The Laws of Winged Swarming Creatures (Leviticus 11:20-23)

The Torah introduces a specific category of creatures known as Sheretz Ha-Of, translated as "winged swarming things" or "flying creeping things." In Leviticus 11:20-23, the text establishes a general prohibition against these creatures, immediately followed by a narrow set of exceptions. This classification covers insects that possess wings but also move upon the ground, creating a unique biological category within the laws of Kashrut. Understanding these laws requires a close examination of the Hebrew terminology, the physical requirements for permissibility, and the traditional methods of identification.

Linguistic Definitions of Sheretz Ha-Of

The term Sheretz stems from a root meaning to swarm or teem.

Origin of the Hebrew Root Word "Sheretz" (שֶׁרֶץ)

Naming the Prohibited Birds (Leviticus 11:13-19)

The classification of birds in Parsha Shmini differs fundamentally from the classification of land animals and fish. While mammals are identified by physical signs (split hooves and chewing the cud) and fish by anatomical features (fins and scales), the Torah identifies prohibited birds by name rather than by physical characteristics. Leviticus 11:13–19 provides a list of twenty specific categories of birds that are forbidden for consumption. All birds not included in this list are, by biblical omission, permitted. However, the identification of these specific species has become a central challenge in Jewish law due to linguistic shifts and the geographical migration of communities over millennia.

The List of Prohibited Species

The Torah lists twenty birds (though the parallel list in Deuteronomy 14:12–18 includes twenty-one, adding the dayah). These names often derive from the bird’s behavior, vocalization, or physical appearance. Because the Torah provides no…

Parsha Shmini Day 6 (Part 3): Leviticus 11:24-32 (Study Notes)

(Leviticus 11:24-28)

 In Leviticus chapter 11, verse 24 through 28 Moshe tells of the actions and activities that make a person unclean if done with an unclean animal, insect, bird or otherwise.

Moshe says that touching the carcass of an unclean animal makes the person unclean until evening. Moshe also says that carrying the carcass of an unclean animal makes a person unclean.

When Jews become unclean, we are to wash our clothes and remain unclean until evening. When evening comes and a new day begins, the Jew is considered clean by Hashem.

These statements about being unclean until evening and clean at the dawn (or should I say nightfall) of a new day, seems meaningless or mundane until we consider what Hashem has promised regarding His return.

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:

1. the eagle

2. the vulture,

The dietary laws concerning aquatic life are characterized by a unique structural simplicity compared to the laws governing land animals or birds. While land animals require a combination of physical traits and specific species identification, and birds rely on a list of exclusions, the Torah provides a streamlined, binary criterion for water-dwelling creatures. Leviticus 11:9-12 establishes that any creature living in the waters—whether in seas or rivers—must possess two specific physical features to be permissible for consumption: fins (snapirim) and scales (kashkashim).

The Biblical Definition of Aquatic Permissibility

The text of Leviticus 11:9 explicitly states:

The repetition of "in the waters" serves to include all types of aquatic environments, ranging from large oceans to small freshwater streams. If a…

Leviticus 11 establishes two primary physiological requirements for a land mammal to be considered kosher: it must chew its cud (ma'alat gerah) and possess fully split hooves (maphreset parsah – “that parts the hoof”).

While most animals clearly meet both criteria or neither, the Torah identifies four specific species that possess only one of these signs. These four exceptions—the camel, the hyrax, the hare, and the pig—serve as essential case studies for understanding the precision of biblical taxonomy and the linguistic nuances of the Hebrew text.

These four species are the exception NOT because they can be eaten, though unclean. Rather they are the exception because they contain both a hoof and could chew the cud.

The Camel: Rumination (Chews the Cud) Without the Hoof

The camel (gamal) is the first animal listed in the Torah’s detailed warning against partial signs. Anatomically, the camel is a ruminant; it possesses a…

Parsha Shmini: Day 6

(Part 1: Leviticus 11:1-12)

After offering the sin offerings and the burnt offerings, Moshe then goes into the laws of kashrut, or the laws of those animals that can and cannot be eaten.

(Leviticus 11:1-8)

In Leviticus chapter 11 verses one through eight, Moshe discusses the land animals.

We learned that the animals that can be eaten are those that have true hoofs and that also chew the cud. Moshe defines a true hoof as one that has a cleft through the hoof. This means that the hoof is completely divided. It is separated into two parts.

Leviticus 11:1-32

Leviticus Chapter 11

וַיְדַבֵּ֧ר יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹ֥ר אֲלֵהֶֽם׃

1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them:

דַּבְּר֛וּ אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר זֹ֤את הַֽחַיָּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תֹּאכְל֔וּ מִכׇּל־הַבְּהֵמָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: These are the living things which ye may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.