PARVEH

PARVEH (Heb. פַּרְוֶה Yid.), term applied to foods which cannot be classified as milk or meat, and which may therefore be eaten with either without infringing the dietary laws . Fish, vegetables, and eggs are included in this category. Parveh utensils are kept apart from meat or milk vessels. The origin of the word is problematic. It may be derived from the Hebrew root ערב ("mixed"). The Mishnah refers to bet ha-parvah (spelled Heb. פַּרְוָה), a courtyard, to which the high priest was taken for ritual immersion, distinguished by being neither holy nor profane (Yoma 3:3). In the Gemara the word, used in a derogatory sense to indicate a bird which it is forbidden to eat, was derived from the name of a wicked magician (Ḥul. 62b). It has also been posited that parveh originates from the Latin parvus ("small"). The Yiddish word pare ("steam") has also been suggested. Finally, there is a theory that the word is of Slavonic origin ("a pair"): the Czech párové, for instance, denotes an item that may have a dual purpose. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: JC (Jan. 17, 24, 31; Feb. 7; March 7, 27, 1964).