The Torah enjoins us not to eat those animals which, though they possess one of the required characteristics of purity, lack the second. The Torah enumerates four such animals, namely the camel, rabbit, hare, and the pig. It is noteworthy that when the Torah mentions these non-kosher animals, it chooses to mention the animal’s kosher characteristic prior to stating its non-kosher characteristic. There is an important lesson to be derived from this. When a non-kosher animal maintains a kosher characteristic, this is to be considered a sign of uncleanliness and contamination. In order to explain this statement, let us reflect upon the words of Chazal who compare Eisav to a pig, who stretches forth his hoofs saying, “See I am a kosher animal.” When a person characterizes himself as being pure and clean, while inwardly covering up a personality of defilement and contamination, he symbolizes the ultimate hypocrite. This may be considered as being worse than the true truly wicked person who makes no pretense at being decent. So too, these four unclean animals concern us, for although they possess one sign of kashrus, this sign serves only as a vehicle for deception and duplicity.
