Day 6 (Part 2): Leviticus 11:13-2 (Study Notes)
Parsha Shmini: Day (Part 2) (Leviticus 11:13-23)
(Leviticus 11:13-19)
The ideology of the sharks becoming unclean by eating that which is unclean is seen clearly when Moshe discusses the birds of the sky in Leviticus chapter 11 verses 13 through 19.
Here Moshe lists 20 unclean birds of the sky, which Jewish people are not to eat. These include:
the eagle
the vulture,
the black vulture,
the kite,
the falcon of every kind
the raven of every kind
the ostrich,
the nighthawk,
the seagull
hawks of all varieties
the little owl,
the cormorant,
the great owl,
the white owl,
the pelican,
the bustard,
the stork,
the heron of all kinds,
the hoope of all kinds and
the bat.
Most, if not all, of these birds eat unclean land animals such as mice or rats or bugs and so they are considered unclean for Jews.
If we think of the vultures, for example, we can understand that they eat literal roadkill or that which has been torn by wild beasts. Throughout Torah, these types of animals (ones killed in unnatural ways and not by ritual, kosher slaughter) are unclean for Jews as well.
Other of these birds, such as the pelican or the stork or the heron, eat unclean bugs or unclean water animals making them unclean for Jews to eat.
Moshe does not give a clearcut rule for which birds are considered clean in this section. But if we think of the chicken, the turkey, the doves, and the pigeons all of these birds feed off of meal or clean bugs. Because they eat what is clean, they therefore remain clean for Jews to eat. Like the clean land animals, the clean birds follow Hashem’s original design. They do not eat meat, but only that which Hashem has originally given them to eat.
(Leviticus 11:20-23)
In the Leviticus chapter 11 verses 20 through 23, Moshe discusses insects.
Again, Moshe describes what is unclean as an abomination. Moshe gives three characteristics that define an unclean insect. These are they that:
are winged
swarming, and
walk on all fours. They do not have jointed legs.
In Leviticus chapter 11 verses 21 through 23 we learn of the clean insects that may be eaten. These clean insects are:
winged
swarming
walk on all fours and
have jointed legs to leap with.
Moshe gives a list of the clean animals as:
locusts of all kinds,
crickets of all varieties,
bald locusts of all varieties and
grasshoppers of all kinds.
If we think of Passover and the plagues, which Hashem sent upon Egypt prior to setting us free, we can understand that by sending locusts, Hashem sent a clean insect upon Egypt. But when Hashem sent the lice and the other winged, swarming insects Hashem sent that which was unclean.
The unclean insects, animals, and reptiles were additional plagues that came as a result of Pharaoh’s hardened heart. With each sin of Pharoah, the plagues got worse. The uncleanness in the land of Egypt increased, until the final blow of death, then sudden release of the Egyptians’ abused, harassed, and tormented slave-labor force: the Hebrews.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Kimberly Davis