Meat During the Nine Days

The other day on Great Kosher Restaurant Foodies on Facebook.

though as someone else commented, maybe they did get the memo about siyums, and and they were sold out.

I’m reminded of the Rema in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim siman 551 (the hagah):

יש נוהגים שלא לאכול בשר ושלא לשתות יין בשבת זו. (ומותר בחומץ של יין) (אגודה ומהרי"ל). ויש שמוסיפין מראש חודש עד התענית. ויש שמוסיפין מי"ז בתמוז.

הגה: ומצניעים מראש חודש ואילך הסכין של שחיטה (רבינו ירוחם ני"א ח"ג והגהות מיימוני), שאין שוחטין כי אם לצורך מצווה, כגון לחולה או שבת או מילה וכיוצא בו:

Which he elaborated upon a bit more in Darchei Moshe, his commentary on the Tur:

כתב בתא"ו ני"ח ח"ב ויש מקומות שנוהגים להצניע סכין של שחיטה ולא לשחוט לקצבים מר"ח אב עד אחר ט"ב וכ"כ הרמב"ן עכ"ל וכ"ה בהג"מ וכ"ה המנהג מלבד מה ששוחטים לצורך השבת או לחולה או למילה וכדומה לו:

Having the butchers hide / put away the knives operates more on a communal, societal level, which is apart from the activities of individuals, who may well vary in their practice.

Meanwhile, the zeitgeist this year is avoiding the siyums of years past. Even as restaurants churned through siyumim to justify their meat meals; or as shuls used them as fundraisers in years past. One local rabbinic intern brought sources, from the pulpit, as to why these siyums were not positive. And I know of such a shul siyum that has not attracted a sufficient number of participants.

Here’s a YouTube video mocking the siyum to eat fleishigs phenomenon, posted last week:

Meanwhile, on Twitter — or should I say X? — the same sentiment prevails. For instance:

and this:

As others point out there, no, Chazal (or elsewhere, Hashem) did NOT say that we will not eat meat for nine days. They said that for the seudah hamafseket, the meal immediately before the fast, if that dividing meal is held after six hours into the day, it should not have meat. And that is only normal meat, not “salted” meat (so deli or sausage should be OK).

{Taanit 30a}
Mishna: ערב תשעה באב לא יאכל אדם שני תבשילין ולא יאכל בשר ולא ישתה יין
רשב"ג אומר ישנה
ר' יהודה מחייב בכפיית המטה ולא הודו לו חכמים:

On erev 9th of Av, one should not eat two dishes {shnei tavshilin}, nor eat meat, nor drink wine.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: He should change {his ordinary way of living}.
Rabbi Yehuda obligates one to turn over the bed {as a sign of morning} and the Sages disagreed with him.

Gemara: א"ר יהודה אמר רב ל"ש אלא משש שעות ולמעלה אבל משש שעות ולמטה מותר.
אמר רב יהודה אמר רב לא שנו אלא בסעודה המפסיק בה אבל בסעודה שאין מפסיק בה מותר
ותרוייהו לקולא וצריכא דאי אשמעינן בסעודה המפסיק בה לחודה הוה אמינא אפי' משש שעות ולמטה קמ"ל משש שעות ולמעלה ואי אשמעינן משש שעות ולמעלה לחודה הוה אמינא אפילו בסעודה שאין מפסיק בה קמ"ל בסעודה המפסיק בה

Rav Yehuda cited Rav: They only learned this regarding from 6 hours {in the day} and on, but earlier than 6 hours, it is permitted.
Rav Yehuda cited Rav: They only learned this regarding the dividing meal {leading into the fast} but the non-dividing meal, it is permitted.
And both of them are lenient, and are necessary. For if it had informed us only about the dividing meal, I would have believed that even earlier than 6 hours {it is forbidden}. Therefore it informs us that this is from 6 hours and on.
And if it had informed it only about "from 6 hours and on," I would have believed that this is true even by a non-dividing meal. Therefore it informs us that this is the dividing meal.

As I’ve discussed on parshablog back in 2007, I don’t see this practice of making siyumim to be bad. Alas, there is a continuous process in Orthodox Judaism by which stringencies, and stringent interpretations, accumulate, prohibiting more and more as time goes on. And there isn’t really a countervailing force.

Here, this practice (of refraining from meat) is something which expanded over time, to include more items and more days, and this was via minhag. If the common practice (and thus minhag) drifts back in the other direction, great! Just as the (debateable, not entirely adopted in Talmudic times) practice was for firstborns to fast on erev Pesach, and now it is to attend a siyum so as not to fast, here the practice has developed to only eat meat during a siyum, and therefore to make and attend a siyum.

Meanwhile, the Beit Hamikdash has still not been rebuilt, and the slight acknowledgement inherent in making these siyumim is still there. Meanwhile, Yerushalayim is rebuilt and resettled by Bnei Yisrael, there are tremendous centers of learning in Israel, there are people ascending Har HaBayit in kosher fashion, there is an Israeli government ruling over Israel, and there’s an Israeli army providing security.