Kashres, Yiddish for "The Dietary Laws"
Kashres and Tarfes - "Clean and Unclean"
The Jewish dietary laws mandate both the types of permissible food, as well as the proper ways in which it must be prepared and eaten. These laws, kashres in Yiddish and kashrut in Hebrew, find their source in the Tanakh, though most of the laws were derived through rabbinic interpretation over thousand of years.
The foundation of kashres is the prohibition against eating particular animals. Several classes of birds, fish, and other animals are considered treyf (unclean) and are not permissible to eat. These animals are either explicitly mentioned in the Bible, or fall under a category outlined there.
