ICJudaism: A Teacher’s Guide to Judaism
Hosted by ICTeachers Formerly: Mike’s Rough Guide to Judaism
Disclaimer:
The contents of these pages represent the author’s personal views, experience and
understanding.
There are bound to be some things here that some Jews would disagree
with.
Is it Kosher? (2)
What’s kosher and what isn’t?
The mammals that are kosher are those land mammals which both have cloven hooves and chew the cud. This includes cattle, sheep, deer and antelopes but excludes pigs (don't chew the cud) as well as many other animals.
The Torah includes lists of the names of birds that are forbidden (many of which are not clearly identifiable today). Modern Kashrut has a fairly short list of birds which can be considered kosher, all of which are essentially the seed eating birds which are generally referred to as poultry.
Reptiles and amphibians are not kosher.
For fish to be kosher they must have both fins and scales, which excludes all shellfish and other "seafood" as well as eels and sharks and their relatives (eg skate), but includes most other fish.
The Torah specifies that only certain insects may be eaten (eg. locusts) but since the exact identification of those species that are permitted is unclear, rabbis have ruled that all insects should be considered traifeh.
The laws of kashrut do not apply only to food and its preparation. The idea of fitness for use is more widely applied. For example, there is a biblical prohibition on making clothing from mixed fibres, thus clothes made from a mixture of wool and cotton would be traifeh.
During the festival of Pesach (Passover) there is an extra layer of more demanding kashrut laws.
