Kosher locust

Kosher locusts are varieties of locust deemed permissible for consumption under the laws of kashrut (Jewish dietary law). While the consumption of most insects is forbidden under the laws of kashrut, the rabbis of the Talmud identified eight kosher species of locust. However, the identity of those species is in dispute.[1]

Kosher locust
A red locust.
Halakhic texts relating to this article
Torah:Leviticus 11:22
Mishnah:Hullin 59a
Babylonian Talmud:Hullin 65a-66b and Avodah Zarah 37a
Shulchan Aruch:Yoreh De'ah 85
Other rabbinic codes:Exodus Rabbah 13:7

Yemenite tradition

According to Yemenite tradition, the edible locust referred to in the Torah is identified by the figure resembling the Hebrew letter chet (ח) on the underside of the thorax.[2] The most common of these in Yemen was the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), whose color ranges from yellowish-green to grey, to reddish in colour when it reaches maturity (Hebrew: ארבה‎, romanized: arbeh, Aramaic: גובאי‎, romanized: gobai, or Arabic: الجراد‎, romanized: al-jaraad).[3] In Yemen, the locust and the grasshopper share the same Arabic name, although Jews in Yemen recognize the differences between the two.[4]

Pair of desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria)

In spite of the reference of other edible locusts in the Pentateuch, such as the Chargol (Aramaic: ניפול‎, Nippul; Arabic: الحرجوان‎, Al-Harjawaan), and the Sal'am (Aramaic: רשון‎, Rashona; Arabic: الدبا‎, romanized: Al-Daba), the tradition of recognizing and eating these specific kinds had been lost in Yemen, prior to their emigration from Yemen in the mid-20th century CE.[5] Only certain species of the Chagav (grasshopper) were still eaten in Yemen, such as the species now known as the greyish or brownish Egyptian locust (Anacridium aegyptium), thought by some to be an edible grasshopper,[6] even though it was known in Arabic by its generic name al-Jaraad (Arabic: الجراد‎).[7]

In 1911, Abraham Isaac Kook, the chief rabbi of Ottoman Palestine, addressed a question to the rabbinic Court at Sana'a concerning their custom of eating grasshoppers, and whether this custom was observed by observing their outward features, or by simply relying upon an oral tradition. The reply given to him by the court was as follows: "The grasshoppers which are eaten by way of a tradition from our forefathers, which happen to be clean, are well-known unto us. But there are yet other species which have all the recognizable features of being clean, yet do we practice abstaining from them. [Appendage]: The clean grasshoppers (Hebrew: חגבים‎) about which we have a tradition are actually three species having each one different coloration [from the other], and each of them are called by us in the Arabian tongue, ğarād (locusts). But there are yet other species, about which we have no tradition, and we will not eat them. One of which is a little larger in size than the grasshoppers, having the name of `awsham. There is yet another variety, smaller in size than the grasshopper, and it is called ḥanājir (katydids)."[8][9]

The Jews of Yemen did not follow the halakhic ruling of Maimonides, where it was made sufficient to merely recognise their features before eating them.[10] Instead, they ate only those locusts that they acknowledged in their own tradition as being edible, namely, the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), and which they called in Yemenite Jewish parlance, ğarād.[11]

Manner of preparation

Several methods were applied in the preparation of locusts, prior to eating them. One of the more popular ways was to take the locusts after gathering them and to throw them into a pot of boiling salt water. After cooking for a few minutes, they were then removed from the pot and placed within a heated oven in order to dry them, or else spread out in the sun to dry. Once dry, they would take up the locusts and break off their heads, wings and legs and discard them, eating only the thorax and abdomen. Another method was to stoke an earthenware stove and, when fully heated, to cast them while alive into the cavity of the stove. Once roasted, they were taken out and a brine solution was sprinkled over them, before spreading them out in the sun to dry, usually upon one’s rooftop.[12] Those with refined tastes saw it as a delicacy.[13]

Djerba tradition

In the Jewish community of Djerba, Tunisia, the consumption of locusts was forbidden by a takkanah of rabbi Aharon Perez mid-18th century.[14] According to his letter to Rabbi David Eliyahu Hajaj, eating locusts was still an accepted practice in Tunisia at the time. Although a consumer of locusts himself, he quit the habit after reading Rabbi Hayyim ben Atar's book Peri To`ar, and moved in favour to prohibit consumption. However, as the practice was still widely accepted in the city of Tunis — the rabbinical court of which was considered to have the higher authority — he kept his decision to himself without making it public. After a prohibition against eating locusts was finally declared in Tunis, Aharon encouraged to prohibit the practice in Djerba as well.[15]

Normative practice

The Halakha regarding locusts, and all kosher animals for that matter, is that one is allowed to eat a specific type of animal only if there is a "continuous tradition" that affirms that it is kosher. It is not enough that the locust seems to conform to the criteria mentioned in the Torah. This does not mean that one must possess a 'personal tradition' in order to eat locusts. If one travels to a place where the people do have a tradition, the new arrival would also be allowed to eat them. The Yemenite Jews and some others had such a continuous tradition.[16][17]

It is also worth pointing out that the common names used in the Bible refer only to color and broad morphological generalities shared by many Middle Eastern species. Also, although it is often useful for identification, the geographic location of these locusts in the text is unclear. Using primarily color to identify insect species is a notoriously unreliable approach. Insects that come to adulthood will have slightly different colors based on season, diet, and prevailing climate. Which species of locust are actually being referred to in the text is therefore nearly impossible to ascertain. This will further complicate adherence.

British Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz says in his commentary on Leviticus 11:22

"None of the four kinds of locust mentioned is certainly known (RV Margin). For this reason also, later Jewish authorities, realizing that it is impossible to avoid errors being made declare every species of locust to be forbidden." [18]

Jews who live in consonance with ritual laws normally consult a rabbi when questions on ritual practices arise.

How and by whom Kosher locusts were eaten

The author of the Aruch HaShulchan points out that locusts were not considered a delicacy—rather they were food for the poor.

A midrash describes the pickling of locusts before their consumption:

Once the locusts came, the Egyptians rejoiced and said 'Let us gather them and fill our barrels with them.' The Holy One, Blessed be He, said, 'Wicked people, with the plague that I have brought against you, are you going to rejoice?!' Immediately God brought upon them a western wind ... and none were left. What does it mean that none were left? Even those that were pickled with salt and sitting in their pots and barrels were blown away....[19]

See also

References
  1. Abramowitz: "The rabbis of the Talmud identify eight kosher species, arguably including grasshoppers and crickets. However, while the Sephardic community has a tradition identifying kosher locusts, the Ashkenaz community follows the opinion of Rashi that we have lost our identifying traditions and therefore we refrain from eating locusts."
  2. Amar 2004, pp. 151-153.
  3. Amar 2004, p. 106.
  4. יבנאלי, שמואל (1952). מסע לתימן : בשליחות המשרד הארץ ישראלי של ההסתדרות הציונית בשנות תרע"א-תרע"ב 1911-1912 (in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv. pp. 187–199.
  5. Amar 2004, pp. 110-111.
  6. Amar 2004, p. 120.
  7. Amar 2004, pp. 120-121; 146.
  8. יבנאלי, שמואל (1952). מסע לתימן : בשליחות המשרד הארץ ישראלי של ההסתדרות הציונית בשנות תרע"א-תרע"ב 1911-1912 (in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv. pp. 187–199.
  9. Amar 2004, p. 147: The ḥanājir is described as a jumping grasshopper found in grasses, smaller than the edible locust, and whose color is either greenish or yellowish-brown, possessing a pointed tail. This species is also endemic to the land of Israel, and it has been identified with the katydid. One of the clear signs of the family Tettigonioidea is the long pipe-like organ for laying eggs, belonging to the females, [and] which resembles a sword or a bend similar to a sickle. (Original Hebrew:ה"חנאג'ר" מתואר כחגב קופצני הנמצא בדשאים, קטן מן הארבה הכשר וצבעו ירקרק או חום-צהבהב, בעל זנב מחודד. מין זה גדל גם בארץ והוא מזוהה עם החרגול. אחד מהסימנים המובהקים של משפחת החרגוליים (טטיגוניוידיא) הוא צינור ההטלה הארוך של הנקבה שהוא דמוי חרב או כפוף דמוי חרמש.)
  10. ben Maimon, Moses (2017). "Ma'achaloth Asuroth" הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק א [Laws of Forbidden Food]. משנה תורה להרמב"ם [RaMBaM's Mishneh Torah] (in Hebrew) (The Mamre Institute ed.). Jerusalem: The Mamre Institute. 1:21-22. 1.21 The kinds of grasshoppers permitted by the Torah are eight, which are these: a) ḥagav [grasshopper]; b) a kind of grasshopper, being the dūbanīt; c) ḥargol; d) a kind of ḥargol, being the ʿaṣroniya; e) arbeh [locust]; f) a kind of locust, being the ṣipporet keramīm; g) solʿam; h) a kind of solʿam, being the yoḥanah of Jerusalem.
    1.22 Anyone who is knowledgeable regarding them and their names, he eats [them]; and the hunter is faithful concerning them, just as he would be concerning a [clean] fowl. But he that is not knowledgeable, he checks their signs; there being three distinct signs common to them: all having four forelegs, and four wings which cover most of their body lengthwise and most of their body's broadside, and having two hind femurs for jumping withal, lo, such is an edible (lit. pure) kind [of insect]. And even if its head was long, and it had a tail, if its name is a grasshopper, it is edible (lit. pure).
    (Original Hebrew: א,כא מיני חגבים שהתירה תורה, שמונה; ואלו הן: (א) חגב; (ב) ומין חגב, והיא הדובנית; (ג) חרגול; (ד) ומין חרגול, והיא עצרוניא; (ה) ארבה; (ו) ומין ארבה, והיא ציפורת כרמים; (ז) סולעם; (ח) ומין סולעם, והיא יוחנה ירושלמית.
    א,כב מי שהוא בקי בהן ובשמותיהן, אוכל; והצייד נאמן עליהן, כעוף. ומי שאינו בקי, בודק בסימנין; ושלושה סימנין יש להן: כל שיש לו ארבע רגליים, וארבע כנפיים שחופות רוב אורך גופו ורוב היקף גופו, ויש לו שני כרעיים לנתר בהן--הרי זה מין טהור. ואף על פי שראשו ארוך ויש לו זנב--אם היה שמו חגב, טהור.)
  11. Yedid, Rachel; Bar-Maoz, Danny (2018). Ascending the palm tree : An anthology of the Yemenite Jewish heritage. Rehovot E'ele BeTamar. p. 102. As for eating grasshoppers, the Jews of Yemen did not follow the halakhic ruling of Maimonides, where he posited that it was sufficient to merely recognize their features. Instead, they ate only the kind of grasshopper that, according to their tradition, was an edible grasshopper, namely, the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), and which they called in Yemenite-Jewish parlance, ğarād. Rabbi Abraham Ṣanʻāni's responsum indicates that even in his realm the practice was as the other communities in Yemen, although he personally refrained from eating them, probably because of the impact of Rabbi Ḥaim ben Attar's opinion. OCLC 1041776317.
  12. Amar 2004, p. 49: Whenever a plague of locusts visited their places [...] they'd gather the locusts fallen to the ground, just as they would gather forsaken eggs. At home, they would soak the locusts in a pot of boiling water, they would then spice them and cool them off. [...] Such a description repeats itself in an interview that I made with Jews who recently came-up to Israel from Yemen. After boiling the locust in boiling water, they would dry it in the sun, usually upon the rooftops of the houses [...] S. Bannei Moshe wrote on his method of preserving the locusts in his memoirs: After stoking the oven 'they would empty the content of the sacks carrying the locusts into it, while they were still alive, and cover-up [the mouth of] the stove for a few hours. Then they'd remove them, sprinkle upon them a solution of salt mixed with water, and spread them out in an open-place for a number of days. After drying, they would pack them [for storage]'. (Original Hebrew: כל אימת שמיתקפת חגבים פוקדת את מקומותיהם... [היו יוצאים] לאסוף את החגבים הנושרים ארצה כאסוף ביצים עזובות. בבית משרים את החגבים בקדירת מים רותחים, מתבלים ומצננים... תיאור זה חזר על עצמו בראיון שערכתי עם יהודים שעלו לא מכבר מתימן. לאחר חליטת הארבה במים רותחים היו מייבשים אותו בשמש, בדרך כלל על גגות הבתים... כתב גם ש' בני משה בזכרונותיו: לאחר הסקת התנור "היו מריקים את שקי הארבה לתוכו בעודו חי ומכסים את התנור למספר שעות. אז מוציאים אותו, מתיזים עליו מלח מהול במים ושוטחים אותו במקום פתוח למספר ימים. לאחר שנתייבש היה נארז".)
  13. Mizrahi, Avshalom (1993). Serri, Shalom (ed.). "Ha'mitbah ha'temani" המטבח התימני: חואיג׳, אהבה ופולקלור [The Yemenite Kitchen - Hawaij, Love and Folklore]. Bat Teman (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv: Amutat E’ele Ba’tamar: 102. Locusts: Although the locust (ğarād) was not a regular component in the Yemenite cuisine, it is worthy of being mentioned here. This is the only insect where some of its species are permitted to be eaten under Jewish biblical law (Leviticus 11:22). The Jews of Yemen would occasionally eat of it, while those with refined taste saw it as a delicacy. The locusts were gathered in the hours of the night, at the time when they attacked agricultural areas, and their crispy bodies were prepared for eating either by frying or roasting. Children were also treated with them, as a delicacy OCLC 233096195
  14. Valensi & Udovitch 1984, p. 17-18: The biography of Rabbi Aharon Perez [...] adds that he also instituted (in Hebrew, tikken) many rules regarding the rituals that since then have formed part of Djerba's tradition. In particular, it was him that forbade the consumption of locusts in both communities, a habit that was until then regarded as permissible. Original French: La biographie du rabbin Aharon Perez [...] ajoute qu'il a aussi instauré (en hébreu tiqqen) un grand nombre de règles en matière de rituel qui ont appartenu depuis lors à la coutume djerbienne. C'est lui notamment, qui interdit la consommation de sauterelles dans les deux communautés, pratique considérée jusque là comme licite.
  15. Amar 2002, p. 193: This emerges from a letter sent by R. Aharon Perez. of Djerba (d. 1766) to R. David Eliyahu Hajaj from the city of Kafsa in the south of Tunisia. From this letter we see that during R. Aharon Peretz’s time, locust eating was an accepted practice. It was also accepted by the eminent rabbis of Djerba, among them R. Nissim K’iat, and R. Aharon Perez. himself attests that “I, too, used to love to eat it more than any other delicacy.” Then a copy of R. H. ayyim ben Atar’s book, Peri To`ar, came into his hands, and after reading it, R. Perez. was convinced that it was right, and that the eating of locusts should be forbidden. R. Aharon Perez. stopped eating locusts but refrained from publicizing his decision, since it was still accepted practice to eat locusts in Tunis. When the prohibition against eating locusts was publicized in Tunis (a city whose rabbinical court was considered to have the higher authority), R. Aharon also issued a declaration in Djerba.
  16. Amar 2004, pp. 85; 88: [p. 85] An explicit tradition of eating grasshoppers existed among all the Jews of Yemen, in their various factions. The Jews of Yemen were experts in what concerns the kinds of locust, and they had a regular practice of eating them… [p. 88] ...All Jews in Yemen, in all their dwelling places, were accustomed to eating locusts, city dwellers and villagers alike, as well as among their various factions: those who espouse to the Baladi-rite and those to the Shammi-rite, the kabbalists and the non-kabbalists. In recent generations, there began to infiltrate into Yemen the halachic works of other Jewish centers, and some of them even succeeded in influencing the original customs of Yemen. Thus, for example, the news of Rabbi Ḥayyim Ben Attar’s ruling against the eating of grasshoppers reached Yemen. Although this [specific] ruling had no impact on Yemen, in any rate the rabbis of Yemen made an effort to reinforce their ancient custom. The first to come out in defense of the tradition of eating grasshoppers in Yemen was Rabbi Yihye Qoraḥ (1840–1881), one of the last of Yemen’s sages. (Original Hebrew: (עמ' 85) מסורת ברורה של אכילת חגבים היתה בקרב כל יהודי תימן לפלגיהם השונים. יהודי תימן היו בקיאים במיני הארבה והם נהגו לאכול מהם תדיר... (עמ' 88) ...אכילת חגבים היתה נהוגה אצל כל יהודי תימן בכל מושבותיהם, עירוניים וכפריים כאחד, ולפלגיהם השונים: בעלי הנוסח הבלדי והשאמי, העקשים והדרדעים. בדורות האחרונים החלו לחדור לתימן חיבורים הלכתיים ממרכזים יהודיים אחרים, וחלק מהם אף הצליחו להשפיע על מנהגי תימן המקוריים. כך, למשל, הגיעה לתימן שמעה של פסיקתו של הרב חיים בן עטר כנגד אכילת חגבים. אף שלפסיקה זו לא היתה כל השפעה בתימן, בכל זאת טרחו רבני תימן לבצר את מנהגם הקדום. הראשון שיצא להגנת מסורת אכילת החגבים בתימן היה הרב יחיא קורח (ת"ר–תרמ"א), מחכמי תימן האחרונים.)
  17. Qafih, Yosef (1982). Jewish Life in Saná. 1982: Ben-Zvi Institute. p. 218. The Jews of Yemen would collect the locust and eat it – although not all species, rather, only known species accepted by them from their ancestors, based on the tradition passed down generation after generation that they are clean; and there are known species where the tradition held by them from their ancestors denotes as unclean, even though they possess all the signs of cleanness described in the Torah and in the Halacha. Among the unclean kinds are considered the following species: `awsham, ḥanāğir, ġazzāleh, usādat ḥanaš (the snake’s pillow), among others. All of the species are known to them by eye-inspection. Usually, the unclean kinds do not come in great swarms, but multiply during the rainy season, especially among the grasses and weeds. However, the clean kinds come in swarms, ‘all of them by banding together’ (Proverbs 30:27). Also the clean kinds are divided into four types; the best of them all is the one which is reddish in color; below it – that which is called ḥarḍiyyeh, of a grey and spotted color; below it, that which is yellowish in color, while below it is that which is whitish in color. This last one is inferior [to the rest] in terms of eating, on account of its thinness, and its limbs being more fibrous. The most praiseworthy is that which is reddish in color, especially at the time of its reproduction, when it is then fat and its taste is pleasant to the palate. (Original Hebrew: יהודי תימן היו לוקטים ארבה ואוכלים אותו, אך לא כל המינים, אלא רק מינים ידועים, המקובלים בידיהם מאבותיהם, על פי המסורת איש מפי איש, שהם טהורים; ויש מינים ידועים, שמסורת בידיהם מאבותיהם, שהם טמאים, אעפ"י שיש בהם כל סימני טהרה המפורשים בתורה ובהלכה. בין הטמאים נחשבים המינים הללו" "עושם", "חנאגר", "ג'זאלה", "וסאדת חנש", ועוד. כל המינים מוכרים להם בטביעת-עין. בדרך כלל אין המינים הטמאים באים במחנות גדולים אלא מתרבים בימות הגמשים, בייחוד בין דשאים ועשבים. אבל המינים הטהורים באים מחנות מחנות, ויצא חצץ כולו (משלי ל, כז). גם המינים הטהורים נחלקים לארבעה סוגים; משובח שבכולם האדמדם; למטה ממנו – "חרצ'ייה", אפור ונקוד; למטה ממנו הצהבהב, ולמטה ממנו הלבלבן. זה האחרון גרוע לאכילה, מחמת רזונו, ואיבריו סיביים יותר. משובח הוא האדמדם בייחוד בזמן רבייתו, שאז הוא שמן וטעמו ערב לחיך.)CS1 maint: location (link)
  18. Hertz, Rabbi Dr. J.H. (1960). Soncino Press (London) (ed.). 'Pentateuch and Haftorahs: Hebrew Text, English Translation and Commentary. p. 451, note on v. 22. ISBN 0-900689-21-8.
  19. Exodus Rabbah 13:7

Sources

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