Parshas Lech Lecha 5787
בכורות לג.
"גניזה לכתבי הקודש"
The braisa says: אין מרגילין בבכור- one may not skin a בכור from the feet. ר' חסדא says the author of this braisa is ב"ש. Rashi explains, we are discussing a בכור בעל מום, the reason it may not be skinned in this manner, is in that one will be mindful not to cut into the עור so as not to ruin it, & will rather cut into the בשר. This is a בזיון to the בכור. R’ Chisda says this must be שיטת ב"ש because they are the ones who hold in our sugya that the קדושה remains after שחיטה even on a בע"מ. The אחרונים ask: Everyone holds, even ב"ה, that even if the same level of קדושה doesn’t remain after שחיטה, one still may not be מבזה it, as we see the Mishnah says it’s meat may not be sold באטליז or במשקל like ordinary meat. So how does ר' חסדא know this is ב"ש & not ב"ה?
The [ד"ה אין מרגילין] ראשית בכורים explains: the reason a בע"מ may not be sold in the Marketplace (אטליז) is although it’s קדושה has left, there still remains a remnant (רושם) of the קדושה, similar to worn out תשמישי קודש that is no longer usable but still must be treated respectfully & require גניזה. So too, selling the meat in the marketplace is doing a direct מעשה בזיון to the בשר, which is אסור. However, skinning it from the feet is not a direct ביזוי, on the contrary, it is like גניזה of כתבי קודש, because by cutting into the meat to avoid ruining the skin, the meat remains attached to the skin & is now (בטל) considered part of it. This is not doing a direct השחתה but is only being מבטל the meat from being considered a אוכל (he brings proofs to this (ע"ש. This skinning would be מותר according to ב"ה who hold there is only a רושם of קדושה. But ב"ש hold ,"בקדושתו קאי" not just a remnant (like כתבי קודש), so that is why only according to them is this type of skinning אסור.
The [או"ח קנד,ה'] שו"ע paskins: a ס"ת that is worn out must be placed in a כלי חרס & buried in the קבר of a תלמיד חכם. The משנ"ב says, גניזה is required for ספרים & it is אסור to burn them. Even if one’s intentions of שריפה is to spare the כתבי קודש from בזיון, still since שריפה is דרך השחתה this is אסור. As the רמב"ם says, anyone who is מאבד כתבי קודש, transgresses the לאו of- "לא תעשון כן לה' אלוקיכם".
The [שו"ת ח"ג, ס' י'] שבות יעקב was asked: A certain city had many כתבי קודש that were always found by the people after Pesach cleaning. These worn out ספרים וכדומה were stored in the attic of the Shul. After a while the attic became full & considering it was also a fire hazard, they stored the כתבי קודש in barrels & kept it in the בית הקברות. Unfortunately, many of the barrels were stolen by גוים & this led to the כתבי קודש being treated with בזיון. May the city start burning the extra כתבי קודש to prevent בזיון? He brings the תשובות באר שבע that was asked if there is a סמך to the מנהג of some cities that burn their worn out כתבי קודש to prevent בזיון? Also, are all ספרים included in the דין of גניזה e.g. גמרות ופירושיהם? He answers, that according to all, it is אסור to burn כתבי קודש or be מאבד them בידים. He says that the excuse of burning to save from בזיון, is not a טענה at all & if they knew how חמור the דין of גניזה is, they would not be מיקל. One who is מחמיר- שכרו גדול מאוד, as it says: "כל המכבד את התורה גופו מכובד על הבריות”. The שבות יעקב reluctantly says, that if it is אי אפשר to bury them, they may be שורף the כתבי קודש but should do it a few at a time & also בצינעה. However, ח"ו this does not apply to ספרי תורה. ע"ש באריכות. The above ראשית בכורים addresses this באר שבע, but says our case of skinning is not השחתה just a ביטול of the קדושה, which is why it is מותר, the באר שבע is talking about שריפה which is a השחתה בידים. ע"ש.