Treifah – Man vs Animal

Igros Moshe (CM II #73.4) There is a big difference in the laws between the treifos of animals which involve the prohibition of eating them and the laws of treifos in man which involve the prohibition of murder and the obligation of medical cures. The fact is that the issues of medicine – disease and cures are not something which is static and unchanging for all time. Just as many things in nature change over time so do the nature of sickness and medicine. Thus the nature of Treifos which are described in the gemora as that which inevitably leads to death is not something unchanging over time. The fact however is that the definition of treifa in an animal which is relevant to the prohibition of eating was established during Talmudic times is fixed and unchanging forever at least from Talmudic times. What has been established in this is prohibited to change as it is viewed as Halacha L”Moshe M’Sinai. In fact in the gemora in Chullin (43a) that all the details were transmitted to Moshe at Sinai and they were not based on the views of experts that said what animals can not be eaten because they will not be able to continue living Even though it is true that many thing are found in the Torah that are stated only in general terms and we rely on experts to provide the details. However in regard to the principle that animals with this condition will not live much longer and is therefore a treifah, it clearly means at that time in history only they were not able to live. Thus when we prohibit treifos in animals we use the standard of Talmudic times. We do not say that if today such an animal will live that we change the laws of Kashrus. Nor do we say that since in modern times there are animals that can not live with a condition that was benign in Talmudic times that it is prohibited as a treifah. We rely totally on what was taught in Talmudic times. The Rambam clearly states this view