[Avodah] Oxen

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Sep 10, 2023 at 05:02:49PM -0400, Joel Rich wrote:
> Any historical information on how Jewish communities got oxen (castrated
> bulls)? Purchase from non-Jews? Breeding?...

Maybe shor is broader in meaning than "ox" or "steer". Although there is
the word "par"...

Rava says a "shor" can even be a newborn (BQ 65b) but RH 10a says a par
is specifically 2 yr + 1 day old.

It may simply be that "shor" is a working animal, and "par" is food. And
since one can eat veal, but a calf doesn't pull a cart of plough too well,
the gemara draws halachic implications from the word chosen.

Sidenote:
Aramaic and Ugaritic have "tura", Phoenician "thur", which is where the
Greek "taurus" likely originated (acc. to Klein).

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 "The worst thing that can happen to a
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   person is to remain asleep and untamed."
Author: Widen Your Tent             - Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv, Alter of Kelm
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF