The Parve Baker

Va-yishlach

That is why to this day the children of Israel do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the socket of the hip, since Jacob’s hip socket was wrenched at the thigh muscle. - Genesis 32:33

From a practical standpoint, the Jewish dietary laws’ central concern is with separating permitted from forbidden animals and regulating their slaughter, butchering, and consumption. Along with biblical commandments (mitzvot) prohibiting consumption of blood (Lev. 7:26-27; 17:10-14) and certain fats (Lev. 7:22-24), eating the sciatic nerve is also forbidden (Gen. 32:33). The processes for removing these elements are known collectively as porging. Mastering removal of the sciatic nerve, which runs from the back legs to the spinal column, together with the adjacent blood vessels and nearby fats is very difficult and a rare kosher butchering specialization in its own right..

Consumers who compare kosher and non-kosher meat selections are most likely to notice that certain cuts like leg of lamb, filet mignon and sirloin steak are unavailable to kosher buyers. The reason for this is that in most countries outside of Israel, it is more profitable to sell the hindquarters than to try to produce kosher meat.

Arguably, the most tender cuts come from the hindquarters. This was probably well-known to the Sages who debated the penalty for eating forbidden meat and the amount one needed to eat to invoke it:

That is why to this day the children of Israel do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the socket of the hip. If one eats an olive’s bulk of the sciatic nerve, he is to receive 40 lashes. If he eats a whole sinew that is smaller than olive’s bulk, he is [equally] guilty…Rabbi Judah says, [He is not guilty] unless it’s an olive’s bulk. (BT Chulin 96a-b).

There is no indication that the severe punishment was ever enacted, but its discussion suggests that the temptation, if not the opportunity, to eat non-kosher meat was of such great concern that consuming the smallest amount could be considered among the most serious of infractions.

With our growing awareness of abuses in the kosher meat industry, many may wonder: why not give up our ancient practices and enjoy whatever is available to us in the market that meets our personal standards? The problem is not with kashrut, but with those we ourselves entrust to provide the kosher meat that we serve and eat.