Amanda Borschel-Dan is The Times of Israel s Jewish World and Archaeology editor.
Sharks swimming in the shark aquarium in the southern Israeli city of Eilat. October 7, 2014. (FLASH90/File)
A ray swims at the Israel Aquarium in Jerusalem, on September 5, 2017. (Isaac Harari/Flash90)
Catfish swim in Ein Afek Nature Reserve, east of Kiryat Bialik, Israel, on April 24, 2015. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
A new study scrutinizing 2,000 years of fish consumption in the ancient holy land has found that despite clear Torah prohibitions non-kosher finless and scaleless fish were generally eaten by all peoples, regardless of ethnic and religious affiliation.
The requirement to eat only fish that has both fins and scales is found twice in the Bible: in Leviticus 11: 9–12 and in Deuteronomy 14: 9–10. In both cases, the proscription follows the more widely known prohibition against eating pig. Indeed, as one might infer from the Bible, there is scant archaeological evidence of pork consump