Negative commandment · Lo Ta’aseh #175 of 613
Not to eat flying insects
שלא לאכול שרץ העוף
The verse · Devarim 14:19
וְכֹל שֶׁרֶץ הָעוֹף טָמֵא הוּא לָכֶם לֹא יֵאָכֵלוּ
“And every creeping thing that flies is unclean to you: they shall not be eaten.”
The Rambam’s words
Not to eat flying insects, as [Deuteronomy 14:19] states: "Every flying insect [that is] not-kosher for you shall not be eaten."
שלא לאכול שרץ העוף, שנאמר "כול שרץ העוף, טמא הוא לכם" (דברים יד,יט).
Why · Sefer HaChinuch #471
To not eat from the flying swarming creatures
“It is from the roots of this commandment [that it is] because the body is an instrument of the soul — with it, it carries out its activity; without it, it can never complete its work.”
Who & when
“And this prohibition is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females.”
Where in the Mishneh Torah
Hilchot Forbidden Foods הלכות מאכלות אסורות