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Chapter 20

Tereifot

כ - טריפות

In this chapter (16)
  1. 1. The Prohibitions of Nevela and Tereifa
  2. 2. General Rules of Tereifot
  3. 3. Doubtful Cases of Tereifot
  4. 4. Checking for Tereifot and Checking the Lungs
  5. 5. What Is a Lung Adhesion?
  6. 6. Checking Adhesions by Bubbling
  7. 7. Checking by Rubbing and Handling
  8. 8. The Practice of the Communities
  9. 9. Kasher and Ḥalak-Glatt
  10. 10. Further Issues in Animals
  11. 11. The Kashrut of Chicken and the Question of Vaccinations
  12. 12. Transporting Chickens and Taking Care Not to Drop Them
  13. 13. The Pace of Sheḥita and Checking the Knives
  14. 14. Checking the Tzomet Ha-gidin
  15. 15. Additional Checks
  16. 16. Questions About Chickens Sold with Kashrut Certification
20:1

The Prohibitions of Nevela and Tereifa

איסורי נבילה וטריפה

The Torah permitted eating the meat of kosher domesticated animals (behemot), wild animals (ḥayot), and birds, on condition that they were slaughtered properly. But if the animal died of illness or in an accident, or was slaughtered improperly, it becomes a nevela (carcass), and it is forbidden to eat it. Even an animal that was slaughtered properly, if a defect or wound that would cause the animal’s death is found in one of its organs, the sheḥita does not have the power to permit its meat to be eaten; since death is already eating away at its body, it is a tereifa. This is what is stated: “You shall be holy people to Me; you must not eat flesh torn by beasts (tereifa) in the field; you shall cast it to the dogs” (Shemot 22:30).¹

The Sages said: “Eight types of tereifot were told to Moshe at Sinai” (Ḥullin 43a), and these are they: 1) Derusa (clawed) – the animal was clawed by the talons of a predator. 2) Nekuva (perforated) – a perforation formed in one of its vital organs, such as the lung, the brain, the esophagus, or the heart. 3) Ḥasera (lacking) – from birth it lacks one of its vital organs, such as one of the lobes of the lung. 4) Netula (removed) – as a result of illness or an accident, one of its vital organs is missing, such as the liver. 5) Keru’a (torn) – a tear occurred in vital parts of its body, such as in the flesh covering the rumen. 6) Nefula (fallen) – it fell and its organs were crushed.

7) Pesuka (severed) – vital organs were cut across their width, such as the spinal cord or the trachea. 8) Shevura (broken) – for example, most of the animal’s ribs were broken, or the thigh bone was dislocated. In greater detail, the Sages said that there are eighteen types of tereifot (Ḥullin 42a), and in still greater detail the Rambam wrote (Hilkhot Sheḥita 10:9-11) that there are seventy tereifot in domesticated and wild animals, and seventy-two in birds (the laws of tereifot are explained in SA YD 29-60).

A domesticated animal or bird that is close to death due to old age or because its strength has waned, without any specific defect in one of its organs, is not considered a tereifa, since it is going to die in the way of all other animals, and after sheḥita it is permitted to eat its meat. Not only that, but even an animal that fell ill and is in such a dangerous state that people hurry to slaughter it lest it die before they manage to slaughter it and it become forbidden as a nevela, is permitted to be eaten, since it is not certain that it will die. However, it is a pious custom (minhag ḥasidut) not to eat of its meat (Ḥullin 44b; Rambam, Ma’akhalot Assurot 4:11-12).

The prohibition of tereifa can be explained by the fact that there are animalistic forces in the meat of animals that can draw the person who eats them downward, toward materiality, and distance him from spirituality and holiness. When the animal’s body is whole, the mitzva of sheḥita has the power to elevate its meat out of animality, so that it can help Israel live a life of holiness within this world. But when it is not whole, and because of a defect in its body death has already begun to eat away at it, sheḥita does not have the power to elevate its meat, and if Jews eat it, their souls will be damaged and they will not be able to be holy people.

Notes (1)
  1. The verse is not speaking of an animal that was killed by a predator, for an animal that died without sheḥita is forbidden because of the prohibition of nevela, as it is stated: “You shall not eat anything that has died a natural death (nevela)” (Devarim 14:21). Rather, it is speaking of an animal that a predator clawed with its talons and that managed to escape. Even though the animal remained alive, if it is going to die because of the clawing, it becomes a tereifa. But it is permitted to derive benefit from it; therefore it is permitted to cast it to a dog. Clawing by a predator is merely an example of a wound or defect that causes death, for any domesticated animal, wild animal, or bird with a wound in its flesh that is going to kill it becomes a tereifa and is forbidden to be eaten. (See Rambam, Hilkhot Ma’akhalot Assurot 4:6-8; Arukh Ha-shulḥan YD 29:8-10.)
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