Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah

Or HaChaim on Leviticus 11:23/אור החיים על ויקרא י״א:כ״ג

אאֲשֶׁר לוֹ אַרְבַּע רַגְלָיִם. בְּתוֹרַת כֹּהֲנִים דָּרְשׁוּ שֶׁבָּא לְהַתִּיר מִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ חָמֵשׁ. וְנִרְאֶה שֶׁהוּא הַדִּין מִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ שֵׁשׁ וְשֶׁבַע וְלָאו דַּוְקָא חָמֵשׁ, וְצָרִיךְ לָדַעַת לְאֵיזֶה עִנְיָן הִתִּיר בַּת חָמֵשׁ מִן הַדִּיּוּק, וְלֹא אָמַר בְּפֵרוּשׁ ״כֹּל שֶׁרֶץ הָעוֹף שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ חָמֵשׁ רַגְלַיִם״ אוֹ עַל זֶה הַדֶּרֶךְ ״מֵאַרְבַּע רַגְלַיִם וָמַעְלָה תֹּאכֵלוּ״. וְאוּלַי שֶׁהֻצְרַךְ לְהַשְׁמִיעַ גַּם כֵּן דִּין הֶתֵּר צִיר חֲגָבִים טְמֵאִים, שֶׁדָּרְשׁוּ זַ״ל (תורת כהנים) מֵאָמְרוֹ בְּפָסוּק זֶה ״שֶׁקֶץ הוּא״ פְּרָט לְעֵרוּבָיו שֶׁהוּא צִיר כְּמַאֲמָרָם שָׁם, וְלָזֶה בָּחַר לְהַשְׁמִיעֵנוּ הֶתֵּר בַּת חָמֵשׁ רַגְלַיִם בְּאֹפֶן זֶה.
1 אשד לו ארבע דגלים, which have four legs. Torat Kohanim explains that the reason the Torah appears to repeat something here that has been written in verse 20 is to tell us that if such a creature has five legs it is permitted to be eaten. It would appear that the same holds true if such creatures have six or more legs. We need to examine why the Torah saw fit to write this legislation in an indirect way requiring us to arrive at the ruling that 5-legged winged swarming things are permitted by exegesis instead of writing outright that if such creatures have five legs we may eat them. Alternatively, the Torah could have written that any such creatures moving on more than 4 legs are permissible. Perhaps the Torah also had to inform us about the permissibility of brine in which forbidden locusts had been stored. Torat Kohanim had interpreted the repetition of the word שקץ הוא to be an exclusion, i.e. only the actual body of the winged swarming thing is prohibited. The Torah therefore had to write this verse in order to get this point across.