follow that the gefilte fish that was permitted before the edict took effect would retain its permitted status.

There are some Acharonim who use the same logic to permit one to eat their Shabbos leftovers during the Nine Days. Ashkenazic Jews have the custom to refrain from eating meat from the beginning of the month of Av until after Tishah B’Av. On Shabbos, the consumption of meat is permitted. There are those who want to argue that one may serve the very same meat dishes that he partook of on Shabbos as leftovers on Sunday. These meat dishes were permitted on Shabbos and perhaps they retain their permitted status on Sunday as well. This is somewhat similar to the Gemara’s question. Does the meat that was permitted in chutz la’Aretz retain its permitted status even after being brought into Israel? The custom to refrain from eating meat during the Nine Days is only rabbinic and one could argue that safeik derabanan l’kula should apply.

The Aruch HaShulchan rejects this logic. He rules that one may not serve any leftover meat dishes from Shabbos during the rest of the Nine Days. The prevailing custom is in accordance with the Aruch HaShulchan.

May we be zocheh to the ultimate redemption speedily and that the previous discussion about the Nine Days will not be relevant and be relegated to l’hagdil Torah. ™