By Rabbi Yair Hoffman The breathtaking complexity and intellectual rigor of the field of Kashrus often goes unappreciated, even by those well-versed in Jewish law. Deep within this vast ocean of knowledge lies an absolutely riveting debate that captures the essence of how nuanced this field truly is: Does a particular ligament count among the crucial 16 tendons that render a chicken treif? This fascinating controversy pits two towering giants of halachic scholarship against each other – the brilliant Rav Shmuel Vosner zt”l (pictured on the right) and the masterful Rav Meir Brandsdorfer zt”l (on the left). What follows is nothing short of a intellectual feast – a careful translation of their remarkable responsa, each one a masterpiece of logical reasoning and deep analysis. But the story doesn’t end there! To uncover current practice, this author had the extraordinary privilege of consulting with none other than Rav Avrohom Rubin himself, shlita – universally acknowledged as the world’s preeminent authority on Tzumas HaGiddin. Though this rich topic could fill volumes, in the interest of brevity, it has been distilled  into less than 7,500 words. And as for Rav Rubin’s illuminating response? Stay tuned – until tomorrow.   Rav Shmuel Vosner  zt”l – Shaivet HaLevi Vol. IX #149 I was asked by distinguished rabbis and those responsible for kosher supervision in poultry slaughterhouses regarding the number of tendons relevant to determining treifah (non-kosher status) in the tzomes hagidin (tendon junction) of fowl, which Chazal defined in Tractate Chullin 76b as having sixteen tendons in birds. According to the legal ruling in Siman 56, we follow the Rambam’s opinion that if even one of these tendons is majority severed, the bird is treif (non-kosher). 5   89 The Question The doubt that arose among these rabbis stems from finding a very small tendon in the junction area that doesn’t extend like the other tendons from the knee joint downward, but rather runs from bottom to top until it disappears into the flesh. Instead, it emerges from the cartilage above the knee joint and is very small, less than a finger’s width. Runs Horizontally It doesn’t run from bottom to top but rather horizontally, forming a kind of small loop above the actual tendons, and ends immediately at the bottom of the shin bone. Although visually it might resemble a tendon in color and quality, its location, size, and shape bear no resemblance to the other tendons. Some wish to be stringent and count this among the sixteen tendons, since without it they are missing one from the total count. However, I am inclined to disagree. Analysis Part 1 The Rambam writes in Laws of Ritual Slaughter, Chapter 8, Law 14: “The number of these tendons in a bird is sixteen, beginning from the bone below the extra toe until the end of the leg.” This clearly excludes the aforementioned tendon that begins above the knee joint and doesn’t run along the leg at all. Although it is known that the early authorities testified that the Rambam retracted this language, that was because the scales’ bone isn’t relevant to tendon junction injuries except above it, but the reality and nature of the tendons remains unchanged. Ravad’s Position The Ravad wrote there: “It is true that they descend downward, but they connect and strengthen at the […]