Terefah (,
lit. "torn by a beast of prey";
plural
In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...
''treifot'') refers to either:
* A member of a
kosher species of
mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
or
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
, disqualified from being considered
kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...
, due to pre-existing mortal injuries or physical defects.
* A specific list of mortal injuries or physical defects that disqualify a member of a kosher species of mammal or bird from being kosher.
Biblical prohibition
The
biblical prohibition of eating ''terefah'' stems from the verse:
According to the
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
, there were originally only eight types of terefah, however, the author(s) of the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...
added eighteen items to the list. Eventually,
Maimonides
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...
added even more to finish the list of terefah conditions at 70. Rabbi
Joseph Caro
Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro (; 1488 – March 24, 1575, 13 Nisan 5335 A.M.), was a prominent Sephardic Jewish rabbi renowned as the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the ''Beit Yosef'', and its ...
organized all of these symptoms in the
Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulhan Arukh'' ( ),, often called "the Code of Jewish Law", is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Rabbinic Judaism. It was authored in the city of Safed in what is now Israel by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in ...
(
Yoreh De'ah
''Yoreh De'ah'' () is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha (Jewish law), the ''Arba'ah Turim'', written around 1300.
This section treats all aspects of Jewish law not pertinent to the Hebrew calendar, finance, torts, marr ...
, 29-60) by categorizing them according to parts of the animal, their minute malady, and any disease, fracture, or abnormality they may possess.
[The Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls Company. New ed., Vol II. pp. 109-110]
This prohibition should not be confused with a separate category of prohibition, called ''nevelah'' (a carcass), of eating of any kosher species of mammal or bird which died by any means other than
shechita
In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; ; ; also transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is ritual slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to ''kashrut''. One who practices this, a kosher butcher is called a ''sho ...
.
נבלה וטרפה
/ref> Thus, an animal could only be considered a ''terefah'' while alive; once it dies of its ''terefah'' wound it would be considered a ''nevelah''. An important consequence is that a ''terefah'' which dies by ''shechita'', while not fit for kosher consumption, does not have the status and rules of ''nevelah'' (e.g. with regard to imparting ritual impurity
Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification ...
).
The first eight types
The Talmud enumerates eight types of ''terefah'' that would make an animal unfit for ritual sacrifice according to Mosaic law:rumen
The rumen, also known as a paunch, is the largest stomach compartment in ruminants. The rumen and the reticulum make up the reticulorumen in ruminant animals. The diverse microbial communities in the rumen allows it to serve as the primary si ...
, omasum
The omasum, also known as the green, the fardel, the manyplies and the psalterium, is the third compartment of the stomach in ruminants. The omasum comes after the rumen and reticulum and before the abomasum. Different ruminants have different oma ...
, intestines, the lung and trachea.
*Deficiency: the absence from birth of one of the lobes of the lung, or one of the feet.
*Missing: the absence of converging sinews in the thigh, or the liver, or the upper jaw.
*Severing: the severing of the membrane covering the spinal cord whether the spinal column be broken or not.
*Falling: the crushing of one of the internal organs of an animal as the result of a fall.
*Tearing: the tearing of most of the flesh covering the rumen.
*Fracturing: such as the fracturing of most of its ribs.
Influence in other languages
The Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
word טרייף, ''treyf'', derived from ''terefah'', refers to any non-kosher foods, not just those that fall under the category of ''terefah'' as described above. The Yiddish word and its verb form ''treyfn'' gave rise to the Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
word '' trefny'', meaning 'deficient, illicit'.
Certain food taboo
Some people do not eat various specific foods and beverages in conformity with various religious, cultural, legal or other societal prohibitions. Many of these prohibitions constitute taboos. Many food taboos and other prohibitions forbid the mea ...
s in Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...
are known in Surinamese Dutch
Surinamese Dutch (, ), also known as Surinaams is the form of Dutch spoken in Suriname and is the official language in Suriname, a former colony of the Netherlands. Dutch is spoken as a native language by about 80% of the population, most of ...
as , derived from Sranan Tongo ''trefu'' and ultimately from ''terefah'' due to influence from Sephardi Jews who came to Suriname in the 17th century (similarly to Sranan ''kaseri'' 'ritually clean' from ''kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...
'').
References
External links
Laws of Judaism concerning food, including laws concerning terefah
{{Kashrut
Kashrut
Negative Mitzvoth
Hebrew words and phrases in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law