What Signs Say
This week’s Torah portion discusses the kosher animals which one may eat and the non-kosher animals which one may not eat. The Torah provides two identifying signs for a kosher animal: It must chew its cud and have split hooves.
Regarding these signs, there is a scholarly inquiry whether:
- The signs are the cause of the animal’s kosher or non-kosher status. In other words, because the animal chews its cud and has split hooves, it is kosher, while the lack of these signs causes the animal to be non-kosher.
- Alternatively, the signs are merely identifying factors that indicate the kosher status of the animal, while the status itself stems from other causes. G-d endowed them with signs through which we can identify their status so that we know which animals are kosher.
What is the difference between these two approaches? The law is that an animal born from a kosher animal is itself kosher even if it does not have the signs of kosher status. For example, an animal born with uncloven hooves but born from a kosher animal is kosher. Although it lacks any signs of kosher status, nevertheless, it receives that status since it comes from a kosher animal.
If we say, as with the second approach, that the signs of kosher status are merely identifying signs, then this law is also understandable from a logical perspective. Since an animal was born from a kosher mother, the presence or lack of kosher signs is not significant.
If, however, we say, as with the first approach, that the signs are the cause of the animal’s kosher status, then logically it should follow that [an animal with] uncloven hooves should not be kosher. It is due solely to a Divine decree (gezeiras hakasuv) that the law states that the animal is in fact kosher.
There is a practical difference in halachah whether an animal’s kosher status derives from logical reasoning or from a Divine decree: It is forbidden to use kosher food for amusement. When does this apply? If the food derives from a kosher species. If, however, its species is non-kosher, yet it is kosher due to a Divine decree, then this prohibition does not exist.
The proof for this is found in an explicit verse, “Leviathan, which You created to sport with....” Since the Leviathan will be served to the righteous at the feast to be held for them in the Ultimate Future, we know that it is kosher and, consequently, the Talmud Yerushalmi asks: How is it permitted to play with a kosher creature? It answers that the Leviathan is intrinsically a non-kosher creature but will be permitted in the Ultimate Future by Divine decree in exception to its [inherent] forbidden status. We see from this that if a species’ kosher status is due to a Divine decree, it is permitted to sport with it.
Signs and Significance
There are several proofs that the signs mentioned in the Torah are a cause of kosher status. This is also implied from the language of the verse, which states, “For it chews its cud but does not have a split hoof, it is impure to you.” The implication of the verse is that because it lacks one of the signs of kosher status, it is not placed in the kosher category.
There is also proof from the law that a swamp rooster is forbidden. Tosafos explains that the principle “[an animal born] from a kosher [animal] is kosher” does not apply to the male of this species because the chick is not born directly from the mother, but it is hatched from an egg and is halachically considered as having grown from the earth. Therefore, it is deemed non-kosher because it has the signs of a non-kosher fowl.
Were we to say that the signs are merely identifying factors, then since we know that the mother of the swamp rooster is kosher, why should it matter that it has non-kosher signs? We must therefore say that the signs are a cause of kosher status, and the principle that “[a living creature born] from a kosher species is kosher” is a Divine decree. Accordingly, since a swamp rooster is deemed as having grown from the earth, this principle does not apply to it.
Building on the above discussion, we need to understand the relationship of chewing the cud and having split hooves to an animal’s kosher status. In particular, when considering the inner meaning of this matter – even if we say that the signs are merely identifying factors and not causes – it is well known that everything, even worldly matters, comes about as a result of Divine Providence. How much more so is this true regarding matters concerning the Torah and its mitzvos. Therefore, the very fact that these signs were established for identifying an animal’s kosher status demonstrates that they are [at least] related to kosher status – [if only] as an effect of the animal being kosher, and not as a cause in accordance with the first approach.
