Kosher animals facts for kids

Kosher animals are special animals that follow certain rules from Jewish law. These rules are called kashrut, and they decide which foods are allowed for people who follow these traditions. The rules come from ancient texts like the Torah, with extra details and explanations added over time by Jewish teachers and scholars.

Land Animals: What's Allowed?

A cow, which is a kosher land animal.

The Torah gives clear rules for land animals. To be kosher, a land animal must do two things:

• It must "chew its cud." This means it eats grass or plants, swallows them, and then brings them back up to chew again, like a cow.
• It must have "completely split hooves." This means its hooves are divided into two separate parts, like a deer or a goat.

If an animal only does one of these things, or neither, it is not kosher.

Animals That Are Not Kosher

The Torah specifically names four land animals that are not kosher:

• The camel: It chews its cud but does not have completely split hooves.
• The hyrax: It chews its cud but does not have completely split hooves. (In older texts, this animal was sometimes called a "coney.")
• The hare: It chews its cud but does not have completely split hooves.
• The pig: It has completely split hooves but does not chew its cud.

Even though some of these animals might seem to chew cud or have split hooves, Jewish law has specific definitions. For example, camels have toes with hoof-like toenails, but not truly split hooves. Hares re-eat their food for better digestion, which is similar to chewing cud but not the same.

Kosher Land Animals

A mountain gazelle, a kosher animal.

The Torah also lists some land animals that are definitely kosher:

• The ox (like a cow)
• The sheep
• The goat
• The deer
• The gazelle
• The yahmur (which might be a roe deer or an oryx)
• The the'o (possibly a wild goat or a type of wild ox)
• The pygarg (likely an antelope or ibex)
• The antelope
• The zamer (which some believe is a giraffe or a mouflon)

In general, animals with paws, like dogs, cats, lions, and bears, are not kosher. This means most meat-eating animals are not allowed.

Identifying Kosher Animals

Jewish scholars have tried to make it easier to identify kosher animals. Some ancient texts suggest that animals without upper front teeth usually chew cud and have split hooves. However, there are exceptions, like the camel. Another idea is that the meat of kosher animals can be torn both lengthwise and across, which is different from non-kosher meat.

Modern Kosher Practices for Land Animals

Today, to make sure an animal is kosher, it's not enough for it to just meet the Torah's rules. There also needs to be a long-standing tradition (called masorah) that the animal has always been considered kosher by Jewish communities. For example, there was a lot of discussion about whether bison were kosher when they first became known. Now, many Jewish authorities allow bison because a tradition has been established.

Water Creatures: Fins and Scales

A Nile tilapia, a kosher fish.

For creatures living in water, the rules are simpler. To be kosher, a water creature must have both:

• Fins
• Scales

If a water creature has neither fins nor scales, it is not kosher. The Torah calls such creatures "detestable."

What's Not Kosher in Water

These rules mean that many sea creatures are not kosher, including:

• Fish without scales or fins, like eels, lampreys, and hagfish.
• Shellfish, like lobsters, crabs, shrimp, oysters, and squid.
• Other sea animals like dolphins, whales, crocodiles, sea turtles, and jellyfish.

Even sharks are not kosher because their scales are very hard to remove without damaging their skin. Sturgeon are also generally not considered kosher because of the type of scales they have. This is why most caviar (sturgeon eggs) is not kosher. However, Atlantic salmon roe (eggs) is kosher.

Why These Rules?

Some ancient thinkers believed these rules were for health reasons. They thought that fish with fins and scales lived in cleaner, shallower waters, while those without might live in colder, deeper waters and be unhealthy to eat. Other ideas suggest that people naturally found "weird-looking" fish unappealing, and these feelings became part of the religious laws.

Birds: A List of What's Forbidden

A turtle dove, a kosher bird.

Unlike land animals and water creatures, the Torah doesn't give general rules for birds. Instead, it provides a list of specific birds that are *not* kosher. This list is a bit hard to understand today because the ancient Hebrew names are vague.

However, Jewish tradition and later translations of the Bible help us understand. Generally, birds that are birds of prey (meaning they hunt and eat other animals) or birds that eat dead animals (scavengers) are not kosher. Birds that live on water and eat fish are also usually not kosher.

Signs of Kosher Birds

Jewish law also gives some signs to help identify kosher birds:

• They must have a crop (a pouch in their throat for storing food).
• They must have an extra finger.
• They must have a gizzard (a part of their stomach) that can be easily peeled.
• They must not be a bird of prey.

Common Non-Kosher Birds

Based on these ideas, many birds are not kosher, including:

• Eagles, hawks, owls, and other hunting birds.
• Vultures and other birds that eat dead animals.
• Crows, magpies, and ravens.
• Storks, kingfishers, and penguins (fish-eating birds).

Modern Kosher Birds

Because it's hard to identify all the birds from the ancient lists, Jewish communities today mostly eat birds for which there's a clear, long-standing tradition of them being kosher. These include:

• Chicken
• Common pheasant
• Common quail
• Grey partridge
• House sparrow
• Rock dove (pigeon)
• Turtle dove

The turkey is an interesting case. It doesn't have a very old tradition of being kosher, but because it meets the physical signs of a kosher bird and many Orthodox Jews have started eating it, it's now widely accepted as kosher. Other birds, like peafowl and guineafowl, are generally not considered kosher because there isn't a clear tradition for them.

Flying Insects: Mostly Forbidden

The Torah says that most "flying creeping things" (insects) are not kosher. It calls them "detestable."

Exceptions: Kosher Locusts

However, the Torah makes four specific exceptions for certain types of locusts. These locusts are described as having "legs above their feet" for leaping. The exact identity of these locusts is uncertain, but they are thought to be different kinds of locusts or grasshoppers.

To be considered kosher, these locusts must have:

• Four legs, with two of them used for jumping.
• Four wings that are large enough to cover their whole body.

Today, very few Jewish communities, mainly the Jews of Yemen, still have a clear tradition of which specific locust species are kosher. Because it's so difficult to be sure, most Jewish authorities have decided to avoid all types of locusts to prevent accidentally eating one that isn't kosher.

Small Land Creatures: All Forbidden

The Torah is very clear that all small creatures that "swarm on the ground" are not kosher. This includes anything that:

• Goes on its belly (like snakes).
• Goes on all fours (like mice or lizards).
• Has many feet (like centipedes).

The Torah specifically lists eight "creeping things" that are not kosher, though their exact identities are debated. They are generally thought to be various types of weasels, mice, lizards, shrews, and moles.

Examples of Non-Kosher Small Creatures

This rule means that almost all small land animals are not kosher, including:

• Worms
• Snails
• Most invertebrate animals
• All reptiles (like snakes and lizards)
• All amphibians (like frogs and salamanders)
• Most insects (except for the four types of locusts mentioned earlier)

Images for kids

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  An oxyrhynchus sturgeon

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  The migratory locust

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