Q&A: Trading in Forbidden Foods
Trading in Forbidden Foods
Question
When Maimonides writes in Forbidden Foods (8:16) that “One may not engage in trade in carcasses, nor in animals with fatal defects, nor in creeping creatures, nor in crawling things.” does he mean that it is altogether forbidden? Or only selling for the sake of eating? Is it forbidden to buy special butterflies for my collection?
Answer
Simply speaking, this refers to any kind of trade. The problem is not that the buyer might eat it, but that you are engaging in trade. It seems to me, by reasoning, that selling butterflies is not included in this, because although butterflies are forbidden to eat, it is not correct to view a butterfly as an “item of forbidden eating” in itself. Non-kosher meat is used for eating, and therefore it is considered an object of prohibition.