May 7, 2008
pictures of a rare ben pakua
Ben Pakua. A ben pakua is when you slaughter a cow and find a baby cow inside the womb of the slaughtered mother. The ben pakua is unique in the sense that it can be eaten without sehchita, as long as the shechita on the mother cow was kosher.
I spoke to a couple of people who raise cows, and to a couple of shochtim about the ben pakua, and was told by all of them that it is very rare nowadays to find. The reason it is rare is twofold:
Warning: the following pictures might burn your eyes out of your head, if you are sensitive.
I spoke to a couple of people who raise cows, and to a couple of shochtim about the ben pakua, and was told by all of them that it is very rare nowadays to find. The reason it is rare is twofold:
- Everything is very closely supervised by veterinarians and supervisors, while it used to not be.
- Financial reasons - if a grower realizes he has a pregnant cow, he will not have it slaughtered. He will wait until the calf is born before he slaughters the cow, as that gives him another cow to raise which will be worth a lot more when it grows up, then it is worth at the time as a calf.
Warning: the following pictures might burn your eyes out of your head, if you are sensitive.
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oh gross! do ppl really eat them just for the "cool factor" of them not needing shechita?
ReplyDeleteanon - I don't think anybody actually eats them nowadays. As I mentioned, it is a very rare situation.
ReplyDeleteactually a ben pekuah is a "live" baby cow found inside the slaugtered mother. which can actually be killed and eaten without ritual slaugtering.
ReplyDeleteyour pics are of a fetus found in a slaugtered cow (which is kosher to eat as any other of teh cow's body parts.
That's it. I'm calling PETA on you.
ReplyDeletemy nephew is going to be in such trouble!
ReplyDeleteRAFI
ReplyDeleteNOT ONLY WAS MATIS EXCITED BUT HIS SISTERS THOUGHT IT WAS WICKED COOL TOO!
god we have such a gross family!
His rebbe said it can be used to make a cheeseburger as it is considered pareve.
Matis said it was real slimy, they picked up a leg and pretended to take a bite out!
Ew!
ReplyDeleteShaya, It may be Kosher, but I'd say LaKelev Tashlichun Oto anyways. If you can convince the Rebbe to give it to you, I'm sure Zipper and Mutsy would love it.
ReplyDeleteIf, OTOH, you find this to be fit for human consumption, remind me not to eat over ever again.
:-)
hey - who wants to BBQ?
ReplyDeleteyaak - it's meat - like your wife would turn it down if I BBQ'd it...
Shaya - that might just make the world's smallest hamburger if you do BBQ it.
ReplyDeleteBy the by, I was shopping the other night and almost fell over when I saw the price difference between the "kosher" store brand of frozen broccoli and the bodek brand. Something in the neighborhood of $2 vs. $5.50...
Those rabbanim must be working extra hard putting the broccoli into big bowls of water and seeing what floats up before it gets frozen...
guys - don't get too excited. it does not look like there is too much meat on that thing anyways....
ReplyDeleteyet another reason to avoid broccoli
ReplyDeleteHey, it's Matis. I was wondering if you're able to just pop it in your mouth and eat it. Do you still have to drain the blood and take out the gid hanasheh?
ReplyDeleteI have not learned the halachos of ben pakua in a while, so I might be remembering incorrectly, but as far as I remember there are no such issues. It is kosher as is (assuming the shechita of the mother was kosher).
ReplyDeleteI do not know why shaya said it is pareve. I do not remember any such halacha, but again, I might be wrong.
actually a ben pekuah is a "live" baby cow found inside the slaugtered mother. which can actually be killed and eaten without ritual slaugtering.
ReplyDeleteOnly deoraissa. Derabbanan, there`s a gezeirah because of maris haayin (unless certain rare conditions are met; see AhS YoD 13:11), although the gezeirah would not apply in the case of a stillborn ubar like this one.
His rebbe said it can be used to make a cheeseburger as it is considered pareve.
To my recollection, if a chicken has an egg inside of it that`s still developing (as opposed to ready to be laid), it`s still besari; I don`t see why a fetus would be any different.
I was wondering if you're able to just pop it in your mouth and eat it. Do you still have to drain the blood and take out the gid hanasheh?
The cheilev and gid hanasheh of a ben pekuah are mutarim, but the blood is assur (13:5). Not sure about for an ubar like this one.
Josh - if I remember correctly, the only issue of maaris ayin is when the baby calf comes out of the dead mother fully grown (a ben teisha) and walking. Anything less than that, and there is no maaris ayin.
ReplyDeleteI was specifically adding on to Yehudah's correction which said that a ben pekuah was only a live animal, although looking at siman 13 again, I now see that your post was correct, in that a stillborn is also called a ben pekuah.
ReplyDeleteWow. Niflaos Haborei. Thanks for sharing. I'm sending this out.
ReplyDeleteI definitely remember a reliable acharon proposing BP is Pareve. For the moment I can not recall the source. Can anyone assist in finding such a source?
ReplyDeletemeir
@icecream, theres a machloket if its meat or parve. my rav says the whole thing is probably because the fetus doesnt have a soul, and therefore not a higher order creation and therefore likely parve.
ReplyDeleteThe wildest thing about this all, is that a BP can be breed with another ben pakua and all the lineage is ben pakua. the Ramifications of that are endless.