In order to figure out, that the Torah is the absolute truth, one doesn't have to exercise too hard his brain cells. Just observe given info, available to all, that can be checked by means of rational reasoning. Example: IDENTIFYING SIGNS OF CLEAN ANIMALS 1. Vayikra (Leviticus) 11:1-8: "G-d spoke to Moses and Aaron, telling them to speak to the Israelites, and convey the following to them: Of all the animals in the world, these are the ones that you may eat: Among mammals, you you may eat any one that has true hooves that are cloven, and that chews its cud. Of the cud chewing animals and the hoofed animals, these are the only ones that you may not eat: The CAMEL shall be unclean to you although it chews its cud, since it does not have a cloven hoof. The SHAFAN shall be unclean to you although it chews its cud, since is does not have a cloven hoof. The ARNEVET shall be unclean to you although it chews its cud, since it does not have a cloven hoof. The PIG shall be unclean to you though it has a cloven hoof, sinc it does not chew its cud. Do no eat the flesh of any of these animals." Devarim (Deuteronomy) 14:4-8: "These are the mammals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the gazelle, the deer, the antelope, the ibex, the chamois, the bison, and the giraffe. You may thus eat every animal that has a true hoof that is cloven into two parts, and which chews its cud. However, among the animals that chew their cud or have a true cloven hoof, these are the ones that you may not eat: the CAMEL, the ARNEVET, and the SHAFAN, which chew their cud but do not have cloven hooves, and are therefore unclean to you; and the PIG, which has a cloven hoof but does not chew its cud, and is therefore unclean to you." 2. Rambam, Laws of forbidden foods 1:2-3: "2. The identifying signs of the clean animals are specified in the Torah as two: the true cloven hoof and the chewing of the cud (rumination). Both must be present. In addition, all ruminators have no incisor teeth in the upper jaw. ALL RUMINATORS HAVE CLOVEN HOOVES, WITH THE SOLE EXCEPTION OF THE CAMEL. AND ALL CLOVEN HOOFED ANIMALS RUMINATE, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE PIG. 3. Consequently, if a person finds an animal in the wilderness whose species he cannot identify, he should examine its hooves. If, however, the hooves are mutilated, he should examine the mouth. If it has no incisor teeth in its upper jaw, he may be certain that it is a clean animal, provided he can recognize a Camel. If he finds an animal whose muzzle had been mutilated, he should examine the hooves. If they are cloven, the animal is clean provided he can recognize a pig." The Rambam codified the Oral Tradition as recorded in the Talmud. 3. The Torah designated then 4 species of animals in the entire world which possess only ONE of the required identifying signs and are therefore considered unclean: Gamal, Shafan, Arnevet and Hazir. 4. Gemara, Hulin 59a: "For a Tanna of the school of Rabbi Ishmael taught - It is written: 'The Camel because it cheweth the cud'. THE RULER OF THE UNIVERSE KNOWS that there is no other beast that chews the cud and is unclean except the camel; THEREFORE THE VERSE PARTICULARLY stated 'it'" GAMAL -- single or double humped CAMEL; Although the camel chews its cud, it does not possess a TRUE cloven hoof. Its hoofs are so reduced as to be like claws. In addition, they are completely invisible to the observer, being uniformly covered by layers of thick hard skin and padded sole. The camel is further distinguished from true cloven hooves animals because it treads almost completely flat-footed and not on the tips of the toes. 5. SHAFAN and ARNEVET -- The "shafan" and "arnevet" are mentioned in the Torah as possessing one identifying characteristic. However, for lack of an uninterrupted oral tradition concerning their exact appearance, they are no longer identifiable. It appears that the species that the Torah describes is extinct. The modern Hebrew names, SHAFAN and ARNEVET, as applied to the hyrax and syrian coney on the one hand, and the rabbit and hare on the other, are of modern derivation and are not related to the original animals indicated in the Torah. 6. LAMA -- The lama is the south American version of the camel. Technically also, the llama belongs to the cud chewing camel family and possesses the exact same foot structure. In Devarim there is an extra word that does not appear in Vayikra: "Hashesua". Gemara, Hulin 60b: "Rav Chanan Bar-Rava taught: 'Hashesua'- is a beast by itself that has two backs and two spines. WAS MOSES A HUNTER OR AN ARCHER? THIS REFUTES THOSE WHO MAINTAIN THAT THE TORAH WAS NOT DIVINELY REVEALED." 7. Gemara, Chulin 59a: "Rabbi Chisda further said, If a man was walking and found an animal with its mouth mutilated, he should examine its hoofs, if they are parted he may be certain it is clean, but if not he may be certain that it is unclean; provided, however, he recognizes the swine. You admit then that there is the swine [which is the exception to the rule]. But there might well be other species similar to the swine? - That should not enter your mind. For a Tanna of the school of Rabbi Ishmael taught - it is written: 'And the swine because it partheth the hoof'. THE RULER OF THE UNIVERSE KNOWS that there is no other beast that parts the hoof and is unclean except the swine; THEREFORE THE VERSE PARTICULARLY stated 'it'." Hazir - pig: The pig does not have 4 stomachs and therefore does not ruminate. It shares, however, the single identifying sign with the clean animals of having true cloven hoofs. Hazir Ya'ar - wild pig. Behemot - hippopotamus: The hippopotamus does not have a true cloven hoof. The feet of the hippo terminate in 4 developed toes covered and connected by thick skin which produces a web effect (good for swimming). 8. Clean Animals: Ruminating and Cloven-Hoofed Mammals. Identifying signs: They are herbivorous; in their upper jaws they have incisors not canine teeth; they RUMINATE; the stomach has four compartments; they have either hollow or solid horns; the female of the solid-horned species is horns; all walk on two toes - CLOVEN HOOFS. All kinds of cattle, sheep and goats. Ayal-gazelle, Tzvi-deer, Yahmur-antelope, Akko-ibex or wild goat, Dishon-chamois or addax, Te'o-bison or wild ox, Zemer-giraffe. MA'ALE GERAH - RUMINATING: All ruminating animals have 4 stomachs. When grazing, the grassy herbage is chewed hastily and swallowed. It is then directly stored in the 1st stomach, the hemses-omasum (which in a cow has a capacity of 180 liters!). In the hemses the food is partially broken down by micro-organisms and then transferred to the 2nd stomach, the kevat ha'reshet or beit ha'kosoth (recticulum), where further broken down and made into soft round balls. When the animal is safe from all attack and/or resting, these balls of cud are ruminated back to the mouth for thorough and leisurely mastication. Now the cud is transformed into a liquid cereal by the molar teeth with the aid of large quantities of saliva and swallowed directly into the 3rd stomach, the beit ha-al'alim or beit ha'dapim. Here the juices are squeezed out and the food is passed on the 4th stomach where digestive juices act powerfully on it in the same manner as all other one stomached animals. MAPHRIS PARSA AND SHOSA'AT SHESA - CLOVEN HOOFED: hard blunt horny covering acts as a shoe to surround and protect the final joint of two clearly separated toe bones. As opposed for example to the horse, whose leg bone terminates in a single toe covered by a solid hoof, the leg of a clean animal terminates in 2 separate toes (3 joints each). Hence the cleft must be completely visible so that the lower joint of each toe is completely covered by a separate hoof. 9. Mishna Nida 6:9: "Every animal with horns also has a true split hoof (and is therefore clean or kosher). There is one (the hazir-pig) with split hooves but no horns." 10. Cuvier (1769-1832) is considered the father of Anatomy and Paleontology. He wrote that although we may be unable to find the "logical" connection between rumination, split hooves and horns, the fact of their being connected is nevertheless an obvious and consistent one throughout all of nature. Cuvier did not read the Talmud, and the Sages of the Talmud certainly did not read Cuvier. 11. Malbim, "The Torah and the Mitzva" Commentary to Sifra 11 on Vayikra (Leviticus) 11:4 : "'Only these you may not eat', Rabbi Akiva said, Was Moses a zoologist (literally "hunter", "archer")?' The intention of this statement is that in this command of the Torah is found proof of it's divine origin. (For the Torah could just have listed the characteristics necessary for determining the clean animals and not endangered it's credibility by limiting hybrid cases to 4). The rule that only animals that both ruminate and have split hooves can be eaten attests to a wisdom of a higher order. In both Vayikra 11 and Devarim 14 are listed the only mammals that possesses the single characteristic of rumination - gamal, arnevet, and shafan, as well as the only mammal that possesses the single characteristic of the split hoof - the pig. In addition, in Devarim 14 a definitive listing of THE ten clean animals is given. Naturalists of all eras investigated and examined all manner of animals existing in all locations and climates of the world but did not find one exception to the ten clean animals or the four unclean animals with one single characteristic. G-d foresaw history and therefore prepared and foretold in the Torah innumerable facts that mankind would only be able to verify after the accumulated efforts of thousands of years of investigation and breakthroughs." 12. Maharits Hayot, Rav Zvi Hirtz (1806-1856): "The Torah has given a sign with this commandment (kosher meat) to show that it is heavenly (i.e. not restricted to the level of human knowledge attained at any particular time in history). For many men have investigated the secrets of nature exhaustively and have frequently discovered sizable creatures of faraway continents which were not known to any ancient civilization. Nevertheless, no one has registered another distinct animal besides the camel and the camel family which solely ruminates it's cud, or any other animal besides the pig which solely splits the hoof. For this reason the Torah was detailed in it's listing only four such cases in order to make it known that only He who is Master over His world and who knows His creature intimately could have expressed such a law. No human is capable of such." 13. Let's conclude that example, with a question posed by Menkin,("Kerem Petachya" Pg. 118 - Hebrew): "In the previous century, the renowned scientist and world traveler, Kach, left his native country England, to tour the entire globe and investigate and search for the 5th species that would possess only one of the two required characteristics of the clean animals. But after all his efforts to search every wild-life habitation the world over, he did not discover any exception to Moses' calculations. His efforts were for naught. But the question remains: How did Moses know that none other than these four animals would ever be found on earth? He surely did not tour the globe."
|