Since the USDA has given the thumbs up for cloned beef, will Jews be alowed eat them?

Question

Since they may not be considered meat.
Just a quick thought.

Since they may not be considered meat.
Just a quick thought.

Answer 1

moreover, if the cow doesn't have a mother, does that mean we can have a cheeseburger?

Answer 2

Nope. Sorry. It was a creative question, but Jewish law still sees the animal as meat. Here's why:

There are ways under Jewish law that an animal can be considered not a living animal, and thus not require kosher slaughter.

One is an animal called Ben Pikuakh. This is an animal who was surgically extracted from a mother cow after the mother underwent kosher slaughter.

Mosaic law counts this as having already been slaughtered, and a Jew could even rip its leg off while it was walking around, and eat that leg after extracting the blood in the same way as blood is extracted from other meat. It is considered already dead.

Rabbinically this is forbidden for a reason called Maras Ayin - It looks bad. Since the Rabbis forbade it, it is 100% forbidden just like Pork or anything else not permissable in kashrus.

The other way is if a person uses his knowledge of G-d's names to magically create an animal out of the dust.

CLoning is just another way of reproducing an animal, and it does not make the animal halachicly not meat. The animal has the status of a TOmea - a Twin. (Remember all identical twins are created through the same process as clones are, breaking off a cell of a developing embreo and allowing it to develope into another creature seperate from the original. With a twin, it happens for reasons known only to G-d, and naturally. In a clone, it is by the hand of man. This doesn't make a difference halachicly.)

A Tomea has no special statues in the realm of kasher law.

Hope that helps.

Answer 3

Depends on which Jews. Only a minority of Jews actually follow the dietary laws. The others are just as "Jewish," with the same cultural and/or genetic backgrounds, but do not organize their lives around the existence of gods or other objects of prayer (requests). Many of this majority follow certain Jewish religious customs as they provide a feeling of belonging, and also show what to do in such life events as births, weddings and funerals where some ritual is wanted. They are often expected by others to believe in "something," as the rejection of any belief is a threat to these others, Jewish or not, who do organize their lifes around beliefs. Some of these non-observant Jews also follow food laws, at least at home, so that a religious relative will feel free to visit and eat with them.
The others (still the majority) eat whatever they want, often more concerned with nutritional and health aspects such as organic, high-calorie, cholesterol, etc., than with the laws set down in very general form in the Bible, but interpreted in great detail by rabbis and others in recent centuries.
So would they eat meat from cloned animals? The rabbis will answer this for the observant followers, as one already has done. As for the others, what they do will depends on their knowledge of the process and their underlying anxiety about "un-natural" things. Natural isn't always good (e.g., snake venom, tobacco and botulism toxin, all natural and all dangerous).
Sorry that I can't give a firm answer, but better you know the variation among Jews than imagine an all-the-same group defined by its most vocal but not most populous segment.

Answer 4

I'm really getting confused on this cloning issue. How is it that a cloned animal is any less "real" than the original from which the DNA was taken? The physiological function is just the same as the original animal. The clone does not mystically appear, it goes through the same natural process of growth and development as any other animal once that process is initiated, yes?
I keep hearing that clones are not "real" Where does that concept come from? Does that mean then that my Dodge pickup is not "real" because it is a duplicate of thousands of other trucks equipped with the same options, engine, paint scheme, tires, wheels, etc?
Somebody educate me, please.

Answer 5

Cloned beef is no different than regular beef. The cattle are just concieved differently. It is not any less healthy or more harmful to you than any other cow is, nor is it any different. They are still considered meat.

Answer 6

Nobody should be allowed to eat cloned beef. It doesn't sound like a healthy thing to do: eating cloned beef??

Answer 7

Of course they are considered meat! They are IDENTICAL to non-cloned animals, which is exactly why they are equally acceptable as food!
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Answer 8

I guess it depends on how the clone is killed...

Answer 9

beef i s beef is beef as i look at it