Kosher Laws: Why is the Llama Not Kosher?

As is known, our holy Torah provides clear definitions of which animals are permitted for consumption, whether they live in the sea, on land, or in the air.

The definition of land animals permitted for consumption (of course, after they have been ritually slaughtered, found free from concerns of non-kosher status, and properly prepared) is found in Leviticus, in the portion of Shemini (Chapter 11, verses 1-3): (1) "And Hashem spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them: (2) Speak to the children of Israel, saying: These are the creatures that you may eat among all the animals on earth: (3) Any animal that has a split hoof, which is completely separated, and that chews its cud - that one you may eat." In other words, the two basic conditions are: a) The animal must have a split hoof. b) The animal must chew its cud.

In the Even-Shoshan Dictionary, the llama is defined as follows: "Camel-sheep, a cud-chewing animal from the camel family." Also in the well-known "Carta" lexicon, the llama is defined as: "A mammal with hooves from the camel family." This means that the two basic conditions written in our holy Torah are found in the llama: a) Split hooves b) Ability to chew cud.

From these definitions in the dictionary and lexicon mentioned above, we learn that, apparently, the llama should have been counted among the kosher animals for Jewish consumption according to our holy Torah. This is unlike the camel found in our region, as the llama has split hooves and chews its cud, while the camel has hooves that are not completely split. If so, we must ask a profound question: Why doesn't llama meat grace the Jewish Shabbat table?

We found the answer to this profound question from our teacher and rabbi, the great scholar, head of the "Yoreh De'ah" rabbinical court, Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Machpoud (may his light shine), and here is the essence of his words: Indeed, based on the above information, the llama meat should apparently be kosher. However, if we examine the verses carefully, in that same chapter, we discover that despite the fact that our holy Torah has already defined kosher animals, the holy Torah took care to add verse (27), which states: (27) "And any animal that walks on its paws, among all the animals that walk on four legs, they are impure to you; whoever touches their carcass shall be impure until evening." That is, our holy Torah comes to reveal that there is an animal that resembles kosher animals in its natural characteristics (i.e., split hooves and chewing cud), and nevertheless - it is impure to you, because it walks on its paws and not on its hooves.

And behold this wonder; if we look at the llama's feet - we discover that indeed, the llama walks on its pads, and not on its hooves, exactly as described in the verse, which would otherwise seem redundant.

And perhaps, the first man, who named all the animals, called the llama by this name - because of the question in the title.