07-11-2025, 07:59 AM
Quote:Why is non-kosher food for us [Gentiles / Noahides] permissible to eat, while G-d says later on that it is an abomination in His Eyes?
It seems that you're misunderstanding the intentions of the verses that speak about the special dietary commandments for Jews. The dietary commandment for Gentiles is not to eat meat that was removed from a living "animal" - more specifically, this applies to living land mammals or birds.
If you look in the first section of the Torah that teaches about the non-kosher species of living creatures, which is Leviticus 11:1-45, the only verses in which anything is referred to as being an "abomination" in and of itself are verses 41-42. There, it specifically says that this refers to creatures that are in the category of "sheretz" (usually translated loosely as "swarming"). The sage Rashi explains there that "sheretz" means "a low, short-legged creature, which appears [in its motion] only as if slithering and moving." The examples he gives there are creatures like: snakes, earthworms, creatures that resemble earthworms that have tiny legs but slither like a worm, scorpions, beetles and similar creatures, and centipedes.
In those verses, it does not say that they are "an abomination in His Eyes." It simply says in Hebrew that they are "sheketz," which is sometimes loosely translated as "an abomination." An alternative translation of that Hebrew word is "detestable." The Hebrew word "sheketz" really just means that most people are naturally disgusted / repulsed by the thought of eating them. None of the other non-kosher species of animals, birds, fish or sea-food are referred to in that way. But in some areas of the world, "sheketz" creatures are considered to be a normal, high-protein staple in their daily diet.
The other section of the Torah that teaches about the non-kosher species of living things is Deuteronomy 14:4-20. It starts by speaking about the kosher species of animals. It then speaks about the non-kosher species of animals, the kosher and non-kosher species of fish and birds, and the flying swarming creatures. In all of those verses, it does not say anything about any of them being an "abomination."
What G-d does say in the Torah, in speaking to the Jews, is that they [and only they] should not "defile their souls" by eating foods that G-d commanded them (and only them) not to eat. There are two meanings to this: (1) If a Jew eats a food that he is commanded not to eat, he has committed a sin, and the sin defiles his soul, until such time as the sin is removed from his soul by repentance, or through the specified punishment from an empowered Jewish court (which we do not have in modern times). (2) Non-kosher food comes from a spiritual source that will spiritually defile the soul of a Jew, but it does not have that effect on the soul of a Non-Jew. An analogy for this can be given, that there are foods which give a minority of people an allergic reaction, but most people are not allergic to those foods and can eat them with no ill effects.
Thus, before there were any Jewish people, in Genesis 9:3, G-d told Noah - a father of all mankind - "Every moving thing that lives shall be for food for you; like the green herb, I have given you all [creatures to eat]." But closely following that, in verse 9:5, G-d told Noah, "And surely your blood of your lives will I require...," which is a prohibition against a person physically harming himself. I.e., a person is obligated to guard his physical health. So although there are no creatures that are forbidden to Gentiles as food in general, if eating a particular type of creature will harm a person's physical health, he should avoid eating it for practical health reasons (but not for any spiritual reason).