Clean and Unclean Animals
Deuteronomy and Leviticus state that any animal which chews the cud and has a cloven hoof is ritually clean, but animals that only chew the cud or only have cloven hooves are not. The texts identify four animals in particular as being unclean for this reason; the hare, hyrax, camel, and pig — although the camel ruminates and has two toes, and the hare and hyrax are coprophages rather than ruminants.
The Torah lists winged creatures which may not be consumed, mainly birds of prey, fish-eating water-birds, and bats. Leviticus and Deuteronomy state that anything residing in "the waters" (seas and rivers) is ritually clean only if it has both fins and scales.
Leviticus states that every creeping thing that crawls the earth is unclean (Hebrew: sheqets). However, a bug born inside a fruit may be eaten if it has never crawled on the ground. All "flying creeping things" are also considered ritually unclean, according to both Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Leviticus lists four exceptions, including locusts.
Read more about this topic: Kosher Foods
Famous quotes containing the words clean and, clean, unclean and/or animals:
“Where the past is venerated the clean and those who clean things up should be kept out. Piety is never happy without a little dust, dirt, and rubbish.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Babies and gin and church
And women and Sunday
All mixed with dimes and
Dollars and clean spittoons
And house rent to pay.”
—Langston Hughes (1902–1967)
“An unclean person is universally a slothful one.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Man is head, chest and stomach. Each of these animals operates, more often than not, individually. I eat, I feel, I even, although rarely, think.... This jungle crawls and teems, is hungry, roars, gets angry, devours itself, and its cacophonic concert does not even stop when you are asleep.”
—René Daumal (1908–1944)