Physical Description

74 ff., folio, 402:230 mm., wide margins, light age and damp staining, blue paper. A very good copy bound in contemporary boards, rubbed.

 

Detailed  Description 

Second edition of this work on treifus and nikor by R. Isaac ben Eliezer of Munkacs, author of Ohel Yizhak on shehita and treifus. This work on the pertinent sections of the Shulhan Arukh assembles all the work of rishonim and aharonim (earlier and later sages) adding to what he has written previously from such sages as Noda bi-Yhudah (R. Ezekiel Landau (1713–1793), Kanfei Yonah (R. Jonah Landsofer (1678–1712), Peri Megadim (R. Joseph Teomim (c. 1727-1792), Levushei Serad (R. David Solomon Eibeschutz), and many others. Also included are novellae from R. Shimon of Krimonai, av bet din Pest. There are approbations from R. Mordecai Benet, R. Moses Mintz of Brod, R. Moses Sofer (Hatam Sofer), R. Zevi Hirsch Heller, and R. Zevi Hirsch Oppenheim. The text is comprised of the Shulhan Arukh (29-55) in square letters and R. Isaac ben Eliezer’s commentary in rabbinic letters which is made up of Amudei Zahav a running commentary alongside of the text of the Shulhan Arukh and at the bottom Tikkun ha-Bayyat, a more discursive commentary.

Shehitah is the Jewish method of slaughtering permitted animals or birds for food. The underlying principle of the procedure is to kill the animal in the swiftest and most painless way possible by cutting horizontally across the throat, severing the trachea (windpipe), the esophagus, the jugular veins, and the carotid arteries. The knife (see below) is drawn across the throat of the animal in one or more swift, uninterrupted movements. In the case of animals most of the trachea and esophagus must be severed, while with birds it is sufficient to sever the largest part of either one. In the first instance, however, both are severed even in birds. "Then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee" (Deut. 12:21) is the Pentateuchal basis of shehitah. Maimonides lists shehitah among the 613 commandments (Sefer ha-Mitzvot, 146) and rabbinic authorities state (Hul. 28a): "Moses was instructed concerning the rules of shehitah." It is forbidden to eat certain portions of "clean" animals. The sciatic nerve (nervus ischiadicus), for instance, must be removed before any animal, other than a bird, can be prepared for consumption. The prohibition is traced back to the blow inflicted upon Jacob: "Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the thigh-vein which is upon the hollow of the thigh unto this day" (Gen. 32:33). The fat portions (helev), attached to the stomach and intestines of an animal, sacrificed on the altar in biblical and Temple times, are also forbidden for consumption. They must be removed by porging (nikkur) the organs to which they are attached. The abdominal fat of oxen, sheep, or goats, unless it is covered by flesh, is forbidden (Lev. 3:17; 7:23–25).

                     

Reference Description