parshaמפרשי הפרשה

ספורנו — לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו / עשר תעשר

"לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו" closes one section in Re'eh, and "עשר תעשר" immediately opens the next. What is the connection between this odd-couple semichut?

לא תבשל גדי. כמעשה הכנענים שהיו חושבים להרבות בזה הפעל מקניהם וקנינם וכל בהמתם... עשר תעשר. כי בעישור התבואה והבהמה תרבה התבואה וירבה המקנה כאמרם ז"ל (שבת קיט ע"א) ֲעשֵּׂ ר בשביל שתתעשר.

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ספורנו

ספורנו על דברים י״ד:כ״א

Sforno on Deuteronomy 14:21

Re'eh

Q — "לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו" closes one section in Re'eh, and "עשר תעשר" immediately opens the next. What is the connection between this odd-couple semichut?

A — For Sforno, the link is wealth. The Canaanites used "בישול גדי בחלב אמו" not as cuisine but as a *magical practice* to multiply their flocks: "כמעשה הכנענים שהיו חושבים להרבות בזה הפעל מקניהם וקנינם וכל בהמתם." The Torah outlaws the Canaanite shortcut — and immediately offers a kosher alternative for the same goal: "עשר תעשר... כי בעישור התבואה והבהמה תרבה התבואה וירבה המקנה" — Chazal's famous derivation, "עשר בשביל שתתעשר" (Shabbat 119a). Both are mechanisms for wealth multiplication; one is forbidden idolatrous practice, the other is halachically endorsed. The semichut isn't topical drift — it's a deliberate substitution. The Torah doesn't ignore the human desire to increase one's flocks; it redirects it from sympathetic magic to mitzvah.

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