Teraphim and Treyf

Is TERAPHIM the root of the Yiddish word TREYF (= non-kosher)? Trust me, I get asked questions like this in Bible classes all the time, and this is an entirely sensible question. And Teraphim (household gods) are most definitely not kosher!

But the answer is: no. The Teraphim (תְּרָפִ֣ים) have a first-letter Tav (ת), not Tet (ט), and come from the root TARAPH, meaning "to enquire", presumably because it is to your household gods that you go to ask about the mysteries of life and the universe. Treyf in Yiddish is טרייף‏ , from the Yehudit טְרֵפָה‏ (terephah), and its various meanings are worth an entire Shabbat morning shi'ur:

The first is TEREPH, found in Genesis 8:11, and meaning a fresh or newly-plucked leaf. And actually it is the same as the second meaning, though it isn't immediately obvious why.

The second is TARAPH, which can be found, inter alia, at Genesis 37:33 and 44:28, at Deuteronomy 33:20 and Psalm 22:14, always with the same sense, of something torn to pieces by a wild beast. Plucked, like a fresh leaf.

But then a third usage arises, in Proverbs 30:8, where the aphorist asks "two things of you, do not deny them to me before I die: keep lies and false words from me: give me neither poverty nor riches, but provide me with my daily bread." The last phrase there being, in Yehudit, HATRIYPHENI LECHEM CHUKAI, which also happens to be the source of Jesus' famous phrase in the Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day our daily bread". Yet the "feeding" here is TREYF!

Clearly the Yiddish did not know, or simply chose to ignore, the Proverb, and stuck with the definition of meat that has not been properly killed and sacrificed, according to the laws of Kashrut called Shechitah. Meat that has been found in a field, dead of natural causes or killed by a predator - fowl, animal or human - is Treyf. Food that is prohibited by Mosaic law is Treyf.

But then see Proverbs 31:15 Malachi 3:10, Psalm 111:5, all of which, like the previous Proverbs quote, use the root in the Hiph'il or causative form: feeding, rather than eating. And no question in any of these that it is perfectly kosher food, even if it is also Treyf!

So TREYF is not the same as Teraphim (though if you consult your Teraphim, they will advise you not to eat Treyf). Having said which, there is also a follow-up question, which the same shi'ur would do well to address, and which is why I am exploring these two words on the same page, and through the same texts: is it possible that the two were in fact from the same root, but the spelling is a dialect variation, in the same way that Sarai reflects the Aramaic and the Chaldean but Sarah the Hittite and the Hurrian? In other words, are they, after all, the same?

Genesis 49:27 tells us that "Bin-Yamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the spoil." The "ravenous" part is YITRAPH (יִטְרָ֔ף), and it connects to the commandment prohibiting the eating of any meat that has been torn from a live animal, or from an animal found dead of natural causes (one of the No'achide Laws, Genesis 9:4, reiterated and extended in Leviticus 11:4-8). When Ya'akov is told of the "death" of Yoseph, and shown his coat, he assumes that "an evil beast has devoured him; Yoseph is without doubt torn in pieces", the latter phrase rendered in Yehudit as "TAROPH TORAPH - טָרֹף טֹרַף" and repeated identically when Ya'akov reminds the boys of the incident in Genesis 44:28. Other examples of the word can be found in Deuteronomy 33:20, Psalm 22:14, Nahum 2:13 and more, all with the same meaning, as already noted above.

Exodus 22:21 tells us that "IM TAROPH YITAREPH YEVI'EHU ED HA TEREPHA LO YESHALEM - אִם טָרֹף יִטָּרֵף יְבִאֵהוּ עֵד הַטְּרֵפָה לֹא יְשַׁלֵּם - If it be torn in pieces, let him bring it for witness; he shall not make good that which was torn", which becomes a clause in the Torah section on Nezikim or Damages. Leviticus 7:24 then tells us that "VE CHELEV NEVELAH VE CHELEV TEREPHAH YE'ASEH LE CHOL MELACHAH VE ACHOL LO TO'CHLUHU - וְחֵלֶב נְבֵלָה וְחֵלֶב טְרֵפָה יֵעָשֶׂה לְכָל מְלָאכָה וְאָכֹל לֹא תֹאכְלֻהוּ - And the fat of that which dies of natural causes, and the fat of that which is torn by other animals, may be used for any other service; but you shall in no manner eat of it", which becomes a clause in the Torah section on Kashrut; and it is from this that the Yiddish word Treyf is derived.

The Teraphim that Rachel stole (Genesis 31:19) were probably oracular heads mummified, whereas the one that Michal made as a pretend David (1 Samuel 19:13) has to have been full body and life-sized. Lavan was presumably ha Lavanah, the white moon god(dess?), in the original of this tale; was he, like Dinah, also a female, made to appear male? In this sense there would have been more than one Ya'akov, the Hera-Kles who put on the goat-skin as Tanist to his sacrificed brother Esav ; the one who served seven years at Lavan(ah)'s shrine as consort of Le'ah the cow-goddess, his successor (or more likely an Egyptian equivalent later identified with him) who served seven years as consort to Rachel (Raguel?) and fled to avoid being sacrificed.

1 Samuel 15:23 could not be more clear that they are "iniquitous", and Zechariah 10:2, seven hundred years later, continues to affirm that. And yet, just as we have seen that Treyf can be perfectly acceptable provisions, so in Judges 17 and 18 we appear to have Teraphim of the same order - the ones that Michah acquires, and which will become the temple ornaments for the tribe of Dan when they move to La'ish. 

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