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<DIV>RMB wrote:</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">There are no halakhos about eating something
based on its genetic makeup.<BR>Peng Peng, like all sheep, chews her (?) cud and
has split hooves. Kosher.<BR>No?<BR><BR>And I don't think anything microscopic,
like the genes injected into a<BR>cell is within the scope of halachic discourse
altogether.</FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV>In a similar vein RZS wrote:</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">What's the hava amina that he should be
forbidden? He has simanei tahara,<BR>and was born from a dam that had the same
simanim, as did her dam and<BR>her grand-dam all the way back to one of the
original ewes that Hashem<BR>created. Some of his great-great-aunts and -uncles
were brought on<BR>the Mizbeach. So why should he be anything but a beheima
tehorah?</FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV>CM remarks:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>My intial reaction to these responses was agreement. These responses do
make sense to me. I imagine there must be many shu”ts addressed to this issue
many probably using this straightforward logic. However on further thought the
clarity provided began to get a little murky.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Take a hypothetical future Peng Peng II with more extensive genetic
manipulation that is born looking like (being?) a Roundworm on four legs, but
with split hooves and that chews its cud and has the two simonim for shechita.
Would you both still stick to your logic so assuredly?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Or consider the genetic manipulation of fowl. Here the Torah basically
gives us the 22 non-kosher birds, the others being kosheer. Here specie is
determinative. So there are no Simanei kashrus utreifus (although some are given
in shas and poskim). Then the operative question would be how much genetic
manipulation could halacha tolerate before considering the result a new
species?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Which brings us back to Peng Peng. when the Torah gives us the simanei
tahara of split hooves and chewing the cud it explicitly only applies to
the class of chaya and beheima – not other living creatures. So we must revisit
the question how much genetic manipulation would halacha tolerate before
considering Peng Peng something other than a chaya or beheima. My intuition
(sorry - nothing better than that) tells me we have not yet crossed that line
with Peng Peng, but clearly that line exists and placing it will become a future
subject for many shu”ts as this technology continues to develop.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Kol Tuv</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Chaim Manaster</DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>