Not that I'm complaining. It just leaves more for me. But why??
2007-04-26 10:28:52 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It's part of the Levitical law.. if you read the book of Leviticus chapter 11, it explains all of the kosher laws.
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2007-04-26 13:28:38 · answer #1 · answered by Kallan 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In order for a fish to be ok for a Jew to eat, it must have fins and scales. This is probably because these fish have a better diet. Shellfish, catfish, and such are scavengers, getting their nourishment from some pretty disgusting sources.
2007-04-26 10:35:31 · answer #2 · answered by sdb deacon 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most people ask about ham sandwiches. You ask about oysters. For this I give you extra credit.
Easy answer: God said not to eat them.
Slightly more complex answer: They live in the sea and they don't have fins or scales.
Even more complex answer: If you were paying attention when you read Genesis, you might have noticed that God had a habit of creating things in twos: day/night, land/sky, water below/water above, man/woman, plants/animals, etc. From this we get the concept of categorization--something is either an A or a B, but not both. (Things that have characteristics of both are especially taboo.)
Many of the kosher laws follow this pattern. It's got to fit into the right category to be fit to eat. Much of Leviticus is taken up with clean vs. unclean (or unfit vs. fit, polluted vs. pure). There is even a restriction on wearing clothes made from two different types of fiber, and I believe there's one about yoking two different kinds of animals to your plow.
Theories about these laws being based on hygienic principles originated in the 19th century, but there is no solid evidence for them.
2007-04-27 16:56:51 · answer #3 · answered by Irene F 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Leviticus 10:9 "You may eat any creature that lives in water, whether in seas or rivers as long as it has fins and scales." Shellfish don't have them.
The Old Testament is the basic book of Jewish law.
2007-04-26 10:37:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is one of the 613 laws of G-d not to eat shellfish. The Scripture is found in Leviticus 11:10-12
Leviticus 11:
10 And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that swarm in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are a detestable thing unto you,
11 and they shall be a detestable thing unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, and their carcasses ye shall have in detestation.
12 Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that is a detestable thing unto you.
2007-04-26 11:25:13 · answer #5 · answered by Kathy P-W 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
simple answer: the book says not to.
long theory: we know now, with science, that shellfish, in a natural environment, can be exposed to various diseases and such, which will stick with the creature for its entire life, even long after its, (without modern technology) exposure, such that back in that time, you could not be certain that it was safe to eat, biologically. it could be carrying diseases and such and it be entirely inperceivable.
another "layer" is that generally that what a creature your eating consumed while it was alive, is counted in what your eating, so if the creature your eating, would in a natural state, eat meat, for example, you could not be sure that IT kept kosher, and would thus be kosher.
I'm pretty sure there are no omnivorous or predatory animals that are on the kosher list, specifically for that reason.
2007-04-26 10:36:57 · answer #6 · answered by RW 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Deuteronomy 14:9-10 "Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean."
2007-04-26 10:37:25 · answer #7 · answered by Housecat 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it may have something to do with being a bottom feeder - like catfish (who have no scales). Bottom feeders eat whatever they may get nutrients from, be it remains of dead sea life or... excrements. Something that eats dead something else or droppings of something else aren't considered clean for human consumption.
I may be wrong, but I'd like to know the correct answer also if I am.
2007-04-26 10:35:26 · answer #8 · answered by hayaa_bi_taqwa 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hehehehe Sometimes I feel just like a 3rd grader- you say eat shellfish and I just giggle uncontrollably!!
2007-04-26 10:32:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
They're not kosher. They're listed in Lev. as a food to stay away from. An "abomination" to use the correct term.
2007-04-26 10:33:13 · answer #10 · answered by Cindy Lou Who --P3D-- 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
they consider it "unclean" because its a fish that lives at the bottom of the ocean they also don't eat catfish and a few other kinds of sea food they don't eat pork either
2007-04-26 10:34:10 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋