Why Does the Torah Make Some Animals Kosher and Others Not?

(1) The LORD 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 unclean for you; (5) the daman—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; (6) the hare—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; (7) and the swine—although it has true hoofs, with the hoofs cleft through, it does not chew the cud: it is unclean for you. (8) You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. (9) These you may eat of all that live in water: anything in water, whether in the seas or in the streams, that has fins and scales—these you may eat. (10) But anything in the seas or in the streams that has no fins and scales, among all the swarming things of the water and among all the other living creatures that are in the water—they are an abomination for you (11) and an abomination for you they shall remain: you shall not eat of their flesh and you shall abominate their carcasses. (12) Everything in water that has no fins and scales shall be an abomination 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. (24) And the following shall make you unclean—whoever touches their carcasses shall be unclean until evening, (25) and whoever carries the carcasses of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening— (26) every animal that has true hoofs but without clefts through the hoofs, or that does not chew the cud. They are unclean for you; whoever touches them shall be unclean. (27) Also all animals that walk on paws, among those that walk on fours, are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses shall be unclean until evening. (28) And anyone who carries their carcasses shall wash his clothes and remain unclean until evening. They are unclean for you. (29) The following shall be unclean for you from among the things that swarm on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and great lizards of every variety; (30) the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. (31) Those are for you the unclean among all the swarming things; whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening. (32) And anything on which one of them falls when dead shall be unclean: be it any article of wood, or a cloth, or a skin, or a sack—any such article that can be put to use shall be dipped in water, and it shall remain unclean until evening; then it shall be clean. (33) And if any of those falls into an earthen vessel, everything inside it shall be unclean and [the vessel] itself you shall break. (34) As to any food that may be eaten, it shall become unclean if it came in contact with water; as to any liquid that may be drunk, it shall become unclean if it was inside any vessel. (35) Everything on which the carcass of any of them falls shall be unclean: an oven or stove shall be smashed. They are unclean and unclean they shall remain for you. (36) However, a spring or cistern in which water is collected shall be clean, but whoever touches such a carcass in it shall be unclean. (37) If such a carcass falls upon seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean; (38) but if water is put on the seed and any part of a carcass falls upon it, it shall be unclean for you. (39) If an animal that you may eat has died, anyone who touches its carcass shall be unclean until evening; (40) anyone who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and remain unclean until evening; and anyone who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and remain unclean until evening. (41) All the things that swarm upon the earth are an abomination; they shall not be eaten. (42) You shall not eat, among all things that swarm upon the earth, anything that crawls on its belly, or anything that walks on fours, or anything that has many legs; for they are an abomination. (43) You shall not draw abomination upon yourselves through anything that swarms; you shall not make yourselves unclean therewith and thus become unclean. (44) For I the LORD am your God: you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean through any swarming thing that moves upon the earth. (45) For I the LORD am He who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God: you shall be holy, for I am holy. (46) These are the instructions concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in water, and all creatures that swarm on earth, (47) for distinguishing between the unclean and the clean, between the living things that may be eaten and the living things that may not be eaten.

RaMBaM

1135 (?) - 1204 Spain, Morocco, Egypt

(1) THE precepts of the thirteenth class are those which we have enumerated in the "Laws concerning forbidden food" (Hilkot maakalot asurot), "Laws concerning killing animals for food" (Hilkot sheḥitah), and "Laws concerning vows and Nazaritism" (Hilkot nedarim u-nezirot). We have fully and very explicitly discussed the object of this class in this treatise, and in our Commentary on the Sayings of the Fathers. We will here add a few remarks in reviewing the single commandments which are mentioned there.

(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).

(3) The fat of the intestines makes us full, interrupts our digestion, and produces cold and thick blood; it is more fit for fuel [than for human food].

(4) Blood (Lev. 17:12), and nebelah, i.e., the flesh of an animal that died of itself (Deut. 14:21), are indigestible, and injurious as food; Trefah, an animal in a diseased state (Exod. 22:30), is on the way of becoming a nebelah.

(5) 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. ...

(3) Regarding the roots of this commandment is what we wrote in the prohibition on the 'torn' animal in the Order of Mishpatim (Sefer HaChinukh 73). God knows that all of the foods that he distanced from His people whom He chose, are injurious to the bodies, which are instruments of the souls, activating them and being elevated through their good deeds. Therefore, He distanced us from them, so that the souls will make their impact; and that a bad constitution and a blockage of the heart will not seal the door in front of them, as I wrote there.

(1) To not eat a torn animal:

(2) It is from the roots of this commandment [that it is] because the body is an instrument of the soul - with it, it carries out its activity; without it, it can never complete its work. And hence it is in its shadow truly for its good, and not for its bad; as God does not do bad but does good to all. Thus we find that the body at its command is like a pair of tongs in the hand of a blacksmith: with it he can produce a tool fit for its purpose. Now in truth, if the tongs are strong and properly shaped to grasp tools in them, the craftsman can make them well. But if the tongs are not good, the tools will never come out properly shaped and fit. In the same way, if there is any damage in the body, of any kind, some function of the intelligence will be nullified, corresponding to that damage. For this reason, our whole and perfect Torah removed us far from anything that causes [such] a defect. In this vein, according to the simple understanding, would we say [that] we were given a ban by the Torah against all forbidden foods. And if there are some among them whose harm is known [understood] neither by us nor by the wise men of medicine, do not wonder about them; as the faithful, trustworthy Physician who adjured us about them is wiser than both you and them. And how foolish and impulsive is the one who thinks that things don't have damage or benefit, except for that which he can grasp. And you should know that their reasons were not revealed, for our benefit; lest people who hold themselves to be great sages get up and feign wisdom to say, "X damage that the Torah stated in thing y is only in place a, whose nature is such," or "with person b, whose nature is such and such," and lest one of the dim-witted be seduced by their words. Therefore their reason was not revealed, to aid us [avoid] this obstacle.

(3) And it is known from the paths of medicine that the meat of all torn animals that are forbidden to us brings damage to the body of its eater, as the state of being 'torn' indicates sickness in the animal. And do not ask yourself to say, "What damage can there be in an animal that was torn and immediately slaughtered?" As it is not from wisdom that you would ask about this. Do you not know that there is a beginning to everything? And if you admit to me that in the course of time, the damage will be found in it due to its being in a status of being 'torn,' you will be obligated to admit that the damage begins from the first instant, except that it is small at first. Yet there is no doubt that even a little damage is bad. And also, all of the laws of the Torah and anything that has endurance must be like this, as if you place measurements on your words, nothing will ever be established in your hand.

RaMBaN

1194 - 1270 Spain

... The rationale for fins and scales is that those that possess them always reside in the upper and clear portion of the waters, and they derive their growth from the air that enters there. Therefore, they have some warmth that combats the influence of the moist humor, as do wool and hair, and also fingernails, on humans and animals. and those that lack fins and scales always reside at the bottom or the waters, and in the dirt, and because of the abundant moist humor and the lack of warmth, nothing is opposed. Thus, they have a cold and sticky moistness that is close to fatal, and it is fatal in certain waters, like murky lakes.

These you shall abhor among the birds. [The Torah lists permitted and forbidden species without specifying a criterion, as it does for land animals and for fish. Nevertheless, the Rabbis identified such criteria] and the principal criterion for birds is drisa [trampling], for every bird that tramples is definitely non-kosher, for the Torah distances it, because its blood is hot, for cruelty, and black, and gross, and it engenders the burnt, blackish, bitterness and makes the mind cruel....

And the reason for the prohibition among birds is because of the cruelty of their nature, and that may be the case for land animals, since there is not a trampler among those that chew the cud and have cloven hoofs, and the others are all rapacious ....

Don Yitzhak Abarbanel

1437 - 1508, Portugal, Spain, Italy

The intent of these criteria is not that by virtue of them the animal will be pure, for they do not make for purity by themselves. Rather, the intent of this is that they are signs that indicate that this animal is pure, and their absence indicates that it is impure. And the reason is that animals that possess these signs generally have flesh that is pleasant for human consumption, because the cause for bringing up the cud is that the animal does not have molars in its upper jaw to grind its food, and on this account, it cannot eat bones, but only grasses, which it swallows whole, and when they are softened in the belly by the natural heat, it brings them up through its throat and grinds them with its jaws and swallows them a second time. And these species of animals are fat and good for human consumption, because they find own food everywhere, and their temperamental mixture is more even, because they feed on grasses, both moist and dry, and because of this, these animals are not cruel, carnivorous, or wicked.

Regarding the Torah's prohibition of foods, many of the commentators have thought that it is because of the body's health and medical care, those foods being bad, and generating a harmful moistness. This is the view of the Ramban, on the verse, "these you shall abhor among the birds" (Lev. 11:13). But God forbid that I should believe this, because if that were the case, the divine Sefer Torah would be on the level of a minor book among the books of medicine -- short in both words and reasoning. And this is not the way of the divine Torah, or the depth of its purpose. Further, we can see with our own eyes that the nations that eat the flesh of the pig, the creepers, the mouse, and the other impure birds, beasts, and fish are all alive to this day, "firm as a mirror of cast metal" (Job 37:18), and there is none tired or weak among them. Also, there are other animals that are well known to be harmful, like the viper, snake, serpent, and scorpion, that are not mentioned here among the category of prohibitions. And there are also grasses and plants that are very injurious and deadly poisonous, like the alisor and its like, among those mentioned by the medical experts, and the Torah does not prohibit their consumption. And all of this shows that the divine Torah does not come to heal the bodies, or to seek their health, but rather to promote the health of the soul and to heal its ailments, and therefore, it forbade foods that sully and abominate the pure and sublime soul, and that engender in the human temperamental mixture an impenetrability and a distortion of desires, by creating a bad mixture that gives rise to a spirit of pollution that defiles the mind and the deeds, and that expels the spirit of purity and holiness for which David prayed: "Do not take Your holy spirit away from me" (Ps. 51:13). And he said "Fashion a pure heart for me, O God; create in me a steadfast spirit" (id. 12). And it was because of this that He, may He be blessed, said, "You shall not draw abomination upon yourselves through anything that swarms; you shall not make yourselves impure therewith" (Lev. 11:43). For in this consists the idea of impenetrability and impurity. And Scripture does not call them "injurious" or "disease-causing," but "impure" and "abominable," showing that the rationale for the prohibition is on account of the soul and not on account of the body and its health. It was necessary for the wholeness, clarity, and purity of the soul that the bodily temperament would be right, and that its food would create blood that was pure and refined, and not gross and thick and not right, as would be created by the forbidden foods. And also the forbidden foods were related to the idolaters. And even today in the land of India, it is forbidden to eat from the herd or from the flock, as the Master [Rambam] says in his Guide. And in other countries, they eat forbidden foods because of their religion, and that is why these foods are called "abominations," as idolatry is called "abomination."

Sfat Emet, Sh'mini 5653
1847-1905, Gur, Poland

With respect to "These are the animals [hayot] that you may eat" (Lev. 11:2): The vitality [hayut] of the Torah is found evereywhere, as it is written, "You made them all with wisdom" (Ps. 104:24). However, for some things, one cannot extract the vitality, because of the intermingling of good and evil. And this is the sign, that it bringe up the cud and divides the hoof. Because to every thing, there are two keys, an internal one and an external one. And we must initially open the closure of nature and materiality so that it will not be excessively material. And this sign of the divided hoof is that it is not completely closed, and there is a crack, and an entryway, to neutralize the shell and the concealment. And afterwards, one must open a point of the internal holiness, and this is the sign of the bringing up of the cud, for the symbolism is that we can elevate the internal. And this follows the Jew who eats it in holiness. And with respect to the forbidden species, it is impossible to elevate the holiness from them, and therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, separated us from them.