Comentário sobre Deuteronômio 14:3

כל תועבה [THOU SHALT NOT EAT] ANY ABOMINATION — i.e. anything that I have declared to be an abomination to you (which in itself may not be an abominable thing) — as for instance if one deliberately makes a slit in the ear of a firstborn animal (thus making it unfit for sacrifice) so that one may slaughter it in the country (i.e. outside Jerusalem) and eat it there. Here you have a thing I declared to be an abomination to you, in that I commanded you (Leviticus 22:21) “one shall cause no blemish to be therein”. Scripture now comes and teaches you here that one should not slaughter such an animal and eat it, on account of that blemish. Another example: If one boils meat in milk — here you have a thing that I have declared to be an abomination to you (cf. Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 14:21), and here it lays down the prohibition about eating it (Chullin 114b).

THOU SHALT NOT EAT ANY ABOMINABLE THING. He wanted now to add an explanation [to the laws] pertaining to forbidden foods, and therefore he said, Thou shalt not eat an abominable thing, thus declaring that all things that are forbidden are abhorrent to the pure soul, for the meaning of every expression of “abomination” is “hatefulness and repugnance,” similar to, for the king’s word was abominable to Joab;²⁰¹I Chronicles 21:6. their soul abhorred all manner of food.²⁰²Psalms 107:18. For forbidden foods that are coarse generate a thickness and obstruction in the soul, as I have explained in its place.²⁰³Leviticus 11:13. See also Exodus 22:30 (Vol. II, p. 401). Therefore he said further, Of all clean winged things ye may eat²⁰⁴Verse 20. in order to declare that [only] those [foods] which He prohibited are “abominable,” and the rest are clean and fit for the pure soul. And in the Sifre the Rabbis have said:²⁰⁵Sifre, R’eih 103. “Rabbi Shimon says: Of all clean winged things ye may eat²⁰⁴Verse 20. — these are the clean locusts; and all winged swarming things are unclean unto you²⁰⁶Verse 19. these are the unclean locusts.” He has said well. Now this is the sense of these verses. He mentioned the prohibition of all winged swarming things, those that go upon all fours,²⁰⁷Leviticus 11:20. and then he said Of all clean winged things ye may eat²⁰⁴Verse 20. to permit those of them which have joined legs above their feet:²⁰⁸Ibid., Verse 21. the locust, the bald locust, the cricket, and the grasshopper.²⁰⁹See ibid., Verse 22. It was not necessary to explain this because it has already been stated.²⁰⁹See ibid., Verse 22. But he mentioned in general, briefly, Of all clean winged things ye may eat²⁰⁴Verse 20. that is to say, all those that have been mentioned are abominable foods, and the rest of the fowls, according their species and multitudes, you may eat of them all clean things which I have not prohibited. Thus he included all things that are forbidden to us, for they are all abominable. It was not necessary afterwards to detail [here] the swarming things and all that creep upon the earth, for it is known that any pure-minded person abhors them completely. But he mentioned the signs of beasts and wild animals,²¹⁰See Verses 6-8. fish,²¹¹See Verses 9-10. fowl,²¹²See Verses. 11-20. and carcass [of an animal that died without being properly slaughtered]²¹³See Verse 21. in order to inform you that they, too, are abominable to the soul. He did not mention treifah²¹⁴A clean animal or fowl suffering from a serious organic disease whose meat we are forbidden to eat even if ritually slaughtered. since it is not “abominable;” nevertheless, in order to prevent harm to those who would eat it, it is forbidden, because of its poison or mortal sickness. Our Rabbis have yet more interpretations on this section:²¹⁵Chullin 63b. “Why were [these laws of forbidden foods] repeated here? In the case of beasts [the laws were restated] on account of hashesuah (the cleft one)²¹⁶See Verse 7. “This is a certain animal which has two backs and two spinal columns” (Chullin 63b, and quoted by Rashi here). [which we are forbidden to eat, and is not mentioned in Leviticus], and in the case of birds the laws were restated because of the glede”²¹⁷See Verse 13. [which is not mentioned in Leviticus and is forbidden]. And there is yet another interpretation:²⁰⁵Sifre, R’eih 103. “Of all clean birds ye may eat²¹⁸Verse 11. — this is intended to permit [as food] the bird that is set free [at the purification rite of] the leper;²¹⁹Leviticus 14:7. But these are they of which ye shall not eat²²⁰Verse 12. — this is intended to prohibit the bird that is slaughtered” [at the purification rite of the leper].²²¹Leviticus 14:5. They [the Rabbis] received [this tradition that the expression] of ‘all’ clean birds²¹⁸Verse 11. hints that the [living] bird, not contracting the impurity [of the leper], is permissible as food. The impurity of the leper does not attach to the living [bird] — for no living things among beast or fowl are susceptible to impurity when touching a corpse or dead creeping thing. But the slaughtered [bird], being susceptible to uncleanness, the spirit of impurity which leaves the leper, attaches thereto, and is [therefore] not clean. Thus it becomes one of the “abominable” things, because eating it is abhorrent.

לא תאכל כל תועבה; before the Torah had been revealed, given, the Israelites as well as mankind generally were aware of the concepts “pure, טהור,” and “טמא, impure.” This is clear already from G’d’s command to Noach to take into the ark with him one pair each of the “impure” species,” and seven pairs each of the “pure” species of animals and birds. (Genesis 7,2) When G’d, after the deluge, permitted man to eat meat, He did not distinguish between meat from “pure” animals and meat from “impure animals.” However, now, after the giving of the Torah, when the Jewish people had become so special, it was no longer appropriate for them to ingest the remains of impure animals or birds (or even fish). Our sustenance should not be dependent on such inferior living beings. We should remain constantly aware of the gulf between man and beast, especially beasts which had never been suitable as sacrifices.