Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman

Here’s what we learn after the angel wrestles with Yaakov, and injures him:

While the Torah doesn’t specify exactly which part of the animal the gid hanasheh is, tradition tells us that it is what scientists today call the sciatic nerve, which runs down the back legs of an animal.

For meat to be kosher, the animal has to be properly slaughtered through שְׁחִיטָה (shehitah), but also, the animal’s חֵלֶב (heilev, forbidden fat) and gid hanasheh have to be removed. The process for removal is called נִקּוּר (nikkur). It’s complex and requires a lot of practice and expertise. The Rema (Yoreh Deah 65:8) says that no one should learn nikkur just from books—you have to watch an expert carry it out!

Since nikkur is complicated and time-consuming, many Jewish communities decided just to sell the hindquarters (the back half) of the animal to non-Jews and not to bother with removing these forbidden parts. The job of preparing the front half of the animal is much simpler and cheaper!

There are therefore certain cuts of meat that are hard to find in kosher stores and restaurants—one of them is filet mignon, considered a very fancy section of beef. That’s because it comes from the back half of the animal, near the gid hanasheh.

So, in some ways, Benei Yisrael ended up avoiding not only the gid hanasheh but all of the meat around it! This is a great example of what seems like a small mitzvah having a huge impact on Jewish eating practices thousands of years later.

You can still find kosher filet mignon if you want—you will just need to search a bit (and it will probably be super expensive)!

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