Jewish Rules on Food

Jewish Rules on Foodの要点を丁寧に掘り下げてご紹介します。

First up: land animals have to chew their cud and have split hooves. That means cows, sheep, and goats are in—pigs are out, because they have split hooves but don’t chew cud. It’s like they’re almost kosher, but not quite. Did you know that’s why we say someone is “pigging out”?

Next, seafood must have fins and scales. So, salmon and tuna? Party on. But shrimp, lobster, and clams? They’re treif—which is Yiddish for “not kosher” and also sounds like someone saying “try it!” (spoiler: don’t). Some kosher-keeping folks joke that they’re missing out on a shrimp cocktail, but hey, more for you.

Finally, birds are a bit of a mystery. The Torah lists which ones are forbidden—mostly birds of prey and scavengers like eagles and vultures. If it’s a chicken, turkey, or duck, you’re good. So, no bald eagle sandwiches for Shabbat, sorry.