Torah Focus: Leviticus 11:1 - 47
Perhaps there was no single rationale for the identification of certain animals as unclean. But among those that have been suggested are, first, hygienic principles. One may legitimately argue that eating certain prohibited animals, especially in the climate of ancient Israel, was precluded on the basis of sound hygiene.
Second, the religious veneration or use in sacrifice of these animals by non-Israelites was probably a primary cause for the "unclean" category in Israel. Although it is no longer possible to isolate which particular animals were so used in the rituals of other cultures, the fact that they are now taken up into the "clean" and "unclean" category lends weight to this alternative. For example, the pig was probably unclean because of its use in Canaanite sacrifice, as well as Babylon, Cyprus, and Syria.
It is also possible that the problem of unclean animals was influenced by some idea or practice no longer known. Such prohibitions had simply become "the command of G-d." Or, one living then might just have answered, "We just don't eat camel meat." Also among non-Israelites prior to the time of Israel's existence, foods originally may have been avoided for hygienic reasons and placed in the category of the forbidden. Knowing of these "unclean" foods which were prohibited because of their "evil" effects (an every action was controlled by a deity, whether beneficent or malignant), Israel also rejected such food. But they did so for theological or religious reasons, not necessarily for hygienic reasons.
A third reason for rejecting some of the animals was grounded in the veneration of blood in the Tanach and the manner in which life was thought to reside in the blood. Since life was uniquely of G-d, blood was always given back to G-d ritually, and no one could appropriate it. Carrion birds and animals that ate flesh were precluded for Israel, as were animals that "died of themselves," since the blood had not been dedicated appropriately to G-d.
But the most significant issue in regard to clean and unclean animals is: "What theological understanding did Israel communicate through these practices?" First, through them Israel affirms her commitment to live a life dedicated solely to G-d and to make use only of those phenomena and objects appropriate to G-d's presence. Through these prohibitions Israel bares testimony to the purity of G-d and G-d's presence in our lives by following ceremonial laws which govern our food. Second, by so observing the rituals laws, Israel affirms to the world that we belong to the L-rd, the G-d of Israel. The distinctiveness of the dietary laws was and is, a visible manifestation of the distinctiveness of Israel's faith. Because Israel belongs to G-d, we are to manifest that relationship in our observance of a specific lifestyle.
Shalom U'Bracha (peace and blessings),
Thomas
