Dag Chazir
An interesting mix of extreme over fishing combined with a sudden and seemingly inexplicable population explosion amongst the fish, scientifically classified as Cyprinus carpioscrofa(know colloquially as the hog-carp or the pig-fish) has become a major halakhic quandary for poskim. Namely what is the Din regarding this most unusual, and until recently extremely rare fish.
Rav Chumramacher was very insistent that there is no way possible that this fish could at all or ever be considered kosher. ”Just look at it,” he said, “it has the face of a P-I-G. No heiligh yid can eat something that looks like a P-I-G it would be unconscienable.” His colleage Rav Storricheshtein also wanted to point out that we have no mesora of eating this fish. ”There is simply no mesora for it in all of our history, none at all, we cannot simply start eating new fish without a valid mesora that it is kosher.”
When asked about the fishes obvious kosher simanin(fins and scales). Rav Storricheshtein said, “The infamous P-I-G aslo has various kosher simanim, but is banned from the Torah. Who is to say that same is not with this fish. And all the more, what if it tastes like P-O-R-K Chas V’Shalom Rachmana L’tzlan.
Meanwhile Rav Vorsichtig had more measured comments, “The fish, while odd to look it, definitely has simanim of being kosher>” However don’t warm up the frying pans just yet. Rav Vorsichtig went on to say, “We really need to look into this. It all smells a bit fishy to be honest. There is a possibility that this was someone’s science experiement, some sort of illicit and illegal genetic engineering project. At which point the Gedolim will have to decide if it violates the halakhos of K’laim(forbidden mixtures).”
So it appears that only time will tell. Perhaps by next year we can have pickled pigs(fish) ears to add to our Purim Menus.
Happy Purim!!!
Tee hee. Great post, and even better picture! Thank you. Purim Sameach.
Thanks Rabbi.
Purim Sameach Rav Tzadok! Shkoya
There is a midrash that says that when the Messiah comes (speedily and in our day), the pig will become a kosher animal.
Who knows: maybe this Purim Torah fish will also become kosher!
Len,
I think you are making a rather common mistake of taking the mashal as being literal. As our Rabbis tell us, the Torah is eternal and will never change. Meaning that the pig will always remain unkosher as the Torah specifically tells us that animal is not kosher.
So from the Mashal we need to find the nimshal.
Either that or when the geneticists create a cud-chewing pig (which already has split hooves), we’ll have an interesting discussion!
Purim sa-mei-ahkh!
Is it a Medrash? I thought it was the Ohr Hachaim Hakodesh
http://www.theonion.com/articles/jewish-elders-lift-6000year-ham-ban,992/
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