Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

• Acts 15:19-20
• Acts 21:25

Key OT Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 14:7-8
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 14:11-20
  Click to retrieve Deuteronomy 14:11-20
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 11:2-23
  Click to retrieve Leviticus 11:2-23
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 11:41-44
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 20:25
  Jewish Commentary

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Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

In the foregoing Scriptures, we encounter categories of creatures (and also specifically named creatures), some of which are clean and may be eaten, and others of which are unclean and may not. Eatability and cleanness generally coincide, but they are separate attributes as Leviticus 11:46-47 explains: Such, then, is the law concerning animals, flying creatures, all living creatures that move about in the water, and all creatures that swarm on the ground. Its purpose is to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten. The Mosaic commandments specifying which creatures may and may not be eaten are generally complied with as an unchallenged part of Messianic Jewish life and practice. Nevertheless, the question sometimes arises as to God's rationale for these restrictions and whether today, in the absence of the Holy Temple (ceremonial cleanness had to be maintained in the Temple), the food restrictions still apply. Those who believe they still apply may offer their personal opinions as to why, but Leviticus 20:24b-26 gives us God's reason: I am ADONAI your God, who has set you apart from other peoples. Therefore you are to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and between clean and unclean birds; do not make yourselves detestable with an animal, bird or reptile that I have set apart for you to regard as unclean. Rather, you people are to be holy for me; because I, ADONAI, am holy; and I have set you apart from the other peoples, so that you can belong to me. Scripture's reason for the food laws is clearly that Israelites (today called Jews) are a holy people set apart, and are therefore commanded to a unique lifestyle (including restrictions as to what we are allowed to eat) so that we will be seen as set apart. This reason is not Temple-dependent, and is therefore as valid today as it was at the time the food commandments were given to Moses. Perhaps it is even more important today, because so many of the world's Jews are integrated into the general society and have lost visibility. It is my opinion, therefore, that it is God's will that today's Jews (and the K'rovei Yisrael who dwell in community alongside us) continue to obey the biblically commanded restrictions on what may and may not be eaten, and that it is sin for us not to do so. There are those who would say that my position is not correct - that Jewish believers in Yeshua who aspire to keep the food laws (in fact any laws) are rejecting Messiah's sacrifice and God's grace, and are putting themselves in an unholy bondage. This false theology is discussed in general terms in my essay " Elephants in the Room: What Paul Really Meant by His Comments on the Law " that is found in the preliminary section of this book. It is beyond the scope of this Mitzvah to discuss the various New Covenant Scriptures that are typically used to come against obeying God's food laws in the Torah, but I will mention the main ones for the reader's convenience; they are Mark 7:18-19 ; Acts 10:9-15 and 11:1-9 ; 1 Corinthians 8:8 and 10:25-27 ; Colossians 2:16 ; and 1 Timothy 4:1-5 . How then should today's Gentile believers respond to the dietary commandments? Some say that they should not seek to keep them because doing so will diminish Israel's visible uniqueness as a people set apart ( Leviticus 20:24b-26 ). Others say: "If God gave these dietary restrictions to his 'chosen people' they must be good, so I will adopt them as well." My opinion is that if Gentile believers voluntarily adhere to the biblical food laws as a witness to their grafted-in connection to the Jewish people, they are acting appropriately. On the other hand, if they profess that the commandments are directed to all believers in Yeshua in order to mark them as a holy people analogous to the Jews ( Ephesians 2:11-22 ) and that they are in sin if they do not keep them, then they would be wrong (in my opinion), and would indeed be obscuring Israel's intended uniqueness. It is therefore my opinion that, in general, obedience to the food laws (other than those mentioned in Acts 15:19-20 and Acts 21:25 ) by Gentiles is optional. In closing, I should like to say a few words about the term " kosher " as it applies to the dietary laws - a term that I have thus far intentionally not used in this discourse. The word means "allowed", and it is correctly used in describing whether the Bible permits a creature to be eaten by an Israelite (e.g., "A goat is a kosher animal, whereas a pig is not."). The reason I have avoided its use in this Mitzvah , is that the word " kosher " has another connotation as well, and that is in stating whether the flesh of a particular creature (or a particular substance) is allowed to be eaten according to rabbinical standards. So, for example, the meat of a goat (which is a kosher animal) is not kosher , according to rabbinical standards, if the goat was not slaughtered appropriately, or that the slaughter was not conducted under rabbinical supervision. One ought to therefore be alert to how the word " kosher " is used in context, so as to elicit its intended meaning.

Rabbi Daniel Juster

For those not satisfied that the only rationale for this Mitzvah is that it is a standard created by God to make a distinction between Israel and the nations, they may consider these others: First is that it is for health. This is argued in " None of These Diseases " by S. I. Macmillan. The problem with his position is that not all the creatures prohibited in Scripture are clearly unhealthy to eat. Certainly, God's best for Israel is that it be healthy. Second, is the idea that the clean-unclean laws (beyond the food laws) show the nature of sin in a symbolic way in that certain animals feed off death or, like pigs, are unclean because they are filthy (Keil and Delitzsch, " Commentary on the Old Testament ", first published in 1866). Third, is " Purity and Danger " by Mary Douglas, in which she argues that there was a reasoned sense of the ancients as to what was fitting or not fitting - what was whole or not whole - in categories of living creatures. It was seen as natural that fish should have fins and scales. In her last years before her death, she was no longer convinced of her position, and came to believe, instead, that there simply were animals that God valued as being free from men's use. While there is truth in all of these views, it would seem best that we embrace the idea that God's reason for making distinctions is part of his making the Jewish people distinct, and that not all of the creatures named in Scripture are subject to a human rationale.

Classical commentators

Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch are unified in their mitzvot that prohibit the eating of certain creatures but, whereas Maimonides and HaChinuch have written positive mitzvot requiring that we examine creatures for signs of their cleanness and consequent eatability, Meir has no such corresponding mitzvah . In their mitzvot #RP152 and C155 respectively, Maimonides and HaChinuch combine Leviticus 11:9-12 and Leviticus 20:25 to defend their positive mitzvot that we are to examine creatures of the sea for tokens (fins and scales) of their acceptability for food. Leviticus 11:9-12 describes the sea creatures that we may and may not eat, but Leviticus 20:25 makes no reference to fish whatever.

Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

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