Shemini: Transacting with Non-Kosher Foods
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| ~ PARSHAS SHEMINI ~
Transacting with Non-Kosher Foods
In this week’s Parsha we learn about the various kosher and non-kosher animals. Not only is it forbidden to eat non-kosher animals but it is often forbidden to do busin ess with them, as well. We are also taught that one must not feed non-kosher foods to children, either.
In this week’s journal we will discuss these and other related halachos.
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| Conducting Business with Non-Kosher Food Items
By Rabbi Daniel Neustadt Shlit”a
In order to protect a Jew as much as possible from inadvertently eating non-kosher foods, the Torah restricts our accessibility to food items that are not kosher. It is strongly recommended, for example, not to store unmarked edible non-kosher food in one’s house for a lengthy period of time, since one can easily forget that the food is not kosher and consume it by mistake. Moreover, the Torah forbids “conducting business” with all non-kosher meat, fowl or fish, including kosher-species animals that are treifos (rendered non-kosher due to terminal illness) or neveilos (rendered non-kosher at the time of slaughter), even if they are not stored in one’s home or business, and even if they are clearly marked as non-kosher. This prohibition, called issur sechorah b’dvorim ha-asurim, is the subject of this Discussion.
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| In this Issue:
Parsha Perspective:
Kids at Risk- Was their Food Really Kosher?
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In Parshas Shemini we find the laws of Ma’acholos Assuros - the instructions about which animals are kosher and which are forbidden to be eaten. The Ramban gives a reason behind the prohibition to consume certain kinds of animals. He explains that every species has its innate characteristics and traits that are shared by all its members. The nature of a predatory animal is to be cruel and aggressive, whereas sheep, for example, are passive and gentle.
“Conducting business” means that it is forbidden to own non-kosher foods with the intention of using them in a business transaction. But merely dealing with non-kosher food without owning them is permitted. Indeed, it is even permitted to own non-kosher foods and benefit from them if they are not being used in a “business transaction.” Thus the following rules apply:
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