Gid Hanasheh (sciatic nerve)

I doubt if the stirring cry "Never again," has, on its own, dissuaded even one young man or woman from assimilating. If the only message our children hear is "remain Jewish, because of the Holocaust" wouldn't this, if anything, propel the process of assim...

Just because 4,000 years ago one of my ancestors had a hip dislocated, I need to forgo a good rump steak?

How we inject spirituality into the butchering process

A tantalizing teaching about the improbable prohibition against sirloin steak; featuring varying flavours of rabbinic reasoning and seasoning. Discover the ultimate purpose behind this mitzvah of Gid Hanasheh (sciatic nerve); illuminating the sweep of Jew...

After Yaakov transfers his family and belongings across the stream, he returns alone to retrieve small jars. This backtracking led to his dangerous encounter with the ministering angel of Eisav. Learn the classic commentaries and the deeper message on thi...

As a remembrance that Jacob's sciatic nerve was damaged in his wrestling match with an angel, the Torah forbids us from eating the sciatic nerve (gid hanashe) of an animal. Interestingly, this also shows us the extent to which every detail of our lives is...

The story of Jacob’s struggle with an angel provides the source for the prohibition of eating the sciatic nerve of an animal. In this class, other complicated issues involving the preparation of kosher meat are also discussed.

Why, in this case, do we remember something by not eating?

Technically, filet mignon is as kosher as any other cut of meat. The problem with filet mignon and other cuts from the rear is that they are located near the sciatic nerve and fatty deposits known in Hebrew as chelev, which are Biblically forbidden.Genesi...