What is the historical reason that pigs are not kosher?
Pigs are not kosher (and neither are camels or rabbits, btw) because the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy say so. Period. In order to be kosher an animal has to have cloven hoofs AND chew its cud. Pigs have cloven hoofs but don’t chew their cud. Rabbits and camels chew their cud but have toes rather than cloven hoofs. We don’t know WHY these animals were deemed unfit for Jewish people to eat. Its true that improperly stored and cooked pork frequently does lead to trichinosis, but that’s not why observant Jews are prohibited from eating it. You can’t eat it because G-d said so. That’s really what it boils down to — you either believe that the laws of kashrut are the word of G-d, and follow them, or you don’t believe, and you don’t.
Kosher is a Jewish term, relating to foods that are acceptable by their scriptures as clean. Kosher is so precise that some parts of beef are kosher, and some parts are not. In the scriptures, a pig is considered unclean because even though it “parts” the hoof (hoof looks like two toes) it does NOT chew the cud. Meat that is labeled as kosher has undergone a religious form of inspection. The term kosher is derived from a Hebrew word meaning “clean, fit or properly prepared.” Kosher inspection has its origins in the Jewish dietary code described in the original five books of the Holy Scriptures. This knowledge was later recorded in the Talmud, a collection of ancient writings that form the basis of religious authority for traditional Judaism. Following the rules described in the Talmud ensures that meat is religiously clean and acceptable for consumption. Meat to be koshered must come from animals that have split hooves and chew their cud. Because of this requirement, cattle and sheep a
