My understanding of why bee honey is kosher is because the talmud says that the honey is not a by-product of the bees. They simply store the nectar in their body to transfer it and then expel it, turning it into honey. Since it's not a by-product of a bug, it is kosher.
However, modern science has revealed that when the nectar is in the bees body, an enzyme (?) is released, causing the honey making process to begin. Since this enzyme is integral to the creation of honey, and the bee is mixing its "juices" so to speak with the nectar, shouldn't we now declare bee honey non-kosher? Why are there no pushes for this? Is it because the enzyme is invisible to the naked eye? Don't get me wrong, I love honey and want it to remain kosher, I just want an explanation in light of modern science.
Answer
According to Halacha we follow Rav Sheishes's view (bechoros 7b) who holds like Rabbe Yaakov (the Tannah) that the reason honey is kosher (even if the bee extracts part of its flesh into the honey as part of the process - Rabeinu Gershom) is a Gzeiras Hakosuv (by Hashem's command) and not like the opinion who says that the reason for its permissiblity is 'because the bees store it in their bodies but do not drain it from their bodies'. (See Beis Yosef Yoreh Day'ah end of Siman 81, and in Baeir Heitev #1 that we follow Rav Sheishes.)
No comments:
Post a Comment