Bekhorot 6b
בכורות ו׳ ב — ד"ה וְרַבָּנַן
Bekhorot 6b:3
The central Talmudic sugya discusses whether the milk of a non-kosher animal is prohibited by Torah law, deriving it through the relationship between the permitted animal and its milk; the passage also records the debate over whether the prohibition is learned from a verse or from a kal vachomer.
וְרַבָּנַן, הַאי ״גָּמָל״ ״גָּמָל״ מַאי עָבְדִי לֵיהּ? חַד לֶאֱסוֹר עַצְמוֹ, וְחַד לֶאֱסוֹר חֲלָבוֹ. וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן, לֶאֱסוֹר חֲלָבוֹ מְנָא לֵיהּ? נָפְקָא לֵיהּ מֵ״אֶת הַגָּמָל״. וְרַבָּנַן, ״אֶתִּים״ לָא דָּרְשִׁי. אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַב אַחָא בְּרֵיהּ דְּרָבָא לְרַב אָשֵׁי: אֶלָּא מֵעַתָּה, טַעְמָא דְרַבָּנַן מִ״גָּמָל״ ״גָּמָל״, וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן מֵ״אֶת הַגָּמָל״, הָא לָאו הָכִי הֲוָה אָמֵינָא חָלָב דִּבְהֵמָה טְמֵאָה שְׁרֵי? אִיצְטְרִיךְ, סָלְקָא דַּעְתָּךְ אָמֵינָא: הוֹאִיל דִּבְהֵמָה טְהוֹרָה נָמֵי חִידּוּשׁ הוּא, דְּאָמַר מַר: דָּם נֶעְכָּר וְנַעֲשֶׂה חָלָב, וְכֵיוָן דְּחִידּוּשׁ הוּא — בִּבְהֵמָה טְמֵאָה נָמֵי לִישְׁתְּרֵי, קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן.
The Gemara asks: And as for the Rabbis in the baraita, who disagree with Rabbi Shimon, what do they do with this repetition of “camel,” “camel”? The Gemara answers that one of the verses is written to prohibit the camel itself and one is written to prohibit the female camel’s milk. The Gemara asks: And as for Rabbi Shimon, from where does he derive that a camel’s milk is forbidden? The Gemara answers: He derives it from the phrase “the camel [et hagamal].” The verse could have stated just the term “hagamal.” The addition of the word “et” teaches that the prohibition applies also to its milk. And the Rabbis do not interpret instances of “et” as a means to derive new halakhot; they consider it to be an ordinary part of the sentence structure and not a source for exegetical exposition. Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, said to Rav Ashi: If that is so, that the reason of the Rabbis for the halakha that a camel’s milk is forbidden is that it is derived from the words “camel,” “camel,” written twice, and Rabbi Shimon derives it from “the camel [et hagamal],” then could it be reasoned that if not for this derivation I would say that milk of a non-kosher animal is permitted? Rav Ashi responded: The additional exposition to derive that camel’s milk is forbidden was necessary, because it might enter your mind to say it may be permitted, since the permissibility of consumption of the milk of a kosher animal is also a novelty. The milk originates from the blood, which is forbidden for consumption, as the Master said that the reason a nursing woman does not experience menstruation is because the blood is spoiled and becomes milk. Since it is a novelty that the Torah permits milk despite its origins, it might enter your mind to say that with regard to a non-kosher animal it should also be permitted. Therefore, the verse teaches us that it is forbidden.
