[Avodah] How the Torah defines species [was: Yeast isn't chameitz]

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, May 05, 2009 at 01:11:19PM -0400, T613K at aol.com wrote:
: Halachic definitions of "species" for the issur of kilayim and for other  
: purposes do not coincide with "scientific" categories and are not meant  to.  

We discussed this WRT my chumrah-of-the-month not to use concord grapes
for 4 kosos because they are a distinct species. That's why a crossbreed
of old-world and concord grapes are seedless (infertile).

But in reality, that criterian, which matches the scientific criterion,
is only used for beheimos. For plants we use the "looks the same"
definition, which fits my general theory about halakhah being about
the-world-as-experienced. There is a machloqes WRT birds. The Netziv
uses yet 

(I just did a run of blog entries on the role of experience in the
definition of metzi'us [note the shoresh!], based on my taam and taste
posts here on Avodah, some posts on scjm as corrected by a "Meir B.",
and other thoughts. I have one post left in the series, the metaphysics
of it. But so far, I wrote:
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2009/03/halakhah-phenomenology-1.shtml - on
    bugs, taam, birkhas hachamah [that which we can't experience, and
    that which we experience but has no scientific analog]
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2009/04/halakhah-phenomenology-2.shtml - why
    parish follow rov, but qavu'ah does not -- uncertainty about
    the experienced vs uncertainty because something we could have
    experienced wasn't
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2009/04/halakhah-phenomenology-3.shtml - more
    on the nature of rov, understood based on how people mentally
    handle doubt
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2009/04/halakhah-phenomenology-4.shtml -
    chazaqah and how some of these various rules interact)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 26th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        3 weeks and 5 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Hod sheb'Netzach: When is domination or taking
Fax: (270) 514-1507         control just a way of abandoning one's self?