Saturday, January 26, 2008

Nifty halakha

From Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Issurei Biah, 1:18

א,יח וכן השוכב עם בהמה בשגגה, והאישה שהביאה את הבהמה עליה בשגגה--אין הבהמה נסקלת על ידן, ואף על פי שהן גדולים.

Roughly:

One who lies with a beast accidentally, and a woman who lies with a beast accidentally -- the beast is not stoned[, even if they were adults?]

So, this begs the question: How does one "accidentally" have sex with an animal?

4 comments:

fleurdelis28 said...

What I want to know is, how is the animal less liable because you made a mistake?

N said...

I consulted a rabbinic authority, who informed me that there are two types of "accident": (1) In which one didn't know it was assur and (2) In which one didn't know what one was doing. I mostly had the case (2) in mind, but apparently (1) has halakhic implications.

I didn't consult a rabbinic authority on the reason for the animal's limited liability, but presumably because it would be a shame to lose the shwarma material.

Mark Dredze said...

What comes to mind is the halachot when a man sleeps with a woman who turns out not to be his wife without realizing what he was doing (the lights were off). So, I guess if you couldn't tell the difference between your husband and an animal, that would be an accident.

N said...

IYH my husband will be an animal... in that regard.