Animals Permitted and Prohibited for Consumption
Sixth Reading 11:1 The Torah has previously described the manner in which Moses taught God’s instructions to the people: Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons all addressed the people, in turn. The following laws were no exception, but God explicitly mentioned the role of Aaron and his sons in transmitting His message here as a reward for their silent and loving acceptance of His decree regarding Nadav and Avihu. Thus, God spoke to Moses, instructing him to convey His words to Aaron, so that he, in turn, should say to his sons Eleazar and Itamar:
2 Speak, the two of you, to the Israelites, saying: “In the laws of sacrifices just given, reference has been made to defilement and its consequences. There are two types of defilement: the first type renders you unfit to enter certain areas (i.e., the Tabernacle or one or both of the two camps surrounding it into which you will be organized next month) or eat consecrated food (sacrifices, terumah, or the second tithe) until undergoing some purification rite. This type of defilement is contracted through various physical conditions or types of contact with various entities; it will be referred to as ritual defilement. The second type of defilement does not render you unfit to enter any specified area; it is rather a desensitization to spirituality and can only be removed through an appropriate process of repentance. This type of defilement is contracted through eating various entities; it will be referred to as spiritual defilement. (There is some overlap between these two categories in that some entities impart both ritual defilement if touched and spiritual defilement if eaten, as will be seen.)
As to permitted and prohibited foods: until now, you have been subsisting on the matzos you took with you when you left Egypt, and then on the manna and quails with which God later provided you. These miraculous sources of sustenance will cease once we enter the Land of Israel, and even before this, we may encounter itinerant merchants who may offer to sell us animals to eat, or you may want to eat some of the animals we brought with us from Egypt. We will therefore now detail these laws.
Since animals preceded humans in the order of creation, we will first discuss which animals you are permitted to eat and the types of defilement they convey; only afterward will we discuss the varieties of defilement human beings can convey.
But first you must be made aware that the following restrictions on your diet are meant for your spiritual benefit. It is specifically because God has endowed you with an additional, Divine soul, which renders you sensitive to transcendent Divinity, that He imposes these restrictions on you, for they are designed to enhance this soul’s health. In contrast, since the rest of humanity possesses only a human/animal soul, which is sensitive only to the Divinity immanent within creation, it would be meaningless and ineffectual for them to observe these restrictions; therefore, these laws do not apply to them.
The following are the creatures that you may eat.” As Moses (and in turn, Aaron, his sons, and the princes) mentioned specific animals, he showed them specimens of each. “Among all the land-animals:
