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If you have studied with us this far then you know by know that long before the Jewish people existed God made Covenants with non-Jews and that their relationship and good-standing with God was determined by how they lived up to their Covenant stipulations (Laws). In particular we have been looking at the Laws of Noah and the Covenant of Noah where a non-Jew was considered "righteous" by God if he lived up to his Covenant and repented when he strayed from his Covenant Commandments and returned to obedience unto God.
In our day and time if you are reading this article then you are most likely a contemporary Christian and most likely highly indoctrinated by your denominational or non-denominational theology. If you have been faithful to study with us up to this point then you have seen beyond any doubt that the Jesus Movement of the first century instructed non-Jews who came to faith in God through Yeshua's followers to obey the Covenant of Noah and the Laws of Noah. As a typical Christian or otherwise I assume that you are basically a "good person" and not the chiefest of sinners. Yet when we examine in detail these Laws of Noah which frame our Covenant with God then we encounter many things that not only challenge how we live in America today but which should bring shame to the best of Christians as you will come to quickly realize that your Gentile denominational religious belief system in normative Christianity has caused you to sin in many areas which before now you had no knowledge that such beliefs and actions were sinful. It is our hope at Bet Emet Ministries that your love for God is greater than your love to eat with the Pastor after Sunday's service and that you take to heart the matters that will be discussed here for let us end this introduction with these words:
I Jn 5:3 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (KJV)
You shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field, you shall cast it to the dogs (Exodus 22:30)
By this prohibition we are forbidden to eat terefah.
Answer for yourself: What is terefah?
Terefah is the flesh of an animal torn by a wild beast, or by a wild bird, or the flesh of any injured or diseased animal which, although ritually slaughtered, is known to be one which could not have lived more than a year; or the flesh torn from a living clean beast.
Animals and fowl that may not be eaten (aside from "unclean" animals) are divided into two classifications: Nevelah ("carcass") and terefah ("torn"). Nevelah refers to the flesh of an animal or fowl that died of natural causes or was not slaughtered by shehiitah, i.e., in accordance with Jewish law. Terefah refers to the flesh of an animal or fowl that was killed by a predatory animal [one who eats blood] or one that had physical defects or injuries with which it could not have survived for twelve months. The flesh of an animal with such physical defects is forbidden food, even if the animal was ritually slaughtered. The general rule is that any injury with which the animal cannot survive renders it terefah or unfit for consumption under Jewish law.
Any of the following eight defects discovered on examination following ritual slaughter renders an animal terefah:
An animal with these defects is terefah, regardless of whether they were inflicted on the animal by accident, by other animals, or by a man (e.g., a hunter).
It is contained in His words, Ye shall not eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field (Ex. 22:30)
The prohibitions in this Commandment and the preceding one are repeated as regards the priests in His words, That which dieth of itself, or is torn of beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith (Lev. 22:8). The reason why the prohibition is repeated in their case is that, since Scripture commands them to eat of the sin-offering of a bird which is [slaughtered] by melikah -a method of slaughtering which if used in the preparation of ordinary food would undoubtedly be invalid, as it makes the meat nevelah - it might occur to us that they are permitted to eat even as ordinary food [the flesh of an animal which has been slaughtered by] melikah, or has been improperly slaughtered; Scripture therefore explains that they continue to be in the same position as laymen with regard to the admonition against eating nevelah or terefah. This is the explanation given by the Sages, who also mention this verse in connection with another law, which is not relevant to the present work (Hullin, 100b (Sonc. ed. p. 557)).
But a domestic or wild animal that is inferred by one of the accepted modes of interpretation to have become terefah is forbidden food, even though it has been ritually slaughtered; and one who ritually slaughters it and eats of its flesh is punished by whipping under Rabbinic law.
The things that make [an animal or bird] terefah are explained in the third chapter of Hullin. The provisions of this and the nine preceding Commandments are explained in the same chapter [of Hullin], in the last chapter of Makkoth, and in the first chapter of Bekoroth.
In his Mishneh Torah Maimonides enumerates seventy diseases and injuries which render a beast terefah (Kedushah, Hikhoth Shechitah X, 9). Later scholars have devoted much time and thought to the exhaustive study of this subject, with the result that the certification of meat as kosher carries with it a maximum guarantee of fitness for human consumption.
Hinnukh: An animal that has been mauled by a wild beast falls prey to infection and disease even if the direct cause of the animal's death was shehitah. The meat of such an animal is detrimental to man's health. Hinnukh adds that whatever food is bad for a man's body will also be bad for his soul.
Abrabanel: This, too, was the reason why hunting is forbidden. However, although we are forbidden to eat the meat of animals killed by a hunter, we may derive other benefits from such meat; e.g., it may be given to one's dogs.
Ibn Ezra, Da'at Zekemm: Why does the Torah mention no other means of disposing of terefah meat than to feed it to dogs? Because dogs act as the guardians of flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. Should one of the herd, nevertheless, become prey to a wild beast, the dogs should be given the meat of the dead animal and should be rewarded for their efforts to protect these animals.