The Gemara records a fascinating conversation between Yalta and her husband, Rav Nachman. Yalta pointed out that for every item or relationship forbidden by Divine law, Hashem provided a permissible equivalent. Liver, for example, can satisfy a craving for blood; the fat of wild animals can substitute for chelev; the brain of the shibbuta fish tastes similar to pork; and fish tongue can serve as a substitute for girutha, among other examples. When Yalta sought the permitted counterpart to meat cooked in milk, Rav Nachman instructed the butchers to provide her with roasted udders (Chullin 109b).
As an aside, it is incredible that Tosfos, on the following daf, derives a halachic principle from Yalta’s statement that is not explicitly stated elsewhere in Shas! We are fortunate that she was so erudite and learned.
Still, if a Jew is hankering for the taste of pork, Yalta points us in the right direction. Dr. Ari Zivotofsky and Dr. Greenspan embarked on a quest to identify the shibbuta fish, believing they had succeeded. However, the Gemara specifically states that the fish’s brain has a taste similar to pork. There is not enough substance in the fish’s brain to make harvesting it commercially viable. So, although this fish may offer a taste reminiscent of pork, it is unlikely to bring home the bacon.
Speaking of which, an iconic pork product is bacon. Fortunately, substitutes are available, and some connoisseurs actually prefer lamb bacon to the porcine variety. Still, even its most ardent fans acknowledge that it is not exactly the same. Trying to pass off lamb bacon as the real thing can leave you feeling sheepish.
In 2011, some farmers in Spain decided to raise organic geese. To their great surprise, the livers of these geese tasted like pork. Recognizing the tremendous business opportunity of producing what might be called “kosher pork,” they had the livers tested. Three non-Jewish professional chefs in Europe, familiar with the taste of pork, served as guinea pigs and concurred that the flavor was indeed reminiscent of pork. It seemed that someone had discovered kosher pigs in a feather blanket!
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger ruled that the geese could be imported into Israel and sold as kosher, provided they were slaughtered properly. The announcement generated considerable interest, although the proposed importation was still being examined at the time. The venture apparently never materialized. Israelis might have gone hog-wild over the prospect, or at least, that’s “sow” I heard it. The opportunity may still be open for an enterprising entrepreneur. Perhaps someone will yet discover the goose that lays the golden bacon!
The Gemara in Bechoros discusses another unusual possibility: a sheep giving birth to an animal that resembles a pig. Tosfos notes that the Gemara chose this particular example because all the Tannaim would agree that an impure-looking animal born to a kosher sheep is kosher. Had the sheep given birth to a camel, Rebbi Shimon would maintain that the camel was not kosher. The Rashash comments that he cannot understand why there should be a difference between a camel and a pig. After all, they are both non-kosher species.
Needless to say, Rav Elyashiv opined that the pig-like creature discussed in our Gemara does not taste like actual pork. It is merely a sheep in pig’s clothing. That option, too, failed to satisfy those hoping to sink their teeth into something resembling the real thing. The creature may look like a porker, but its family tree is anything but hogwash!
Will a Jew ever be able to eat actual pork? Apparently, the answer is a matter of dispute: either when pigs fly or when Moshiach comes!
Rabbeinu Bachaye states that some versions of the Midrash Tanchuma contain the following passage: “Why is a chazir called by that name? Because Hashem is destined to return it to us in the future, in the times of Moshiach.” The Hebrew word chazor means “to return,” hence the name chazir.
The Toras HaMincha understands this Midrash literally. According to his interpretation, the prohibition against eating pork will be lifted in the times of Moshiach. Eating pork currently has a negative spiritual effect on a person, but in the Messianic era, we will be immune to that effect. Consequently, Hashem will lift the prohibition against consuming swine.
Be’ezras Hashem, may we be zocheh to live in the times of Moshiach and experience this hog heaven! After all, there is no need to be pigheaded about the possibility of a future change in halacha.
The Minchas Kenaos emphatically rejects this interpretation of the Midrash, considering it a ham-fisted explanation. He proposes an alternative understanding. The prohibition against eating ham is a chok, a Divine decree whose rationale is not readily apparent to us. The reason for the prohibition was revealed when the Torah was given, but that knowledge has long since been forgotten. In the times of Moshiach, Hashem will return to us the lost knowledge that explains why porcine meat is forbidden. The prohibition itself, however, will remain in full force.
So, as the Minchas Kenaos sees it, piggy’s name comes back home with a brand-new backstory, but the actual bacon? Still strictly off-limits!
The Yad Eliyahu seeks to resolve this debate based on a passage Daf Yomi learners recently studied in Bechoros.
The Gemara states that Rabah bar bar Chanah said in the name of Rebbi Yochanan that when a person sees what appears to be a baby pig clinging to and nursing from a sheep, the sheep’s subsequent birth is exempt from the laws of bechorah, but the pig-like creature is forbidden to eat. This is because of the uncertainty surrounding its identity: Is it actually the offspring of the sheep, or is it a pig that merely resembles the sheep’s offspring?
The Gemara adds that when Eliyahu HaNavi comes in the times of Moshiach, he will resolve the halachic status of this creature that looks like a pig. We will finally know whether the animal belongs in the kosher pen or the pigsty. If anyone can settle a dispute about a pig, it is surely Eliyahu HaNavi!
The Yad Eliyahu points out that this Gemara presents a difficulty for the view that pork will become permissible in the times of Moshiach. If pigs will then be permitted, the question of the halachic status of this pig-like creature will be moot. Whether it is a malformed sheep or an actual pig, either way it will be permitted for consumption. What question will remain for Eliyahu HaNavi to resolve?
Some point out, however, that the arrival of Eliyahu HaNavi is not synonymous with the coming of Moshiach. Eliyahu HaNavi will arrive before Moshiach. (See Eruvin 43a.) Therefore, the Gemara cited above is no proof. Perhaps Eliyahu will resolve the question during the period before Moshiach arrives, when the prohibition against pork is still in effect. The Yad Eliyahu’s argument, then, may not be the knockout blow that it first appears to be.
The Chasam Sofer offers a third interpretation of the aforementioned Midrash. He agrees that some swine may be consumed in the times of Moshiach, but he does not grant the pig a wholehog permit!
He suggests that the two identifying signs of a kosher animal, split hooves and chewing its cud, reflect the nature of the animal itself. A pig already has split hooves, but it does not chew its cud. According to the Chasam Sofer’s interpretation, in the times of Moshiach, Hashem will change the nature of the pig and, consequently, its physiology as well. The pig of the Messianic era will begin to chew its cud, thereby acquiring the missing sign of a kosher animal.
However, we will remain hog-tied when it comes to consuming leftover ham from a pig slaughtered before the coming of Moshiach. Such meat will remain forbidden even after Moshiach arrives. Only meat from pigs that have acquired the newly added sign of chewing their cud will be permitted. Even in the Messianic era, the pig may have to get its act together before it can make the cut.
The Chasam Sofer’s explanation also precludes the Yad Eliyahu’s resolution of the Gemara in Bechoros. Eliyahu HaNavi will still have to rule on the status of the leftover ham produced from the creature that looks like a pig. The fact that pork from newly kosher animals will be permitted in the future does not resolve the status of meat from an animal whose identity and halachic status remain in doubt. Only new ham from pigs that chew their cud will be permitted. The old ham remains off the menu, even if the new pork gets the rabbinic green light!
One thing is guaranteed: whether in the times of Moshiach, when some form of pig may become permissible, or in the meantime, when goose liver that tastes like pork might become commercially available, kosher connoisseurs will continue to search for a culinary substitute. Until then, we may have to be content with our shibbuta and lamb bacon.
And perhaps, one day, whether through a change in the status of the swine or a breakthrough in kosher cuisine, we will cry wee, wee, wee all the way home.
Rebbe at Yeshiva Ateres Shimon in Far Rockaway. He leads the Daf Yomi chaburah at Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park in West Hempstead, and writes “Delving into the Daf” each week for The Jewish Home.
