Parashat Shemini contains the primary passages in the Torah that spell out the laws of kashrut, laws pertaining to clean and unclean foods. It is entirely in regard to animals. It defines which animals may be eaten by the Children of Israel and which animals may not be eaten. Many modern-day readers quickly dismiss these laws as antiquated, irrelevant, and having been repealed in the New Testament. However, these attitudes do not reflect those of Yeshua or the Apostles. Let’s briefly review what the Torah says about food and then look at one implication for us today.
The Torah begins its food laws with land animals. It tells us that in order for a land animal to be fit for consumption it needs to have two qualifications: It needs to have a completely split hoof, and it needs to “chew the cud” (Leviticus 11:3). Animals that have one trait, but not the other, are forbidden for consumption. The Torah gives the example of the hare who chews the cud but does not have split hoofs, and the pig who has split hoofs, but does not chew the cud. Animals such as these are off limits.
Water-dwelling creatures, however, have other criteria. They have to have both fins and scales. So, for example, catfish would be off limits. Although they have fins, they do not have scales. Other water-dwelling animals that would be off limits would be things like shrimp, lobster, crab, sharks, eels, shellfish, etc.
Winged creatures, however, have no classification, per se. The Torah simply gives a list of winged creatures that may not be eaten. And to complicate matters, many of the creatures listed in the original Hebrew cannot be identified with absolute certainty. Therefore, oral tradition plays a large part in determining what kinds of foul are considered permissible and which are not.
