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Kashrut

A dispute exists as to whether swordfish should be considered a kosher fish according to the laws of kashrut. Standard Orthodox opinion is that swordfish is not kosher, while Conservative Judaism does consider swordfish kosher. All kosher fish must have both fins and scales. The Talmud and the Tosefta are believed by some to present swordfish ("achsaftias") as an example of a kosher fish without scales because swordfish are born with scales they later shed once attaining a length of about 1 meter. The 17th-century Turkish Sephardi halakhic authority Rabbi Chaim ben Yisrael Benvenisti wrote that "It is a widespread custom among all Jews to eat the fish with the sword, known in vernacular as fishei espada, even though it does not have any scales. Because it is said that when it comes out of the water, due to its anger, it shakes and throws off its scales." A 1933 list of kosher fish published by the Agudas HaRabbonim includes swordfish. The following year, Rabbi Yosef Kanowitz published the same list of kosher fish with swordfish still included. Swordfish was widely considered kosher by halakhic authorities until the 1950s. Orthodox opinion began to shift in 1951, when Rabbi Moshe Tendler examined swordfish and decided it was not kosher due to the lack of scales. Tendler's opinion provoked strong debate among halakhic authorities during the 1960s. Among Mediterranean Jews there was a longstanding minhag of considering swordfish kosher. Swordfish was and possibly still is consumed by Jews in Italy, Turkey, Gibraltar, Morocco, Tunisia, and England. Due to Tendler's opinion, swordfish are generally not considered kosher by Orthodox Jews in the United States and Israel.