2007年12月24日星期一

Terefah

n181. It is forbidden to eat a "Terefah" (Shemot 22:30).

Terefah

any food, food product, or utensil that, according to the Jewish dietary laws (Kashrut, q.v.), is not ritually clean or prepared according to law and is thus prohibited as unfit for Jewish use. Terefah is thus the antithesis of kosher (“fit”). The broad connotation of terefah derives from a more specific prohibition against eating meat that has been “torn” by a...

Kashrut

...and birds must be slaughtered according to a ritual that, if violated, makes the meat “unfit” for use. Food ritually unfit, for whatever reason, is called “forbidden” (terefah), the opposite of kosher (“fit,” or “proper”). Because animal blood may not be eaten, meat must undergo a ritual process of presoaking and “salting”...

kosher

...kosher is also used to describe, for instance, such objects as a Torah scroll, water for ritual bathing (mikvah), and the ritual ram's horn (shofar). When applied to food, kosher is the opposite of terefah (“forbidden”); when applied to other things, it is the opposite of pasul (“unfit”).


Zav and Zavah are states of ritual impurity in Judaism arising from abnormal bodily discharges; for men the state is termed zav, and for women it is termed zavah. The Jewish regulations and existence of these states have a biblical basis[1][2], and further specification of these rules exists in the Jewish Oral Law; Orthodox Judaism views the Shulchan Aruch as being particularly authoritative on these matters, and it has extensive discussion about the subject. Normal menstruation is explicitly excluded from the biblical regulations concerning zavah[3], and is treated with separate requirements known as niddah[4]; the ejaculation of semen is also treated as being distinct from zav, and is given requirements known as keri[5].

n183. It is forbidden to eat the “Gid-HaNasheh” (Beresheet 32:33).

Gid haNasheh - The Forbidden Vein

Whether one may not eat it: Pesachim 22a
Whether one may not Benefit from it: Pesachim 22a
Forbidden Vein from a Wild Animal: Pesachim 23b
Eating the Forbidden Vein from a Corpse: Pesachim 47b; Makkot 22a
Whether the vein is permitted for benefit along with the Corpse containing it: Pesachim 23b
Whether Veins are considered to be Meat and contribute taste, or not: Pesachim 22a, 23b
Whether there is an extra prohibition against the Forbidden Vein from a Forbidden Species: Pesachim 22a
Lashes for eating this: Makkot 21b
Liability for cooking and eating gid hanasheh [sciatic neurovascular bundle] in milk on Yom Tov: Beitzah 12a-b

2007年12月5日星期三

Can Non-Kosher Animals be used Kosherly?

Article was send to my egroup, Rabbi Yehudah share interest question for us to think about.

Can Non-Kosher Animals be used Kosherly?
By Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr


I recently had a most thought provoking question by an online friend of mine that I have thought about briefly, but I honestly never really considered… and I'm a Rabbi! Now my answer will be strictly held to the Scriptures for I'm sure there is some Talmudic technicalities and such pertaining to this subject.

So can Jews were pearl necklaces that come from the unclean oyster? 

Well can the Gates to the New Jerusalem be made of pearl (Rev. 21:21)?

Interestingly enough the techellet (blue dye) we wear on our tzitzit comes from a recently rediscovered sea snail, and might I remind you that Eliyahu the Navi (Prophet) of G-d was feed my unclean ravens (I Kings 17:4)? The Patriarchs and other Biblical persons road camels, donkeys and horses all unclean animals and to ride them require touching.

I will say that a Jewish Tradition concerning the World to Come, that we will be permitted to eat what was considered unclean in this current world.

So, can we use violin bows that use horse hair? I don't know ask the Jewish violinist Yitzhak Pearlman. Is there such a thing as "kosher glue"? Can we touch pigskin footballs or use boar hair brushes, etc.? To my understanding we may not touch a carcass of a dead animal, (Lev. 17:15-16, Lev.5:2, Lev. 11:8), but again this is dealing with the consumption of such meat. I see now prohibition of slaughtering an unclean animal to use for practical or esthetic purposes.

Granted a Kohen (Priest) and one who has taken a Nazarite vow is held to a higher standard and is prohibited from touching any unclean animal or things (Lev.22, Num. 6).

Let us remember the state of uncleanness is not a sin Yeshua Messiah was unclean much of the time by the places he went (sick people's house, grave yards where demon possessed people lived, etc.) and the people he was around. It's an unavoidable fact of life, with the wars and Native peoples who lived in our lands, how do we know if the ground we walk on contains a dead body?
 
The state of "uncleanness" is mostly in regards not being allowed to coming to the Temple, Tabernacle, or handling Holy Objects and in our day is solved by a simple Mikvah (Baptism) and will be unclean until evening.

Shalom,
--Rabbi Yehudah