Kosher locust facts for kids
A red locust.
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| Halakhic texts relating to this article | |
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| Torah: | Leviticus 11:22 |
| Mishnah: | Hullin 59a |
| Babylonian Talmud: | Hullin 65a-66b and Avodah Zarah 37a |
| Shulchan Aruch: | Yoreh De'ah 85 |
| Other rabbinic codes: | Exodus Rabbah 13:7 |
Kosher locusts are varieties of locust deemed permissible for consumption under the laws of kashrut (Jewish dietary law). While the consumption of most insects is forbidden under the laws of kashrut, the rabbis of the Talmud identified eight kosher species of locust. However, the identity of those species is in dispute.
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Yemenite tradition
According to Yemenite tradition, the edible locust referred to in the Torah is identified by the figure resembling the Hebrew letter chet (ח) on the underside of the thorax. The most common of these in Yemen was the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), whose color ranges from yellowish-green to grey, to reddish in colour when it reaches maturity (Hebrew: ארבה, romanized: arbeh, Aramaic: גובאי, romanized: gobai, or Arabic: الجراد, romanized: al-jaraad). Interestingly enough, these locusts also pose the biggest threat to crops since they swarm and can quickly fly over great distances. Indeed, some explain that the Torah permitted this species of locusts precisely because they consume all the crops. Thus, even when all the crops were eaten by the locusts, there was still something left to eat. Some explain that a distinguishing characteristic of kosher grasshoppers is that they sometimes swarm. The Ohr Hachaim writes that the communities that ate locusts had been plagued by them every two or three years when they would come and devastate the crops. This would also explain why eating locusts was not considered a delicacy but used more by the poor and accord with the ruling that that one is only allowed to eat a specific permitted type of locust only if there is a "continuous tradition" that affirms that it is Kosher. It is not enough that the locust seems to conform to the criteria mentioned in the Torah (see below and ).
In Yemen, the locust and the grasshopper share the same Arabic name, although Jews in Yemen recognize the differences between the two.
In spite of the reference of other edible locusts in the Pentateuch, such as the Chargol (Aramaic: ניפול, Nippul; Arabic: الحرجوان, Al-Harjawaan), and the Sal'am (Aramaic: רשון, Rashona; Arabic: الدبا, romanized: Al-Daba), the tradition of recognizing and eating these specific kinds had been lost in Yemen, prior to their emigration from Yemen in the mid-20th century CE.
Only certain species of the Chagav (grasshopper) were still eaten in Yemen, such as the species now known as the greyish or brownish Egyptian locust (Anacridium aegyptium), thought by some to be an edible grasshopper, even though it was known in Arabic by its generic name al-Jaraad (Arabic: الجراد), the Desert Locust, and the Migratory Locust (as quoted from Rabbi Yitzhak Ratzabi).
In 1911, Abraham Isaac Kook, the chief rabbi of Ottoman Palestine, addressed a question to the rabbinic Court at Sana'a concerning their custom of eating grasshoppers, and whether this custom was observed by observing their outward features, or by simply relying upon an oral tradition.
The reply given to him by the court was as follows: "The grasshoppers which are eaten by way of a tradition from our forefathers, which happen to be clean, are well-known unto us. But there are yet other species which have all the recognizable features of being clean, yet we do practice abstaining from them.
[Appendage]: The clean grasshoppers (Hebrew: חגבים) about which we have a tradition are actually three species having each one different coloration [from the other], and each of them are called by us in the Arabian tongue, ğarād (locusts). But there are yet other species, about which we have no tradition, and we will not eat them. One of which is a little larger in size than the grasshoppers, having the name of `awsham. There is yet another variety, smaller in size than the grasshopper, and it is called ḥanājir (katydids)."
The Jews of Yemen did not follow the halakhic ruling of Maimonides, where it was made sufficient to merely recognise their features before eating them. Instead, they ate only those locusts that they acknowledged in their own tradition as being edible, namely, the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), and which they called in Yemenite Jewish parlance, ğarād.
Manner of preparation
Several methods were used to prepare locusts, prior to eating them. One popular way was to take the locusts and throw them into a pot of boiling salt water. After cooking for a few minutes, they were placed in a heated oven to dry them, or else spread out in the sun to dry. Once dried, they took up the locusts and broke off the heads, wings and legs, eating only the thorax and abdomen.
Another method was to stoke an earthenware stove and, when fully heated, to cast them alive into the cavity of the stove.
Once roasted, they were taken out and a brine solution was sprinkled over them, before spreading them out in the sun to dry, usually upon one’s rooftop. Those with refined tastes saw it as a delicacy.
Djerba tradition
In the Jewish community of Djerba, Tunisia, the consumption of locusts was forbidden by a takkanah of Rabbi Aharon Perez in the mid-18th century. According to his letter to Rabbi David Eliyahu Hajaj, eating locusts was still an accepted practice in Tunisia at the time.
Although a consumer of locusts himself, he quit the habit after reading Rabbi Hayyim ben Atar's book Peri To`ar, and moved in favour to prohibit consumption. However, as the practice was still widely accepted in the city of Tunis—the rabbinical court of which was considered to have the higher authority—he kept his decision to himself without making it public.
After the prohibition against eating locusts was finally declared in Tunis, Aharon encouraged banning the practice in Djerba as well.
Normative practice
The Halakha regarding locusts, and all kosher animals for that matter, is that one is allowed to eat a specific type of animal only if there is a "continuous tradition" that affirms that it is kosher. It is not enough that the locust seems to conform to the criteria mentioned in the Torah. With regards to kosher species of locust, "continuous tradition" exists for 3 species: desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), and Egyptian grasshopper (Anacridium aegyptium).
This does not mean that one must possess a "personal tradition" in order to eat locusts. If one travels to a place where the people do have a tradition, the new arrival would also be allowed to eat them. The Yemenite Jews and some others had such a continuous tradition.
It is also worth pointing out that the common names used in the Bible refer only to color and broad morphological generalities shared by many Middle-Eastern species. Also, although it is often useful for identification, the geographic location of these locusts in the text is unclear.
Using primarily color to identify insect species is a notoriously unreliable approach. Insects that come to adulthood will have slightly different colors based on season, diet, and prevailing climate.
Which species of locust are actually being referred to in the text is therefore nearly impossible to ascertain. This will further complicate adherence.
British Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz says in his commentary on Leviticus 11:22
"None of the four kinds of locust mentioned is certainly known (RV Margin). For this reason also, later Jewish authorities, realizing that it is impossible to avoid errors being made declare every species of locust to be forbidden."
How and by whom kosher locusts were eaten
The author of the Aruch HaShulchan points out that locusts were not considered a delicacy—rather they were food for the poor.
A midrash describes the pickling of locusts before their consumption:
Once the locusts came, the Egyptians rejoiced and said 'Let us gather them and fill our barrels with them.' The Holy One, Blessed be He, said, 'Wicked people, with the plague that I have brought against you, are you going to rejoice?!' Immediately God brought upon them a western wind ... and none were left. What does it mean that none were left? Even those that were pickled with salt and sitting in their pots and barrels were blown away....
Additionally, in Morocco, locusts were eaten into the 1900s. Only those who had a "continuous tradition" of both eating them and knowing the identifying sign of the kosher locusts would eat them.
Contemporary Practice
Despite the lingering uncertainty, some people today view certain species of locusts as kosher and they can be bought in Israel for consumption.
