GID HANESHEH
Ch. 32, v. 33: "Al kein lo yochlu vnei Yisroel es Gid HaNesheh ...... ad ha'yom ha'zeh"
That night, Yaacov divides his camp in two, and crosses over the ford of the Yabbok River. Yaacov was left alone, and a man wrestled with him, until the break of dawn. When the "man" (who is regarded by the commentators as the arch angel of Esau), perceived that he could not overcome Yaacov, he struck the socket of Yaacov's hip, dislocating it, as he wrestled with Yaacov.
The "man" then begs Yaacov to let him go, for dawn has broken. Yaacov, however, insists on first receiving a blessing. The man informs Yaacov that his name will no longer be "Yaacov," instead he shall become known as "Yisrael," "for you [Yaacov] have striven with the Divine and with human and have overcome.
As a result of the confrontation and Yaacov's injury, the Torah states that the Children of Yisrael are not permitted to eat the dislocated sinew on the hip-socket to this day.
What exactly is the prohibited Gid HaNesheh?
Literally: ‘Gid’ means ‘sinew,’ and ‘Nesheh’ is an expression of ‘jumping’ – as explained to us by Rashi. So, in short, one could translate Gid HaNesheh as ‘the dislocated sinew’.
Anatomically, two tendons extend from the animal's hip to the thigh, an inner tendon and an outer tendon. Eating even a miniscule amount of the inner tendon, even a piece no bigger than the size of an olive, violates this biblical injunction. Eating the outside tendon is a violation of rabbinic law. Since fowl do not have hip sockets of this nature, their tendons are not included in this prohibition.
Because of this prohibition, most observant Jews outside of Yisrael never eat any of the hind quarters of kosher animals. Instead, those parts are sold for non-kosher consumption. However, in Israel, where meat is more expensive, butchers carefully purge every last trace of these nerves and the surrounding fat as well (known as nikur). It requires a great deal of expertise to remove these forbidden parts.
There is a difference of opinion between Rabbi Yehudah and the Sages (Chulin 90b) if the prohibition against Gid HaNesheh applies only to the tendon of the right leg or also to the left. Rabbi Yehudah maintains that the angel wounded only Yaakov’s right hip. The Sages, by contrast, maintain that both hips were dislocated. (“He struck him on both hips until both [tendons] were dislocated and rose”)
Also, Targum Yonoson ben Uziel says Gid HaNesheh is "divira v'cheivosa," of a domesticated or undomesticated animal, seemingly excluding from this prohibition that of a human Gid HaNesheh. Further, there is no additional prohibition on the "Gid haNesheh" of a non-kosher animal.
The Kreisi U'fleisi Y.D. #65 s.k. 16 relates that a man went from community to community in Europe, claiming that the sinew that was being removed was not in fact the Gid HaNesheh, and that he knew which Gid was the true Gid NaNesheh. The gid which this man claimed was the real Gid HaNosheh was only to be found in male animals. Upon coming to the community where R' Yonasan Ibishitz (author of Kreisi U'fleisi) lived, R' Yonasan convinced him that he was wrong by showing him the Sefer Halachos Gedolos (SH”G) which says that the Gid HaNosheh applies to both males and females. This is extremely puzzling since it is well known that the intention of the SH"G was that the mitzvah applies to both men and women, and not in which gender of animal the Gid is to be found. A number of explanations are given including:
- R' Yonasan writes that his first reaction was that the man must be wrong because ALL of Klal Yisroel cannot be doing this mitzvah incorrectly. He therefore attempted with any means at his disposal to prevent him from spreading his incorrect opinion. Not knowing how great of a scholar this man was, he used this trick and was successful.
- There is a printing mistake and in the place of SH"G it should have said SH"N, which stands for Sefer Hilchos Nikur. This is a book which deals with the technical removal of prohibited parts of the animal and where it says males and females, it is indeed talking about the animal.
Interestingly, the verse can also allude to the rabbinical fast days of the year. “Bnai Yisrael should not eat” את גיד – Fast of Esther (א); Fast of Tisha bAv (ת); Fast of the Third day of Tishrei (ג); Fast of Tenth day of Teves (י); Fast of the 17th day of the fourth month –Tamuz (ד); הנשה is the same letters as השנה (the year).
