레위기 11:41의 주석

‎‎‎‏על הארץ ‎ושרץ THAT CREEPETH ON THE EARTH — the law is worded thus in order to exclude the insects in peas and in beans and the mites in lentils, for, you see, these do not move about on the ground but inside the food, but so soon as they have emerged into the air and have moved about they become prohibited to be eaten (Sifra, Shemini, Chapter 12 1; Chullin 67b).

AND EVERY CREEPING THING THAT CREEPETH UPON THE EARTH IS A DETESTABLE THING; IT SHALL NOT BE EATEN. The meaning of this verse is as follows: He mentioned above the [eight] creeping things²⁷⁶Ibid., Verses 29-30. in connection with impurity [conveyed through contact when they are dead], and expressly mentioned those that are impure, but did not speak at all of the prohibition of eating. It is for this reason that He now says, And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth is a detestable thing; it shall not be eaten, meaning to say that as far as eating is concerned, there is no difference between them, for they are all forbidden. Then He spoke of them again in detail [in the following verses], and increased the negative commandments about them, [in order to increase the liability] to whipping, just as Rashi mentioned.²⁷⁷Verse 44: “Neither shall ye defile yourselves. This is repeated to indicate that a person transgresses many negative commandments if he eats the detestable things” (Rashi).

וכל השרץ השורץ על הארץ, “and every teeming creature whose habitat is the earth (land, as opposed to the water and oceans).” Seeing that there are only 8 of these species whose cadavers confer ritual contamination, one might have thought that all the other species are also fit to be eaten. The Torah therefore spells out that none of these species may be eaten.

וכל השרץ השורץ על הארץ שקץ הוא לא יאכל, “and all teeming creatures that teem on the ground, it is something abhorrent, it shall not be eaten.” This refers to the worms growing in fruit such as in dates and figs, as well as the ones in lentils and peas (Chulin 67). In verse 42 the Torah mentions לכל השרץ השורץ על הארץ, which sounds like a repetition. Actually, there the Torah had modified the word השורץ first by saying ההולך על הארץ. The animals mentioned in verse 42 are the result of the male and female of those species having mated in the accepted manner. Man endangers himself by eating these creatures. The ones described as “walking on its belly” are the snakes; the ones described as “walking on four,” are the hornets; the expression כל, i.e. “all,” is applied to four-legged dung beetles and the like. The word מרבה רגלים, “having many feet,” refers to centipedes of all kinds. The words על הארץ repeated once more, refer to such moths, worms, etc., which are generated in mould, garbage, compost, etc.

Short feet. You might ask: How does this relate to what Rashi explained beforehand? He should have brought this explanation on the verse! The answer is: This is so that you will not contend: Perhaps “לא יאכל (it may not be eaten)” comes to prohibit one from deriving any benefit from שרצים (creeping creatures), and the phrase (v. 42): “לא תאכלם (you may not eat them)” of שרצים comes to prohibit eating a creature which is low with short feet although it is not considered [in the category of] שרצים. For this reason Rashi explains: “[The word] שרץ denotes only a [creature which is low, with short feet].” If so, something low is the שרצים spoken of in the Torah. Therefore, “לא תאכלם” (v. 42) comes only with regard to שרצים. Consequently, perforce, “לא יאכל” (v. 41) does not come to teach a prohibition of deriving benefit, for later it is written, “לא תאכלם” (see Pesachim 21b). Similarly, that which Rashi explains above (v. 13): “Any fowl of which it is said: ‘to its kind’...” needs to be explained in this way (so I found).

לא יאכל IT SHALL NOT BE EATEN — This passive form; it shall not become the object of eating, is used to make the liability to punishment fall upon the one who gives these abominable things to others (to‎ minors) to eat just the same as upon him who himself eats them (Sifra, Shemini, Chapter 12 1; cf. Rashi on v. 13). — Only that is called שרץ which is low and has short feet and which seems only to progress by a creeping movement.