Kashrut 101: Permitted and Forbidden

(1) יהוה spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them:(2) Speak to the Israelite people thus: These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the land animals:(3) any animal that has true hoofs, with clefts through the hoofs, and that chews the cud—such you may eat.(4) The following, however, of those that either chew the cud or have true hoofs, you shall not eat: the camel—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is impure for you;(5) the daman—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is impure for you;(6) the hare—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is impure for you;(7) and the swine—although it has true hoofs, with the hoofs cleft through, it does not chew the cud: it is impure for you.(8) You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses; they are impure for you.

De(4) These are the animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat;(5) the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, the mountain sheep,(6) and any other animal that has true hoofs which are cleft in two and brings up the cud—such you may eat.(7) But the following, which do bring up the cud or have true hoofs which are cleft through, you may not eat: the camel, the hare, and the daman—for although they bring up the cud, they have no true hoofs—they are impure for you;(8) also the swine—for although it has true hoofs, it does not bring up the cud—is impure for you. You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses.

(12) Everything in water that has no fins and scales shall be an abomination for you.

(9) These you may eat of all that live in water: you may eat anything that has fins and scales.(10) But you may not eat anything that has no fins and scales: it is impure for you.

(13) The following you shall abominate among the birds—they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture;(14) the kite, falcons of every variety;(15) all varieties of raven;(16) the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull; hawks of every variety;(17) the little owl, the cormorant, and the great owl;(18) the white owl, the pelican, and the bustard;(19) the stork; herons of every variety; the hoopoe, and the bat.(20) All winged swarming things that walk on fours shall be an abomination for you.(21) But these you may eat among all the winged swarming things that walk on fours: all that have, above their feet, jointed legs to leap with on the ground—(22) of these you may eat the following: locusts of every variety; all varieties of bald locust; crickets of every variety; and all varieties of grasshopper.(23) But all other winged swarming things that have four legs shall be an abomination for you.

(11) You may eat any pure bird.(12) The following you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture;(13) the kite, the falcon, and the buzzard of any variety;(14) every variety of raven;(15) the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, and the hawk of any variety;(16) the little owl, the great owl, and the white owl;(17) the pelican, the bustard, and the cormorant;(18) the stork, any variety of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.(19) All winged swarming things are impure for you: they may not be eaten.(20) You may eat only pure winged creatures.

The Gemara cites another baraita related to the scapegoat. The Sages taught with regard to the verse: “You shall do My ordinances, and you shall keep My statutes to follow them, I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 18:4), that the phrase: My ordinances, is a reference to matters that, even had they not been written, it would have been logical that they be written. They are the prohibitions against idol worship, prohibited sexual relations, bloodshed, theft, and blessing God, a euphemism for cursing the Name of God. The phrase: And you shall keep my statutes, is a reference to matters that Satan and the nations of the world challenge because the reason for these mitzvot are not known. They are: The prohibitions against eating pork; wearing garments that are made from diverse kinds of material, i.e., wool and linen; performing the ḥalitza ceremony with a yevama, a widow who must participate in a levirate marriage or ḥalitza; the purification ceremony of the leper; and the scapegoat. And lest you say these have no reason and are meaningless acts, therefore the verse states: “I am the Lord” (Leviticus 18:4), to indicate: I am the Lord, I decreed these statutes and you have no right to doubt them.

The camel, that chews the cud - The text should just have said "because it does not have split hooves" since this is the real principle of its non-kosher status, and so too for the rabbit and the hare. This is difficult. Also too with the pig it says "that has split hooves" but it should just have stated "because it does not chew the cud". Why does the text begin regarding all these animals with they signs of possibly being kosher, and then it adds later the sign of their non-kosher status? This is because both sign add to its non-kosher status. This is like what they (the rabbis) said that the pig is a symbol for Esav (Roman empire in the following midrash) that the pig extends his hooves as to say it is kosher, while inside it is full of deceit and fraud, and this teaches regarding everyone whose insides are not like their outsides, like the hypocrites that show themselves as kosher but they are without doubt worse than the complete scoundrel, since [the scoundrel's] insides are like his outsides, all devoted to evil. This is also what Rashi explained regarding the verse "they could not speak peaceably to him" (Gen. 37:4). And so the split hooves in the pig are a sign to its un-kosherness since because of those hooves it can mislead people, pretending it is kosher, and the same applies in the opposite direction to the camel, the hare and the rabbit. And even though these character traits (of honesty and dishonesty) do not apply for animals, they give rise to this negative aspect in those who eat it.

ושסעת שסע, the hoof being completely split into two parts, unlike the hoof of a horse or donkey which is all in one piece. According to the plain meaning of the text and the opinion of the heretics all the domesticated beasts, free roaming beasts, birds and fish and certain types of locusts and other creeping creatures that G’d has outlawed for consumption by Jews is due to the fact that they cause excessive heat in our bodies when eaten, affecting our health detrimentally, and therefore they are called טמאים, impure. There is support for this theory also among physicians. Even in the Talmud (Shabbat 86) the opinion is offered that gentiles who do consume these creeping creatures damage their bodies thereby.

(2) I maintain that the food which is forbidden by the Law is unwholesome. There is nothing among the forbidden kinds of food whose injurious character is doubted, except pork (Lev. 11:7), and fat (ibid. 7:23). But also in these cases the doubt is not justified. For pork contains more moisture than necessary [for human food], and too much of superfluous matter. The principal reason why the Law forbids swine's flesh is to be found in the circumstance that its habits and its food are very dirty and loathsome. It has already been pointed out how emphatically the Law enjoins the removal of the sight of loathsome objects, even in the field and in the camp; how much more objectionable is such a sight in towns. But if it were allowed to eat swine's flesh, the streets and houses would be more dirty than any cesspool, as may be seen at present in the country of the Franks. A saying of our Sages declares: "The mouth of a swine is as dirty as dung itself" (B. T. Ber. 25a).

The characteristics given in the Law (Lev. xi., and Deut. xiv.) of the permitted animals, viz., chewing the cud and divided hoofs for cattle, and fins and scales for fish, are in themselves neither the cause of the permission when they are present, nor of the prohibition when they are absent; but merely signs by which the recommended species of animals can be discerned from those that are forbidden.

The prohibition to eat [certain foods] is to separate [the Jewish people] from the nations and also to uplift the soul because eating disgusting things leads to a lessening of the soul. And, the reason [for kashrut] is not for health reason because camel meat is good for health and is beloved by people of the east.

NEITHER SHALL YE MAKE YOURSELVES UNCLEAN. For it is known that that which is eaten turns into the flesh of the one who ingests it.