Is Tilapia fish a Kosher food; ie.,does it have " fins & bodyscales" according to Deuteronomy 14:9-10 ? Thanks

Question

Note; I'm not Jewish; but, I prefer to follow Biblical dietary Laws ( or guidelines ).

Answer 1

According to
http://www.fishbase.org/
there are over 30 different species of fish that could be refered to as Tilapia. Of these the FDA reports only 7 are marketed in the USA
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/cgi-bin/seafd?QUERY=tilapia
but of course there may be more that the FDA is not aware of. Generally tilapia is thought to be kosher, but with 30 species available, some may not be.

If you are able to purchase the whole fish, then you can visually verify that it has both scales and fins. If the fish has already been filleted, then you are on your own. Then there is also the question of whether the store had just filleted a catfish (unkosher) with the same knife and cutting board.

There is a helpful general list of which fish are kosher and unkosher that you can check here:
http://www.crcweb.org/kosher/consumer/fishList.html

Since you are generally attempting to follow the commands given in Torah as a righteous non-Jew, you will not have quite the level of concern about the halachic requirements about not having the kosher fish touch the same cutting board and knife as a non-kosher fish. So if you accept the truthfulness of the label on the fish fillet (sometimes things get mislabeled) you might still want to run the fillet under running water just to wash off anything from any unkosher contamination. (This wouldn't be an acceptable solution for those following rabbinic halacha, but it should be fine by the requirements of the written Torah.)

Many non-Jews are today returning to follow the Divine Instructions, some rabbinic authorities take this as a sign the "lost tribes" of Israel are being called back.

Answer 2

Is Tilapia Kosher

Answer 3

Kosher Fish

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Is Tilapia fish a Kosher food; ie.,does it have " fins & bodyscales" according to Deuteronomy 14:9-10 ? Thanks
Note; I'm not Jewish; but, I prefer to follow Biblical dietary Laws ( or guidelines ).

Answer 5

tilapia fish have fins and body scales. tastes very good.