18 Jun ISRAELI SOLDIERS AND TREIF FOOD

I. Non-Slaughtered
Meat
A surprising leniency
gets a brief mention in
the Talmud but might
have practical relevance
for Israeli soldiers today.
Jewish soldiers have to keep kosher, of
course, and sometimes that requires some
effort in the IDF. While in the field, soldiers
bring kosher rations with them. But there is
a surprising leniency for soldiers in enemy
territory.
The Gemara (Chullin 17a) discusses a debate
between R. Akiva and R. Yishmael whether
the Jews during the forty-year wandering in
the desert were forbidden to eat non-sanctified
meat or were allowed to eat animals even
without kosher slaughter. According to R.
Akiva, the requirement of kosher slaughter
began only when the Jews entered the land
of Israel. Within this approach of R. Akiva,
R. Yirmiyah asks what the status was of
non-slaughtered meat that they brought
with them into Israel. The meat was initially
permitted. Once they entered Israel, they had
to slaughter animals. What happens to the
meat they brought with them that was kosher
in the desert?
The Gemara probes this question for more
detail. Is the question about the first seven

years after entering Israel from the desert,
when they were conquering the land? If so,
even kadlei de-chazirei, cuts of pig meat,
were allowed. Why were kadlei de-chazirei
allowed? The Torah says (Deut. 6:10-11):
“When the Lord your G-d brings you into the
land He swore to your fathers, to Avraham,
Yitzchak and Ya’akov, to give you—a land
with large, flourishing cities you did not
build, houses filled with all kinds of good
things you did not provide… and you will eat
and you will be full.” The Gemara sees here
permission to eat whatever is in those houses
you find when you conquer the land, even pig
meat. If so, there is no reason to ask whether
the non-slaughtered meat is permissible.
The Gemara answers that the question was
regarding after seven years. Alternatively,
only non-kosher food that they found was
permissible but not necessarily food that they
brought with them. Therefore, they still have
a question about the non-slaughtered meat
from the desert even during the seven years
of conquering.
II. Non-Kosher Food During War
Setting aside the issue of the non-slaughtered

meat in the desert, the permission to eat non-
kosher food that they find in the houses

that they conquered is intriguing. Why is
it allowed and when does this permission
apply? Rambam (Hilchos Melachim 8:1) says

that this applies to any war: “When the army’s
troops enter enemy territory and conquer it…
they are permitted to eat non-kosher meat
(neveilos u-treifos) and the flesh of pigs and
similar animals, if they become hungry and
can only find these forbidden foods.” This is
quite an astonishing ruling. Ramban (Deut.
6:10) disagrees with Rambam’s limitation
of this permission to only soldiers during
wartime; it applies to everyone who settles
in the land. Ramban also disagrees with the
application of this permission only to when
you cannot find other food; everyone is
allowed to eat non-kosher food and violate
other prohibitions in order to save their lives
(piku’ach nefesh) if there is no other food
(see also Ramban, Num. 31:23).
III. Craving Treif
Rav Yehudah Rosannes (18th cen., Turkey)
asks a further question on Rambam. If the
permission to eat non-kosher meat only
applies to someone who does not have kosher
food readily available, what is the Gemara’s

question about non-slaughtered meat. Non-
slaughtered meat was completely permissible

while pig meat (for example) was only
allowed if nothing else was available. The
Gemara does not make sense according to
Rambam (Parashas Derachim, no. 8). Rav
Moshe Sofer (19th cen., Hungary) suggests
that Rambam agrees that during the initial
conquest of Israel, non-kosher meat was
permissible even when kosher food was
readily available. However, that was a
one-time permission and Rambam was
writing for future generations. In later
wars, non-kosher food is only permissible
when no kosher food is available, because
of piku’ach nefesh (Toras Moshe, end of
Va’eachanan).
Rav Yosef Karo (16th cen., Israel) explains
that Rambam is not talking about a starving

soldier, who of course may eat non-
kosher, but a soldier with a craving (Kesef

Mishneh, Hilchos Melachim 8:1). Rav
Tzvi Hirsch (Maharatz) Chajes expands
on this by comparing the permission to eat
non-kosher food to the eishes yefas to’ar
(captive wife; Deut. 21). Indeed, Rambam
begins discussing the eishes yefas to’ar
in the very next paragraph with the words
“and also” (ve-chein). The eishes yefas
to’ar is a concession to the challenges and
temptations of wartime. Similarly, argues
Maharatz Chajes, the non-kosher food is
allowed during wartime when a soldier has
craving for food that cannot be satisfied
with the kosher food readily available. It
is not permitted to save his life, because of
piku’ach nefesh, but to prevent him from
straying too far (glosses to Chullin 17a). Put
differently, according to Rambam this is a
wartime permission for soldiers. In contrast,
according to Ramban it is part of the initial
conquest of the land of Israel — even the
food is conquered and permitted.

IV. Non-Kosher Food in Gaza
How does this apply to Israeli soldiers today?
If a soldier in Gaza is temporarily stationed
inside a home and finds (for example) lamb
meat in the refrigerator, may he eat it? Or
may he use the pots and pans to cook his
own food, even though there is non-kosher
absorbed in the metal which will enter his
food during the cooking process? IDF rules
forbid soldiers from taking anything from
occupied places. However, perhaps they may
use items there without removing anything,
maybe even eating the food (see Be-Ohalah
Shel Torah, vol. 6, no. 58)? I do not know
enough about IDF rules but let us at least
pose the hypothetical question. Clearly, for
multiple reasons, no one in his right mind
would permit an eishes yefas to’ar nowadays.
But would the kadlei de-chazirei be allowed?
Based on our discussion, it would seem that
Rambam would allow it. If a soldier has a
craving for good food that he finds and all
he has with him is army rations, presumably

Rambam would allow him to eat the non-
kosher food he finds during wartime. In

contrast, Ramban consider the permission
limited to a one-time historical conquest
of the land of Israel and would not allow a
soldier today to eat non-kosher food due to
merely a craving.
Rav Eliezer Waldenburg (20th cen., Israel)
discusses both views without offering a
conclusion (Hilchos Medinah, vol. 2, section
8). Similarly, Rav Shlomo Goren (20th cen.,
Israel) explores the two approaches without
reaching a conclusion (Mishnas Ha-Medinah,
pp. 122-131). Rav Yechiel Epstein (19th
cen., Russia) strongly opposes leniency,
saying “G-d forbid to build [a permission]

even a little bit” (Aruch Ha-Shulchan He-
Asid, Hilchos Melachim 77:3). To my great

surprise, I found that the 1971 guidebook for
IDF soldiers, Dinei Tzava U-Milchamah (par.
336), by Rav Shlomo Min-HaHar and others,
permits soldiers in enemy territory to eat
non-kosher food if there is not enough kosher
food, explicitly based on the Rambam’s
above ruling. He adds that they should recite
the regular blessings before and after the
non-kosher food. I have checked a few later
guidebooks for soldiers and have not found
any similar lenient rulings. From the silence,
it seems that the consensus does not allow
non-kosher food to soldiers nowadays.