vayera - How could Avraham feed his guests tongue?

Avraham served his guests three tongues in mustard.¹ However, Avraham kept all the mitzvot,² one of which is to give the foreleg, jaw (including the tongue³), and maw of each slaughtered animal to the kohen. So how could Avraham feed the tongues to his guests, instead of giving them to a kohen (perhaps Shem⁴)?

1. Bava Metzia 86b


2. Yoma 28b


3. Chullin 134b


4. Nedarim 32b

Answer

Clearly, Avraham had the guests acquire the tongues before slaughtering the animal. As he assumed they were non-Jews, their ownership of the relevant body parts exempts those body parts from the requirement (Shulchan Arukh YD 61:26). Perhaps Avraham gave them water to wash their feet as part of a Kinyan Chalipin (according to Levi (Bava Metzia 47a)).

Alternatively, Avraham may have known that Shem was too far away to get the meat before it spoiled and exchanged the meat for money to save the Shem's property value from being lost (Shulchan Arukh YD 61:10).

Finally, perhaps Avraham held like the opinions (Chullin 136a) that giving the tongue doesn't apply in the Diaspora because of a connection in the verse to Terumot and Maaserot. Since Avraham was living before Yerusha and Yeshiva of the land, the Mitzva didn't apply yet to his locale.