To not eat the swarming creature of the ground: To not eat the swarming creature of the ground, as it is stated (Leviticus 11:41), “And any swarming creature that swarms on the ground is an abomination; it shall not be eaten.”
I have already written above (Sefer HaChinukh 159) that which I know about the roots of this commandment, with all that comes about the prohibition of foods. There is no need to review it with each [commandment].
From the laws of the commandment is, for example, the distinction that they, may their memory be blessed, made between the eight swarming creatures that are mentioned in the Torah and the other swarming things such as snakes, scorpions, the beetle, the centipede and those similar to them — such that they said that the measure for the liability for eating the eight swarming creatures stated in the Torah is like the measure of their impurity, which is like a lentil; and the measure for the others is a kazayit. And all of the measurements are a law of Moshe from Sinai (Eruvin 4a). And the rest of its details are elucidated in Tractate Chullin. (See Tur, Yoreh Deah 84.)
And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses it and eats a kazayit of insects that are on the ground volitionally is lashed — and if he ate from the eight swarming creatures, even like [the size of] a lentil, he is lashed — and inadvertently, he is exempted.
שֶׁלֹּא לֶאֱכֹל שֶׁרֶץ הָאָרֶץ – שֶׁלֹּא לֶאֱכֹל שֶׁרֶץ הָאָרֶץ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא יא מא) וְכָל הַשֶּׁרֶץ הַשֹּׁרֵץ עַל הָאָרֶץ שֶׁקֶץ הוּא לֹא יֵאָכֵל.
To not eat the swarming creature of the ground: To not eat the swarming creature of the ground, as it is stated (Leviticus 11:41), “And any swarming creature that swarms on the ground is an abomination; it shall not be eaten.”
מִשָּׁרְשֵׁי מִצְוָה זוֹ. עִם כָּל מָה שֶׁבָּא בְּאִסּוּר הַמַּאֲכָלוֹת, כְּבָר כָּתַבְתִּי לְמַעְלָה (מצוה קנט) מָה שֶׁיָּדַעְתִּי, אֵין צֹרֶךְ לְהַחְזִירוֹ בְּכָל אַחַת.
I have already written above (Sefer HaChinukh 159) that which I know about the roots of this commandment, with all that comes about the prohibition of foods. There is no need to review it with each [commandment].
מִדִּינֵי הַמִּצְוָה. כְּגוֹן הַחִלּוּק שֶׁחִלְּקוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה בִּשְׁמֹנָה שְׁרָצִים הָאֲמוּרִים בַּתּוֹרָה מִשְּׁאָר שְׁרָצִים, שֶׁהֵם נְחָשִׁים וְעַקְרַבִּים חִפּוּשִׁית וְנָדָל וְכַיֹּצֵא בָּהֶן, שֶׁאָמְרוּ, שֶׁשְּׁמֹנָה שְׁרָצִים הָאֲמוּרִים בַּתּוֹרָה, שִׁעוּר חִיּוּב אֲכִילָתָן כְּשִׁעוּר טֻמְאָתָן שֶׁהִיא כַּעֲדָשָׁה, וְשִׁעוּר הָאֲחֵרִים בְּכַזַּיִת, וְכָל הַשִּׁעוּרִין (עירובין ד א) הֲלָכָה לְמֹשֶׁה מִסִּינַי. וְיֶתֶר פְּרָטֶיהָ מְבֹאָרִים בְּמַסֶּכֶת חֻלִּין [י"ד סימן פד]
From the laws of the commandment is, for example, the distinction that they, may their memory be blessed, made between the eight swarming creatures that are mentioned in the Torah and the other swarming things such as snakes, scorpions, the beetle, the centipede and those similar to them — such that they said that the measure for the liability for eating the eight swarming creatures stated in the Torah is like the measure of their impurity, which is like a lentil; and the measure for the others is a kazayit. And all of the measurements are a law of Moshe from Sinai (Eruvin 4a). And the rest of its details are elucidated in Tractate Chullin. (See Tur, Yoreh Deah 84.)
וְנוֹהֶגֶת בְּכָל מָקוֹם וּבְכָל זְמַן בִּזְכָרִים וּנְקֵבוֹת. וְהָעוֹבֵר עָלֶיהָ וְאָכַל כַּזַּיִת מִתּוֹלָעִים שֶׁבָּאָרֶץ בְּמֵזִיד לוֹקֶה. וְאִם אָכַל מִשְּׁמֹנָה שְׁרָצִים אֲפִלּוּ כַּעֲדָשָׁה לוֹקֶה, בְּשׁוֹגֵג פָּטוּר.
And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses it and eats a kazayit of insects that are on the ground volitionally is lashed — and if he ate from the eight swarming creatures, even like [the size of] a lentil, he is lashed — and inadvertently, he is exempted.