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I am Sephardi, and being adventurous in the kitchen I occasionally like to prepare non-standard organs: lungs, hearts, spleens, etc.

Occasionally I've had objections from Ashkenazi friends or relatives: "we don't eat hearts", "we don't eat spleens", etc.

I've done a lot of Google searching and haven't found any source that said Ashkenazim can't eat any of the above (or other internal) organs. Are there actual, known minhagim related to these? Or are my guests just making excuses to avoid eating something they find too weird?

(To clarify: I'm not referring to the laws of cutting open hearts/liver and roasting them before cooking and various other restrictions - I'm referring to a blanket prohibition.)

Daniel
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  • Hi Daniel, and welcome to the site. You might be interested in this related question: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/78181/3 . – WAF Jan 18 '17 at 13:17
  • Hmm - another Daniel joining the site. Welcome from one Daniel to another! I'm Ashkenazi and I can say that when I was a lad (once I was that!) my family ate lungs each Shabbat. I haven't seen them in decades, and I assume that this may have been influenced by the Glatt Kosher industry to a large extent. We also ate hearts. I don't think any butcher sold spleens, brains, or "Rocky Mountain oysters". I'm unaware of any prohibition against any of these. I think that there may not be much of a market for these items in most U.S. communities. I can't say why. Maybe people are squeamish? – DanF Jan 18 '17 at 14:17
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    @DanF My Father-in-Law, A"H, told me that the reason lungs ceased to be generally available was because of USDA issues, not kashrut supervision. In 1971 the USDA issued a ruling that livestock lungs shall not be kept for food. They are reported to be very particular with lung because of potential infection problems. – Yaacov Deane Jan 18 '17 at 14:54
  • Also, regarding Rocky Mountain Oysters, wouldn't that fall under the general kashrut practice in the US that anything coming from loins requires a shochet with trabering certification? For many years, the hind quarters are simply sold to non-Jews because it is too expensive labor-wise to process the carcass. – Yaacov Deane Jan 18 '17 at 14:59
  • https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2010-title9-vol2/pdf/CFR-2010-title9-vol2-sec310-18.pdf – Yaacov Deane Jan 18 '17 at 15:01
  • See also: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/9/310.22 – Yaacov Deane Jan 18 '17 at 15:39
  • Just making an observation, these civil laws relate to safeguarding public health in most cases, not humane animal treatment. In that context, it would seem that from a halachic perspective a Jew would be obligated to keep the local civil law. It would be an offshoot of the laws of safeguarding ones health. – Yaacov Deane Jan 18 '17 at 15:45
  • @YaacovDeane (You're the "chef", no? Or am I thinking of someone else, here.) I'm not sure that Rocky Mountain oysters require traibering. If they did, what makes that part different from other parts? I had these "guys" when I was in Israel. If you ignore what they are, they are quite tasty! – DanF Jan 18 '17 at 16:32
  • The 'Oysters' themselves have no trabering to my knowledge. I claim no expertise in this area and am speaking only from a general anatomy perspective. I'm talking about general practice in the United States regarding shechita. They come from the hind section of the animal. General practice in the States by kashrut organizations has been to not use the hind section of the animal because it requires greater expertise by the shochet or butcher. If that has changed, it is fairly recent. And no, I'm not a chef, although I have worked in the food industry from time to time. – Yaacov Deane Jan 18 '17 at 16:45
  • related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/40673/shechting-a-goose-during-teves-and-shevat – Loewian Jan 18 '17 at 16:46
  • There is a kabbalistic doctrine not to eat brain heart and liver. Most Ashkenazi have no issue with eating liver though. At least they didn't used to. Tastes change. – user6591 Jan 18 '17 at 19:18
  • @DanF Testes do require a bit of treibering (YD 65:1), but it's not at all complicated. That alone isn't why they aren't on the market, I'd think. – Double AA Jan 18 '17 at 20:16
  • "'we don't eat hearts', 'we don't eat spleens', etc.": maybe they meant for taste/health/similar reasons? – msh210 Jan 18 '17 at 20:42
  • @DanF you can get all these organs with an ashkenazi hechsher (except the lung since it is iligal, (it is only sold for educational purposes (not to be eaten))) (see the answer below that heart is preferable not to be eaten) – hazoriz Jan 19 '17 at 02:48
  • @WAF Hi WAF, thanks. I saw that question while researching it, but it's exactly the opposite situation and the answers, based as they are on safek sfeika, wouldn't really apply here... – Daniel Jan 19 '17 at 10:09
  • @DanF I live in Israel, and we have lungs in the frozen meat section at the supermarket. – Daniel Jan 19 '17 at 10:09
  • @YaacovDeane: It wouldn't let me notify you together with DanF, but we always have lungs in the frozen meat section at my local supermarket here in Israel. – Daniel Jan 19 '17 at 10:11

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Ashkenazi males don't eat heart as it leads to forgetfulness.

Chef Amrom
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  • user6591 is right, I'm not sure why we are careful about heart and not liver. my butcher is quite knowledgeable (Hacker in Yerushalem) and he ever said anything when I buy brain. – Chef Amrom Jan 18 '17 at 20:07
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    Please show the source of this. – sabbahillel Jan 18 '17 at 20:44
  • @sabbahillel (+1) (source for you) Really it is the same with the brain and liver (and olives) but according to my poor understanding of the mogain avrohom 170.19 (an Ashkenazi) that is only if the eater is an am haaretz and eats without kavono , but if he eats with kavono he can eat anything that leads to forgetfulness Exept the HEART ( http://beta.hebrewbooks.org/tursa.aspx?a=oc_x985 ) – hazoriz Jan 19 '17 at 02:30
  • @sabbahillel a different link for the same source http://www.sefaria.org/Magen_Avraham.170.19?with=all&lang=bi – hazoriz Jan 19 '17 at 02:33
  • @sabbahillel more sources with reasons http://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/pdf/pdf278/kaved75.pdf – hazoriz Jan 19 '17 at 02:53