FIRST KASHRUT SOURCES · 2 OF 5
Fins and scales
Read fins and scales in Torah and Mishnah, identify Rabbi Yehudah’s statement, and use a named commentary to clarify a term.
Notice when the group changes
Kashrut concerns the Jewish laws of food. In Two signs together, we read the Torah’s signs for land animals. Leviticus 11:9 turns to creatures in the water. Read the new signs for this group rather than carrying over hoof and cud.
We will compare the Torah, the five books of Moses, with the Mishnah, our sages’ collection of teachings. The Mishnah passage is in Chullin, a tractate, or named book, that treats laws concerning ordinary, non-sacred meat and related subjects. The reference 3:7 means chapter 3, mishnah 7.
Find the two words
כל אשר לו סנפיר וקשקשת במים בימים ובנחלים אתם תאכלו
Whatever has fins and scales in the water, in the seas and in the streams, you may eat.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
- סנפיר · Senapir
- Fin.
- קשקשת · Kaskeset
- Scale; scales in this description.
The reading aids help you name the words. The ו attached to קשקשת joins the two: fins and scales. Cover the English and point to each word in the source.
1. Which word names a fin, and which names a scale?
סנפיר names a fin. קשקשת names a scale. In the verse, וקשקשת means “and scales.” The signs in this passage are different from the signs for land animals.
2. What in the verse corrects “These signs concern only the sea”?
The verse says בימים ובנחלים, “in the seas and in the streams.” Its wording includes both settings. Reading only the word “seas” would leave out part of the sentence.
Read before revealing
The Mishnah’s fish discussion begins with an unnamed statement, then identifies a particular sage’s statement. Use the word key to render these lines before opening the answer.
ובדגים, כל שיש לו סנפיר וקשקשת. רבי יהודה אומר, שני קשקשין וסנפיר אחד.
- ובדגים = and among fish.
- כל שיש לו = whatever has.
- רבי יהודה אומר = Rabbi Yehudah says.
- שני קשקשין = two scales; אחד = one.
Mark the words where the named speaker begins. Translate each statement separately, using the fin and scale words you already know.
3. What do the two statements say?
Our rendering: “And among fish, whatever has fins and scales. Rabbi Yehudah says: two scales and one fin.” The first statement has no named speaker in this passage. The second belongs specifically to Rabbi Yehudah.
The Mishnah’s setting supplies that these are signs of a permitted fish. Keeping the speaker marker in your rendering preserves how the teaching is presented.
4. Repair “The Torah and the whole Mishnah say that every fish needs two scales.”
Write: “The Torah and the Mishnah’s opening fish statement name fins and scales. Rabbi Yehudah’s statement specifies two scales and one fin.” The count belongs to a named position. Dropping his name makes the source sound unanimous and moves his wording into the Torah.
Distinguish covering from movement
The Mishnah then explains its terms:
ואלו הן קשקשין, הקבועין בו. וסנפירין, הפורח בהן.
These are scales: those attached to it. Fins are those with which it moves through the water.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva, with the movement phrase clarified through Bartenura
The expression הפורח בהן can evoke flying. Rabbi Ovadiah of Bartenura, a commentator on the Mishnah, explains it here as swimming on the water. His explanation helps us read the movement image in its fish context.
The Mishnah’s contrast is between scales attached to the fish and fins used for movement. Follow the function described by the text.
5. A note swaps the definitions: “Scales move the fish; fins are its scales.” How would you repair it?
Scales are the attached covering described by הקבועין בו. Fins are used for movement, which Bartenura explains as swimming. Keep the two nouns and their descriptions paired correctly.
Keep the source voices visible
Assign each statement to its source before opening the answer:
- “In the seas and in the streams.”
- “Rabbi Yehudah says: two scales and one fin.”
- The movement expression means swimming on the water.
6. Which belongs to Torah, Mishnah and commentary?
The settings appear in Leviticus 11:9. The named statement appears in Mishnah Chullin 3:7. The explanation about swimming is Bartenura’s commentary on that Mishnah. Our English makes each accessible while preserving its source.
A learner has noted only: “This unfamiliar creature swims.” Compare that statement with the evidence the source actually names.
7. Has the learner established the signs in this lesson?
No. Swimming is not the same as establishing the presence of the fins and scales named in the source. Bartenura explains a word in the Mishnah; he does not replace the source’s criteria with “anything that swims.” A useful next note would name exactly which source criteria still need to be established.
Return next session
Without looking above, recover the Hebrew words for fin and scale. Then explain why the words “Rabbi Yehudah says” must survive a summary, and identify the commentator who clarifies the movement expression.
8. What should you recover?
סנפיר means fin; קשקשת means scale. Rabbi Yehudah’s name keeps the two-scale/one-fin specification attached to its speaker. Bartenura explains the fins’ movement as swimming. Torah, Mishnah and commentary each remain identifiable in the reading.
Read in context
Leviticus 11:9–12 gives the aquatic passage. Mishnah Chullin 3:7 and Bartenura gives the fish statements and the named explanation. The mishnah begins with locusts; our excerpts are its fish portion. Compare the Mechon Mamre text of Chullin 3:7 for another Hebrew edition. English renderings and activities are our own.
Continue with Birds and received tradition, where the Torah presents a list rather than the same form of sign rule.