Debate Responses
Item
– Netilas Neshama does not apply to guf atum entities like snails unless fully killed. Cutting small pieces from a Murex does not constitute “taking life” (Rabbis Tavger, Barkin).
– Gozez applies to removable additions (e.g., hair, nails), not body parts like the Murex gland (Rabbi Tavger).
– Archaeological evidence shows alternative methods (e.g., crushing whole shells) that align with halachic requirements (Rabbi Barkin).
Item
It is not necessary to cut out the gland to extract the blood.3 Moreover, even when one chooses to extract the blood via cutting off the gland, it does not entail gozez, see: אבני נזר )קלא אות ד'(, מנחת חינוך )מוסך השבת, מלאכת גוזז אות ח'(, חתם סופר )שבת קו. ד”ה תני( who explain that gozez generally does not apply to cutting off a piece of בשר from a living organism.
Footnotes
3. See: https://phoenicia.org/industry.html There were two ways in which the dye was obtained from the molluscs. Sometimes a hole was broken in the side of the shell, and the fish taken out entire.[16] The /sac/ containing the colouring matter, which is a sort of vein, beginning at the head of the animal, and following the tortuous line of the body as it twists through the spiral shell,[17] was then carefully extracted, either while the mollusc was still alive, or as soon as possible after death, as otherwise the quality of the dye was impaired. This plan was pursued more especially with the larger species of /Purpuræ/, where the /sac/ attained a certain size; while with a smaller kinds a different method was followed. In their case no attempt was made to extract the /sac/, but the entire fish was crushed, together with its shell,
