What happensPermalink
Distinction between clean and unclean animals. Clean: cloven-footed animals that chew cud; true fish (with fins and scales); and winged insects that fly or hop. Unclean: other quadrupeds; shellfish, squids, marine mammals; ground-bound insects; carrion birds; and all crawling, swarming things.
Why it mattersPermalink
Uncleanness in many cases is related to death. Just as earlier law pronounced blood unclean and unfit for eating, so death, even of clean animals, renders the carcass and all who touch it unclean.
Key versePermalink
“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.”