Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L
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Laws Regarding the Permissibility and Purity of Animals
G-d relates some laws to Moshe regarding the Kosher status of animals.
He tells Moshe that he should then relate all of this afterwards to Aaron who should then relate it to his sons Elazar and Ithamar who were then to relate it to the entire Israelite nation.
Moshe, Aaron, Elazar and Ithamar were all placed on the same level in regards to relating these laws to the nation as a whole due to their uniform silent acceptance of the death of Nadav and Avihu.
In educating Moshe regarding the various animals, G-d describes the animals as "life forms" (חיה). This is a hint to the idea that the laws of Kosher have to do with separating oneself from impurity. Impurity is related to death. The Midrash (Tanchuma 6) relates a parable concerning a doctor who is treating two patients. To one of them, the doctor gives very specific instructions regarding what he can and can't eat. To the other, the doctor gives no such restrictions and says he is free to eat whatever he wants. This is because the doctor knows that the first patient has potential to recover, while the second one doesn't. So too, regarding the laws of Kosher food - the Israelite nation, who only worship the one G-d are destined to "live" and thus must abide by particular standards, while not as much is expected from the other nations of the world who worship idols and many deities.
The way that Moshe would relay all of the information to the Israelites, is that he would hold up the various animals and demonstrate which ones were permissible to eat and which were not.
Animals
Any animal who 1)has split hooves (split all the way through - with each part of the hoof having its own separate toenail)* as well as 2)chews its cud is permitted to be eaten.
*Side note: This is to exclude those animals which although at first appearance have split hooves, the split is actually only in the front and they are connected at their back.
If such a permitted animal were pregnant, even if the fetus were fully formed to the point that it could survive on its own outside of its mother - if this pregnant animal were ritually slaughtered in the proper way, the fetus would be permitted as well, even without it being ritually slaughtered.
Eating impure animals is a violation of 2 commandments: 1) the positive commandment of eating pure animals as well as 2)the negative commandment of not eating impure animals.
An animal must have both of the stipulations (of split hooves and chewing its cud) in order to be permitted. If any animal only has one of these, it is not. The chumash then gives some examples of animals which are not permitted as they only fulfill one of the requirements:
Examples of animals* which chew their cud but don't have split hooves: Camels, hyraxes and hares.
*Side note: Different translations may translate these and (all of the animals listed) differently - refer directly to a Hebrew Chumash to see the original Hebrew names.
An example of an animal who has split hooves but doesn't chew its cud is the Pig.
The reason that the Chumash lists these specific animals is to teach us that if we see that even animals that have one out of the two signs of purity are forbidden, all the more so are any animals which have neither of these signs forbidden to eat.
It is only the flesh of these animals that is forbidden however. Their bones, horns or hooves are not.
Usually, only Kohanim are forbidden from touching the carcasses of forbidden dead animals (just as they are forbidden from touching human corpses), however all Israelites are forbidden from touching such animal carcasses during festivals so as not to become impure for when they will need to offer sacrifices for the holiday.
Fish
Only fish and other sea "creepers"* that have both 1)Fins and 2)Scales are permissible to eat.
*Side note: Any time the Chumash mentions creeping things, this means creatures that move close to the ground.
Even if such forbidden creatures are part of a mixture they are forbidden.
Their fins and bones however, are permissible.
Any such creature that breeds in a stagnant body of water (eg. in a ditch or vessel), may be eaten so long as they are still in that body of water. If they are removed, like through straining or the like, they are forbidden.
As for the permitted fish and other sea creatures, even if they lose their fins and/or scales when removed from the water, so long as they had them while in the water, they are permitted to eat.
Fowl
The following birds are forbidden to eat. There are birds that are from within the same species of some of these birds. Even if such similar species birds do not look like the birds listed, they are still forbidden.
The eagle [or the griffin vulture], the kite, the osprey. the kestrel, the vulture, the raven, the ostrich, the jay, and the sparrow hawk, the goshawk, the owl, the gull (a bird that catches fish from the sea) and the "little owl" (which are owl like creatures that cry out at night and have human-like cheeks) and the similar "hibou" (Rashi is unsure as to which of these last two are correct translations of the hebrew כוס and ינשוף, both of which are mentioned in the corresponding verse), the bat, the starling, the magpie, the stork (called in hebrew the חסידה, related to the word "kindness (חסד)" as it shares its food with its fellow birds), the heron, the hoopoe (wild rooster - called in hebrew the דּוּכִיפַת - related to the word כָּפוּת which means "bound", as its comb is set in place and does not flow freely like other roosters), and the atalef (possibly bat).
Insects
It is forbidden to eat any "creeping creature" (see note above with the fish - this means any creature which crawls close to the ground) which flies. Examples include: flies, wasps, mosquitos and grasshoppers.
However there are some insects which walk on four legs which are permitted - those that have leg like extensions high above their regular legs (near its neck) which they use to hop from the ground. Locusts would be included in this category. They must be called חָגָב - and must be of the species of such locusts that are red, yellow, spotted grey or white.
Rashi elaborates on these "permitted" creatures and says that they must have 4 signs to deem them "pure"
* They must have 4 legs.
* They must have 4 wings.
* They must have those jointed leg like extensions.
* They must have wings that cover most of their body.
Rashi says that we no longer have the skills necessary to to identify which of these creatures are pure vs impure so we cannot eat of them.
Only 4 legged such insects are forbidden (so a 5 legged one would thus be permitted).
Impurity Through Touching Carcasses
The Chumash now enumerates animal carcasses which cause a person to become impure through touch. Such an impure person would be forbidden from eating from the Terumah, or from any sacrificial offering or from entering the Mishkan. In order to purify himself, such a person would need to immerse in a mikvah.
If a person not only touches such a carcass but carries it, not only do they have to immerse in a mikvah, their clothes need to be immersed as well.
Animal carcasses which cause impurity are:
* Carcasses of animals whose hooves are not completely split (Rashi gives the example of a camel)
* Carcasses of pawed animals that walk on four legs (Rashi gives a dog, bear or cat as examples).
* Animals within the species of weasel, mouse, toad, hedgehog, chameleon, lizard, snail, and mole.
If anything* falls onto these impure carcasses, that thing becomes impure (and may not come into contact with Terumah). It must be immersed in the mikvah, and after that becomes pure once the sun sets.
*Side note: Chumash gives the following as examples: any wooden vessel, garment, hide, sack or any vessel with which work is done.
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