Ex 23.19

לא תבשל גדי THOU SHALT NOT COOK A KID — A calf and a lamb also are comprehended under the term גדי, for גדי means nothing more than a young tender animal, as you may gather from the fact that you will find in several passages in the Torah that the term גדי is used and that the writer felt it necessary specially to explain it by adding after it the word עזים, as, e. g., (Genesis 38:17) “I will send forth a גדי of the goats”; (Genesis 38: 20) “the גדי of the goats”; (Genesis 27:9) “two kids of the goats (גדיי עזים)”. This fact serves to show you that wherever גדי is mentioned without further description the term implies also a calf and a lamb. — In three different passages the law לא תבשל גדי is written: once for the purpose of prohibiting the eating of meat-food with milk-food, once to prohibit us from deriving any other benefit (besides eating) from such mixture, and once to prohibit the boiling of meat with milk (Mekhilta; Chullin 115b).

[THOU SHALT NOT SEETHE A KID IN ITS MOTHER’S MILK.] The fools say that the word gedi (a kid) comes from the same root as meged (precious fruit). However, this is impossible, for the mem of meged is a root letter. The word megadim (precious fruit) in with precious fruit (Cant. 4:13) is definite proof of this. We do not find such a thing in the Hebrew language. Furthermore, how are we to explain lo tivashel (thou shalt not seethe)? A person cannot ripen the precious fruit. Indeed, Scripture states, And for the precious things (u-mi-meged) of the fruits of the sun (Deut. 33:14). Additionally, what reason is there to say in…milk? Where do we find such an expression? Additionally, what is the meaning of its mother’s? Where else is the tree called the mother of the precious fruit? The fools came to this conclusion because they found this commandment coupled with The choicest first-fruits of thy land. Elsewhere we find this commandment coupled with Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself (Deut. 14:21). The latter is its proper place. However, it was only mentioned together with the first-fruits because the kids increase and grow then. There is another commentator who says that the meaning of Thou shalt not seethe is, thou shalt not prolong; that is, a kid shall not be with its mother more than seven days. Now if this is the case, why does Scripture mention this law again? Furthermore, their proof is in the phrase bashel katzir (the harvest is ripe) (Joel 4:13). However, the term bashel means to seethe, for the sun seethes like fire. It is the same case with hivshilu (ripe) in and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes (Gen. 40:10). Rabbi Solomon says that gedi (a kid) means young and tender. He says it applies to young oxen and young lambs. He claims that the phrase gedi izzim (a kid of the goats) (Gen. 38:17) proves this, since there is no reason to connect them. However, this is not so. The term gedi applies only to a goat. Thus in Arabic the term gedi means a goat. It is never used for any other kind. However, there is a difference between a gedi and a gedi izzim. A gedi is larger than a gedi izzim. A gedi izzim still needs to be with other goats. The same applies to the terms sa’ir (a he-goat) and se’ir izzim. Our sages have received the tradition that an Israelite is not permitted to eat meat and milk. I will now explain. Note that it is the Torah’s custom to speak of that which is most prevalent. For example, the Torah refers to the ostrich as a bat ha-ya’anah (Lev. 11:16). Now why does the Torah do something here which it does not do in any other place? For in no other place does the Torah refer to an entire species by the term “daughter of” (bat). Note that the flesh of the ya’anah is as dry as wood. It is not customary for people to eat it, as it contains no moisture. The only flesh of this species that is eaten is that of the “daughter” (bat), whose flesh has a little moisture in it because it is a young female. However, young ostrich males have no moisture in them. Similarly, people do not eat meat and milk, for it is not pleasant to do so. Meat takes long to cook, but milk boils quickly. It is not the custom even today in the land of the Ishmaelites for a person to eat a lamb cooked in milk because the lamb is very moist and so is milk. It is thus harmful. Hence it is not eaten. On the other hand, the flesh of the kid contains no moisture. When a goat is small it is hot. Therefore they [inhabitants of Ishmaelite lands] cook the kid with milk. Do not be surprised that the people of the surrounding areas are not in the habit of eating a kid of the goats. All the physicians admit that there is no comparable meat, and they even permit the sick to eat it. They similarly eat it in Spain, Africa, the Land of Israel, Persia, and Babylonia. It was similarly the custom of the ancients to eat it. We thus read: two good kids of the goats (Gen. 27:9); that we may make ready a kid for thee (Jud. 13:15). We also find that the kohen eats the kid of the goats that is brought as a sin offering (Lev. 6:19; 23:19,20). It is because it is not the custom for a person to eat raw meat that the Torah prohibited a person from cooking a kid in its mother’s milk. Some say that bishul (seething) only applies to meat roasted over a fire. However, is it not written, u-vasel mevushal bamayim (sodden…with water) (Ex. 12:9)? We similarly find that the Book of Chronicles states bi-shelu ba-sirot (sod they in pots) (II Chron. 35:13). There is no need for us to search for the reason it is prohibited. The reason is hidden from the eyes of the intelligent. It is possible that it is prohibited to seethe a kid in its mother’s milk because to do so is very cruel. The idea behind this law is like the idea behind And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and its young both in one day (Lev. 22:28), and thou shalt not take the dam with the young (Deut. 22:6). It is the practice of most people that do not have a flock to buy milk in the market. In such a case the milk usually consists of a mixture coming from many goats. It is possible for the buyer of a kid not to know where the mother is. Now if the one who has bought a kid later buys milk, it is possible that some of this milk contains milk from the mother of the kid which he previously purchased. He will then violate the law. We must be strict when in doubt regarding a Biblical law. The Ishmaelites also admit that if one cooks a kid in its mother’s milk the resulting dish tastes better because the mother and the kid are similar in nature. Scripture speaks of what is most usual. The ancients of blessed memory were strict in order to remove all doubt. They thus prohibited meat and milk. God who gave them wisdom will fully reward them. I will further explain in each of their respective places why Scripture noted this law a second and a third time.

לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו, it is usual for goats to give birth to two kids at the same time, and it was customary for people to slaughter one of them right away. Seeing that mother goats have an abundance of milk (expecting to nurse at least two young kids) they used the excess milk to boil the young kid in after it had been slaughtered. (Proverbs 27,27 “the goat’s milk will suffice for your food, the food of your household and the maintenance of your maids.”) It is something distasteful, revolting, something akin to gluttony, to consume the mother’s milk together with the young animal that this milk was intended to nourish. We find a parallel in the legislation not to slaughter mother animal and her young on the same day, as well as the prohibition not to take the young chicks while the mother bird is present. (Leviticus 22,25 and Deuteronomy 22,6-7) The Torah teaches you these matters as a matter of elementary culture, i.e. respecting life. Seeing that on the festivals many animals are consumed, the Torah included this legislation in the paragraph dealing with other aspects of these festivals. If the consuming of these animals is prohibited under such circumstances, how much more so are mixture of milk and meat prohibited as discussed in Chulin 113.