Parashat Shemini In English

SHEMINI Elohim delivers the laws of kashrut – food fit to eat, identifying the species of animals that can eat and those that cannot. Terrestrial animals are allowed if they have split hooves and are ruminants; fish should have scales and fins; A list of non-kosher birds is given, and a list of kosher insects (four types of locusts). Laws of ritual purity include the purifying power of the mikveh (a pool of water with specific characteristics) and springs. Jewish people are commanded to "differentiate between the impure and the pure."