עַל־כֵּ֡ן לֹֽא־יֹאכְל֨וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־גִּ֣יד הַנָּשֶׁ֗ה אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־כַּ֣ף הַיָּרֵ֔ךְ עַ֖ד הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה כִּ֤י נָגַע֙ בְּכַף־יֶ֣רֶךְ יַעֲקֹ֔ב בְּגִ֖יד הַנָּשֶֽׁה׃
That is why the children of Israel to this day do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the socket of the hip, since Jacob’s hip socket was wrenched at the thigh muscle.
Genesis 32:33(34) (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
Genesis 32 ends with this odd quip about the children of Israel not eating the thigh muscle (sinew) that’s on the hip socket after the angel wrenched Jacob’s leg out of place.
If you read through the rabbinical commentary, it seems quite clear nobody is certain about this one, other than “We just don’t do it. We don’t really understand why.” And to further amplify the confusion, they note that this is a description of a law… that’s never given.
What I mean by that is this “law” is given before Israel is given the whole law at Sinai, where dietary prohibitions are presented. In those very specific laws about what can and cannot be eaten, there’s never a call back to this verse or story. If you ONLY read the Sinai dietary prohibitions, there’s nothing about the hip socket. And yet the text here in Genesis says that the children of Israel do not eat that muscle.
It’s twice perplexing. I think it’s fascinating.