Does anyone think that some of these Biblical/Toranic passages were written in ancient times as “prohibited by God” because it became widespread knowledge that eating certain things could kill/harm you?
Take the pig…Jews aren’t supposed to eat it, right? it’s described as a filthy animal in the religious texts pertaining to it, but couldn’t that be because of widepsread trichinosis in those days due to poor feeding of the animal or incorrectly prepared meat? Wild game can have trichinosis too, but you know what? We don’t see it in pigs anymore because we have learned how to eliminate it.
One can’t help but wonder. Ultimately it’s more bacon for the rest of us pig-eaters, but couldn’t some kind of raw understanding of infectious parasites of those times be reflected as “God’s word”?
This is a common speculation but it has problems – namely that other cultures in Palestine (including the Canaanites, the Philistines and the Greeks) raised pigs and ate pork with no particular ill effect. The reason the prohibition originated among the Israelite culture is unknown (unless you believe it was really dictated to Moses), but it’s something that does appear to date back to the most antique history of the culture. One of the ways that archaeologists can identify a site as being Israelite community is the lack of pig bones. There are never any pig bones in Israelite archaeological sites. Even if you find temples or idols to other gods, you still don’t find pig bones.
The prevailing theory I’ve seen is that not eating pork was a way for the Israelites to clearly distinguish themselves from the surrounding Canaanites. That may be but it seems…incomplete to me somehow. I think there must have been a a more religious association with pigs that they were trying to avoid. Pigs must have symbolized something taboo to them but I have no idea what.
Another interpetation is cultural in the sense of “life style”. A pig is more common to a comparatively urban environment and settled agriculture, the pig recycles the scraps and detritus of agriculture into food. A pig is not practical for sheep herding nomads, if for no other reason than it can’t eat grass.
The Hebrews regarded themselves as superior to the ubanized residents of their world, regarding settled living as unnatural, dirty and depraved. Hence, they regarded the diet and habits of such people in the same light.
That’s an interesting insight. You may be onto something. It’s reminiscent of the pastoral/agricultural tension preserved in the Cain and Abel story too.
I think I first picked up a variation of that from Marvin Harris’ Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture, quite a while back. I’ve seen it reflected often since, so I dont know perzackly if he is the source or no. But it makes a lot of sense to me.
I know I’ve heard the notion that God preferred Abel to Cain because Abel reflected God’s agricultural preferences. Makes as much sense as any of this does, and more than most.
Well now you’ve just gone and ruined my favorite Jewish triva question!!
It used to be - which two foods are kosher, while the creature that produces them is not kosher? Honey and breast milk
Now it will have to be - What does Israeli Barbie say in bed? Ken, Ken KEN!!Grim
Here in Oaxaca grasshoppers are a traditional favorite; there are little old ladies at the entrance to all the markets offering trays of fried chapulines, sorted by size, along with maguey worms (the kind you get in a bottle of tequila) and other invertebrate delicacies. They are reasonably edible, but the legs get caught in your teeth. You can even order grasshopper pizza if you like. And the local semipro baseball team is called ‘Los Chapulineros’ the grasshopper catchers.
This thread reminds me of the old joke I heard back in grade school:
The Sunday School teacher was teaching her class about John the Baptist. When she described how he ate wild honey and locusts, little Susie raised her hand and asked, “What’s a locust?”
“It’s a kind of grasshopper,” the teacher replied.
