Study Bekhorot folio 10A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אי הכי, בשר בחלב מאי איריא דהיתה לה שעת הכושר? תיפוק לי דאוכל שאתה יכול להאכילו לאחרים הוא!
The Talmud asks: If so, if this is indeed R' Shimon’s opinion, why, then, does he specifically state that meat cooked in milk is susceptible to impurity because it had a period of susceptibility to contracting impurity before they were cooked together? Derive this halakha from the fact that it is food that you can feed to others, as R' Shimon maintains that deriving benefit from meat and milk cooked together is not prohibited.
דתניא, רבי שמעון בן יהודה אומר משום רבי שמעון: בשר בחלב אסור באכילה ומותר בהנאה, שנאמר: ״כי עם קדוש אתה לה׳ אלהיך״, ולהלן הוא אומר: ״ואנשי קדש תהיון לי״, מה להלן אסור באכילה ומותר בהנאה, אף כאן אסור באכילה ומותר בהנאה!
As it is taught in a baraita: R' Shimon ben Yehuda says in the name of R' Shimon: With regard to meat cooked in milk, eating it is forbidden and deriving benefit from it is permitted, as it is stated: “For you are a holy people to YHWH your God; you should not cook a kid in its mother’s milk” (Deuteronomy 14:21). And elsewhere the verse states: “And you should be holy men to Me; therefore you should not eat any flesh that is torn by animals in the field” (Exodus 22:30). Just as there, with regard to an animal torn by animals, which is forbidden as a tereifa, i.e., an animal possessing a wound that will cause it to die within 12 months, eating it is forbidden but deriving benefit from it is permitted, so too here, with regard to meat cooked in milk, where the verse mentions being holy just as the other verse did, eating it is forbidden but deriving benefit from it is permitted.
חדא ועוד קאמר: חדא — דאוכל שאתה יכול להאכילו לאחרים הוא, ועוד — לדידיה נמי הרי היתה לו שעת הכושר.
The Talmud answers: The baraita that cites R' Shimon’s opinion states one reason why meat cooked in milk is susceptible to impurity and adds another. One reason is because it is food that you can feed to others. Therefore, it is called food for the purpose of being susceptible to impurity. And another reason is because even for him, i.e., a Jew, although eating the milk and meat is currently prohibited, it had a time when it was fit for consumption, i.e., before they were cooked together, and therefore they remain susceptible to impurity.