We all hear about pigs being so much more reviled than other forms of non-kosher. This is true in general culture; I believe such a minhag was recorded with regards to using soap rendered from non-kosher animals; we find the Talmud occasionally referring to a pig euphemistically as "something else", rather than having to say the word. What's so special (in a bad way) about pigs?
Answer
A few thoughts come to mind; this is a wiki, so please add more:
- Vs. meat that wasn't kosher slaughtered -- well it's an entirely non-kosher category, whereas beef is beef. The same goes for meat-and-milk. And blood and chelev, forbidden fats (the latter is theoretically a more stringent prohibition -- karet vs lav than pork!).
- Vs. other non-kosher species: We all know non-Jews who regularly eat pork. And yes, most of them eat non-kosher seafood too, but a.) historically if you lived someplace far from the water, the non-Jews were eating pork not crabs. b.) pig is spelled out in the Torah; so are camel, hyrax, and hare, but those are a lot less commonly consumed.
- It has the external kosher sign (split hooves) but not internal (chews cud), this is seen as indicative of false piety, something we abhor.
- They smell bad and can harbor disease. (But from a theological perspective, so what?)
- They remind us too much of humans, or the basest things we could become. Pigs are used in forensic experiments to simulate human corpses, and it's been known since the Talmud that some of their organs are remarkably similar to ours, thus an additional risk of disease transmission.
- Is there something kabbalistic I'm missing? Please fill in here.
No comments:
Post a Comment