A dramatic halachic ruling is making waves among halachic scholars in Israel and around the world, regarding the current issue of eating cultured meat and its laws.
The ruling, given by the rabbi of the city of Beit Shemesh, Rabbi Yinon Raviv, explains in detail why meat is permitted for consumption in the first place and is not considered "meat" but "fur," and why it is permissible to eat it even when the initial cell was taken from an impure animal - and there is no concern here about appearance.
First, let's briefly explain what cultured meat is: it is synthetic meat, made from a single stem cell of meat or chicken, which is grown in a laboratory on a special substrate and using synthetic materials (mainly a material called medium, which causes the cell to multiply and grow and become 'meat'). In the end, you get a mixture of the miniature primary cell and a very large amount of synthetic propagation material.
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Together, the two become a kind of muscle tissue, with what gives the material being the synthetic part and what gives the shape, texture, and some of the smell and taste - this is the same primary cell.
This primary cell can be bovine and taken from a placenta or embryo wash, or it can also be chicken and taken from an egg.
In his halachic ruling, Rabbi Raviv divides the possible issues into three: One - whether the law of cultured meat will be 'meat' or 'fur'. The second - whether it is permissible to eat cultured meat if the initial cell was taken from an impure animal. And the third - whether there might be a concern about appearance here.
In the first question, since ultimately there is an influence of the first flesh cell, will the entire flesh be considered 'flesh'? Rabbi Raviv states that it is not considered flesh, because the single flesh cell merely provides the form, but the material itself on which and from which the flesh 'grows' is plant material. Admittedly, in such a situation we enter the issue of a mixture, and then the amount of flesh is microscopic and worthless in the billions.
Rabbi Raviv adds that it is possible to argue that there is also a discussion of a 'meimid' here, and to determine that the single cell is considered a thing that is not null and void even in a thousand. However, he denies this claim, because as explained, the initial cell was taken from the washing of an embryo or placenta and is considered a waste product that is not fit to be eaten, and for this there is no ruling of a 'meimid'. It goes without saying that if it is a chicken cell taken from an egg, then it is certainly considered fur, just like the egg itself.
In the second question, the Rabbi rules that even if it is a cell taken from the meat itself and not from the feces, then with regard to the prohibition of meat in milk there is certainly no "providing" law, because the problem there is giving flavor, and this does not exist here. He adds and reiterates that even if that cell is taken from an impure animal, there is no problem of forbidden foods and it is considered fur for all intents and purposes, for the reasons mentioned above.
On the third question - is there a problem of appearance here? Rabbi Raviv states that since cultured meat is only meat-like, like schnitzel or soy sausage, there is no problem of appearance here, and just as the Rema rules regarding cooking chicken in almond milk.
To be on the safe side, he suggests attaching the cultured meat to its packaging and anything else that would make it clear that it is cultured meat, so that there is not even a shadow of the appearance.
