Why exactly this is the case is not clear, but it seems to express some sense that the deity owns the firstborn and that by giving the deity the firstborn there will be continued fertility. The firstborn male animal is ritually significant on its own as well as in relation to firstborn male humans, who too are devoted to the deity.
For example, Exodus ritually and ideologically equates firstborn sons with firstborn animals as well as with first fruits:. Luckily for him, other passages state that the firstborn child is to be redeemed back from the deity:. Offering to God the firstborn son, as well as the animal, indicates divine control of fertility. Yet firstborn sons have prominent social and economic roles. The firstborn son is the proper heir of his father though sometimes a non-firstborn becomes the heir, such as when selected by Yahweh, like Isaac.
Deut Therefore the sanctity of the firstborn and firstling is a means not only of showing fertility and its control, but also of creating the special status of the firstborn son, who is redeemed so that he can become the heir of the father who offers him. By extension, the offering of the firstling male animal is intrinsically related to the process of lineage and inheritance, which is a primary means of reckoning social status and of distributing wealth. Furthermore, the ideology of the firstborn is related to Israel's priesthood, in which the Levites are the substitutes for the firstborn Israelites and themselves eat the donated firstling animals.
More importantly, the firstborn ideology relates even to Israel's very self-definition as God's "firstborn son" Ex , whose own firstborn are saved in the Passover event.
Firstborn ideology has fundamental social importance as well as ritual importance. Raising and eating pigs would not allow for this central cultural expression, or at least would require a significant adaptation of firstling rituals.
Another problematic aspect of pigs' reproduction also relates to ritual-cultural ideology. The Bible is a patriarchal and patrilineal text. It presents a culture based largely on paternity and paternal identity. Witness the long genealogical lists of males that are so distinctive of biblical style! The fertility of swine, in which one female bears many offspring at a time, would appear to highlight female fertility and motherhood instead of fatherhood.
In fact, the rituals of many ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean cultures specifically use female pigs to represent female fertility. For example, the Hittite ritual text "The Benedictions for Labarna" states, "Just as a single pig gives birth to many piglets, let every single branch of this vineyard, like the pig, bear many grape clusters. This ritual was performed in honor of Demeter, the goddess of grain and mother of Persephone, who preferred pigs in most of her rites. While we have no evidence that biblical pork avoidance was a direct polemic against goddess worship, the image of fertility enacted in these rites opposes the biblical concept of fertility.
In the Bible, female—and male—fertility is largely minimized and controlled. Sex, birth, and other evidence of reproduction is deemed impure and must be carefully controlled through ritual see especially Lev 12 ; In the Bible, the male deity controls the womb and what comes from it: he says, "every womb opener is mine" Ex Numerous biblical texts emphasize that Yahweh alone has the power to open and close the womb and to create its contents e.
Num The image of the female pig, reproducing abundantly, challenges the form of controlled, restrained and male-dominated fertility imagined in the Bible. In addition, as multiparous animals, pigs can further confuse and obscure paternity. Multiparous female animals are capable of bearing the offspring of different males simultaneously. When multiparous female animals conceive, they are in estrus for multiple days, during the course of which they release several eggs.
It was a celebration of a book by Dr. Fearing repercussions, Israeli publishers unanimously refused to publish it and the book chain stores declined to display it.
As a result, Landau published it himself. Of all the rules of kashrut Jewish dietary law , the prohibition against eating pork has perhaps the deepest resonance for Jews.
Historically, the refusal to eat pork has been understood as a symbol of Jewish identity. During the persecutions of Antiochus IV that form the background to the Hanukkah story, Jews accepted martyrdom rather than eating pork in public, since they understood this action as a public renunciation of their faith.
Even today, many Jews who do not observe other laws of kashrut nonetheless refrain from eating pork. When we open Parashat Shmini, the first section of the Torah in which the laws of kashrut are discussed, we might expect a lengthy exposition on the particular evils of the pig. Instead, when we look at the prohibition against eating pork in the context of the other prohibited foods enumerated in Parashat Shmini, it suddenly seems surprising that the pig has achieved such unique notoriety.
The list of forbidden foods begins with more obscure delicacies like camel and rock badger; the pig, the last of the mammals to be mentioned, seems almost like an afterthought. Even more surprisingly, the pig does not violate the standards of kashrut as flagrantly as other animals do. The Torah teaches that in order to be kosher, animals must chew their cud and have cleft hoofs. The pig does not chew its cud, but it does have cleft hoofs — so we might expect that it would be less offensive than animals that meet neither criterion.
In view of this apparent contradiction, how might we understand the widespread Jewish aversion to pork? Biblical scholars have suggested an array of historical possibilities, but a story told by the Hasidic master, Rabbi Meir of Premishlan, offers a unique insight. One Shabbat, Rabbi Meir invited a guest who had been visiting Premishlan for several weeks. How Does Aeroponics Work? Brian Barth. Explore Modern Farmer.
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