Religious Restrictions On The Consumption of Pork - Prohibition of Pork Consumption in Jewish Law

Prohibition of Pork Consumption in Jewish Law

According to Jewish law, pork is one of a number of foods forbidden from consumption by Jews. These foods are known as "non-kosher" foods. In order for a meat to be kosher, it must first come from a kosher animal. A kosher animal must be a ruminant and have split hooves - therefore cows, sheep, goats and deer are all kosher, whereas camels and pigs (having each only one sign of kashrut) are not kosher.

The pig is the only common livestock animal that has split hooves but which is not a ruminant - its external aspect makes it appear kosher, while it is not.

During the persecutions of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Greeks forced the Jews to slaughter pigs in the Jerusalem temple, which did not improve the image of pork. Moreover, the Roman legion X Fretensis, that undertook the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 68, had a boar for an emblem, sealing its fate as a symbol of everything contrary to Judaism. There is however no aversion to the pig as an animal, that it is commonly cited as an example of what is not kosher is largely due to its prevalence.

Maimonides, the Jewish philosopher and legal codifier, who was also court physician to the Muslim sultan Saladin in the twelfth century, understands the dietary laws chiefly as a means of keeping the body healthy. He argued that the meat of the forbidden animals, birds, and fish is unwholesome and indigestible. According to Maimonides, at first glance, this does not apply to pork, which does not appear to be harmful. Yet, Maimonides observes, the pig is a filthy animal and if swine were used for food, marketplaces and even houses would be dirtier than latrines.

The cultural materialistic anthropologist Marvin Harris thinks that the main reason for prohibiting consumption of pork was ecological-economical. Pigs require water and shady woods with seeds, but those conditions are scarce in Israel and the Middle East. Unlike many other forms of livestock, pigs are omnivorous scavengers, eating virtually anything they come across, including carrion and refuse. This was deemed unclean, hence a Middle Eastern society keeping large stocks of pigs would destroy their ecosystem. Harris points out how, while the Hebrews are also forbidden to eat camels and fish without scales, Arab nomads couldn't afford to starve in the desert whilst having camels around.