Sefer HaChinuch ספר החינוך

Not to castrate one of all of the species: To not castrate one of all of the species — not a man and not a beast and not a bird, as it is stated (Leviticus 22:24), “and in your land you shall not do [it].” After the verse mentioned, “And a crushed, and a pounded and a disconnected and a cut,” which is stated about the [sexual organs], it stated, “and in your land you shall not do [it].” And the explanation came about it (Chagigah 14b), “[To] all in your land you shall not do [it]” — meaning to say this shall not be done among Israel; or its explanation is from every species in your land you shall not do [it]. And “[to] all in your land you shall not do [it]” includes man and beast and all animals. And the content of the verse is not to say that there only be a prohibition of castration in the Land. And explicitly did they, may their memory be blessed, say in Shabbat 110b in the chapter [entitled] Shmoneh Sheratsim, “We learned, ‘From where [do we know] about castration of a man, that it is forbidden? [Hence] we learn to say, “and in your land you shall not do [it]” — you shall not do it in (to) you.’”

It is from the roots of the commandment [that it is] since God, blessed be He, created His world with absolute perfection — He did not miss nor add a thing in it from all that is fitting to be for its perfection. And it was from His will to bless animals that they should be fruitful and multiply. And He also commanded the males of the human species about this in order that they survive. As otherwise, the species would cease, since death finishes them. And hence, one who destroys the [sexual organs] shows himself to be as if he is disgusted by the act of the Creator and wants the destruction of His good world.

From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Metzia 90b) that even to tell a gentile to castrate the beast of an Israelite is forbidden. But if the gentile took it on his own and castrated it, it is permissible to take [the beast] from his hand and eat it. However if the Israelite was being sly, such as if he said things in front of the gentile that show his desire for this — and similar to these matters, such as the lowly sly ones do — we penalize him, such that he take it out from under his hand and sell it to another Israelite. And they, may their memory be blessed, permitted him to sell it even to his adult son; as they only decreed that it should go out from under his hand and that he sell it to another Israelite. But he [may] not sell nor give it to his minor son.

And that which they also said (Shabbat 111a) that one who castrates after [another] who castrates is liable, and like Rabbi Chiya bar Avin said that Rabbi Yochanan said, “Everyone concedes that one who leavens after [another] leavened is liable, as it is stated (Leviticus 6:10), ‘It shall not be baked leavened,’ and (Leviticus 2:11) ‘it shall not be made leavened’; that one who castrates after [another] castrates is liable, as it is stated (Leviticus 22:24), ‘And a crushed, and a pounded, and a disconnected and a cut’ — if one is liable for one cut, is one not all the more so [liable] for one disconnected? Rather, [this comes] to include that one who disconnects after one who cuts is liable.” How is this? Behold, one came and cut the member, and another came and cut the testicles or disconnected them, the last one is also liable; and so [too,] if one came and crushed the member, and another came and disconnected it, they are all lashed — even though the last one does not castrate, as it is already castrated. And that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Shabbat 111a) that if one neuters a female — whether a person or of the other species — he is exempt. And that which they said (Shabbat 110a) that [it] is forbidden to give a cup of roots to a man or to other creatures in order to sterilize them, but we do not administer lashes for this. And so [too,] one who places his fellow in water or in snow, until the power of his reproductive organs is neutralized, is not lashed until he castrates [him] manually. But it is fitting to strike [such a one with] lashes of rebellion. And a woman is permitted to drink a cup of roots that sterilize her, such that she not give birth; as women are not commanded about being fruitful and multiplying — as I wrote in the first commandment of the book. And the rest of its details are elucidated in [various] places in Tractate Shabbat and Yevamot. (See Tur, Even HaEzer 5.)

And this commandment is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. As it is also forbidden for them to castrate the males — though not themselves — with a cup of roots, as we have said. And one who transgresses this and castrates one of all the species of animals — whether a man, whether a beast or a fowl; whether pure [animals] or impure [ones] — is lashed.