What is NishTaneh?
Non-Kosher foods can become denatured and Kosher simply by being notionally altered from their original state
even if they remain an edible food throughout this transition
even if they remain an edible food throughout this transition
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כתב הרא"ש במסכת ברכות פרק ו' סימן לה א"ר חסדא על המוגמרות כולן מברכין עליהם בורא עצי בשמים חוץ ממוש"ק דמין חיה היא שמברכים עליו בורא מיני בשמים י"א שהמוש"ק הוא זיעת חיה ונכון
יותר שחיה ידועה היא שיש לה חטוטרת בצוארה ומתקבץ שם תחלה כעין דם ואחר כך חוזר ונעשה מוש"ק והר"ז הלוי ז"ל היה אוסר לאכלו מפני חשש דם וה"ר יונה ז"ל פי' דאפשר ליתן בו טעם להתיר ולומר דפירשא בעלמא הוא אע"פ שמתחלה היה דם לא חיישינן להכי דבתר השתא אזלינן שהרי הדבש אם נפל בו חתיכה של איסור ואע"ג שהאיסור נימוח בתוך הדבש כיון שדרך הדבש להחזיר הדבר הנופל לתוכו דבש כמו דבש דיינינן ליה ומותר הכא נמי אע"פ שמתחלה היה דם כיון דיצא מתורת דם בתר השתא אזלינן ואע"פ שנותן טעם לשבח בתבשיל ונראה דהא אפילו ראייתו צריכה ראיה |
Musk, milk and honey, are pretty much the foundation cases that illustrate the Halcha of NishTaNeh, that as a non-Kosher food becomes denatured, it undergoes a metamorphosis and is deemed to be a new entity without association to its origin and it therefore becomes Kosher.
Let us begin with the Rosh [Berachos 6:35] The Rosh explains that there is some doubt about musk; is it a waste product ZeiAh, of beasts, in which case it is Kosher; or is it [which the Rosh thinks more likely] the accumulation of a substance which originates from blood and is therefore prohibited like blood. The Rosh then quotes Rabbenu Yona who suggests that either way it will be Kosher since it is a waste product: meaning that even if it does originate from blood, it is, in its form as musk, a waste product, Pirsha, notwithstanding its pleasant taste and aroma. [Two different but seemingly equivalent words are used by those who permit musk. In the first opinion brought by the Rosh, musk is described as being derived from Zeiah, waste. When quoting Rabbenu Yona, musk is described as Pirsha, rubbish. Zeiah seems to describe musk as always having been a waste product, whereas Pirsha describes something that was once a matter of significance which became rubbish] Rabbenu Yona supports his argument with the following - all prohibited foods become Kosher after being immersed [for some time] in honey. The non-Kosher foods become denatured, undergo a metamorphosis and become like honey. [Although it is not absolutely clear from the Rosh’s quote, if Rabbenu Yona is permitting even the residual piece of meat or just the honey which contains "dissolved" non-Kosher meat, see more later] The Rosh is unimpressed, suggesting that even Rabbenu Yona's proof requires a proof. |
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ביאור הגר"א באו"ח סימן רט"ז שישב את קושית המ"א על רבנו יונה מדבש, על פי הר"ן בע"ז. על הגמרא שאומרת בדף לט ע"ב שאין חשש איסור בדבש של נוכרים: "דבש למאי ניחוש לה, אי משום איערובי מיסרא סרי" ומבאר הר"ן שם שאף שדרך הוא לערב בדבר דברים אחרים ונימוחו בתוכו וחוזרין דבש, "ליכא למיחש להכי לפי שהמתערב בו עד שלא נימוח מסריח ומותר |
The Vilna Gaon [OCh 216] however explains Rabbenu Yona’s proof from a Gemara [AZ 39b, brought in ShA YD 116 - also by Reb Chaim Ozer Grodzenski, Achiezer, where he Paskens to gelatine and products derived from non-Kosher wine] as explained by the Ran. The Gemara permits honey acquired from a non Jew, in spite of it being the usual practice to add non-Kosher foods in order to enhance the honey's flavour. It is Kosher since the non-Kosher food becomes denatured before it dissolves into the honey. [since the Ran specifies that the non-Kosher becomes denatured before dissolving in the honey, it is clear that the food itself becomes Kosher - a piece of non-Kosher meat thus pickled in honey is Kosher: it is no longer meat, it is honey.]
Now although the Ran uses the word MasRiAch which usually means "stinky" i.e. inedible, this cannot be the meaning since it is simply not true; foods immersed in honey do not become "stinky", on the contrary they are preserved and enhanced. Clearly the term MasRiAch means that it is certainly denatured, it has certainly metamorphosised and is a new product just as we are certain that a non-Kosher food that has actually become stinky is no longer Halachically deemed to be its original non-Kosher food. |
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כתב בשו"ת הרא"ש כלל כד סימן ו: "ודבש בפסח, לא ראיתי אדם נוהג בו איסור משום חששא דעירוב קמח, דלא שכיחא, וגם נתבטל קודם הפסח. ואם באנו לאסור דבש משום חשש תערובות, נאסור אותו כל השנה, דיש אומרים שנותנים לתוכו בשר נבלה ומתהפך לדבש |
It is also notable that the Rosh, in his Teshuvos, 24:6, discusses eating honey during Pesach and the possibility that one should not, since there were some manufacturers/traders who added flour to it.
He first notes that he has not seen anyone being strict in this matter and asserts this is because [although there are some who do add flour to honey] it is uncommon. Besides, he says, the flour would be Battel since it is added before Pesach. [this is a very strange argument, because we would imagine that although the flour cannot be removed, it nevertheless is visible and identifiable and only unreachable. If we had a bread-roll for example, immersed in wine within a large vat where the bread-roll is unreachable, Halacha would not consider this to be a TaAroves, a mixture that is already Battel from before Pesach, but Chamets that is actively issuing taste into the wine during Pesach which would make it prohibited even at tiny ratios. This is answered in the final analysis according to Rabbenu Yona] The Rosh continues his train of thought: if there is a cause for concern, then we should not be permitted to purchase honey from non-Jews all year round since there is equal risk that non-Kosher meat, for example, is added to the honey. So the Rosh buttresses his argument that honey is permitted during Pesach, because the risk is too insignificant, from the fact that no-one has any issue with honey all year round which carries an equal risk of containing non-Kosher meat. The Poskim were certainly aware of this and dismissed it, so too with bread in the honey for Pesach [and one should not think that they permitted honey during Pesach simply because they were unaware of the risk]. |
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וה"ר יונה ז"ל כתב,
שאפילו נותנין בו בשר נבלה, כיון דנמוח ונתהפך לדבש, מותר, דבתר השתא אזלינן ושרי וכרכום מותר בפסח, כי לא שמעתי עליו שום חימוץ והובא בשו"ע א"ח סימן תסז סעיף ח |
The Rosh then surprisingly has a change of perspective and utilises the argument of Rabbenu Yona, who he, as we quoted earlier, dismissed even suggesting that Rabbenu Yona's proof requires a proof.
According to Rabbenu Yona, even if we know that non-Kosher meat or bread has been added to the honey, it will be Kosher for Pesach and all year round, since whatever is added to honey, is denatured and becomes Kosher. This also explains why the honey is not rendered Assur during Pesach by the bread within it adding Chametz flavour: the bread, although identifiable within the honey, is no longer bread - it is honey. |
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