2,353. Deriving Benefit From the Gid Hanashe

Maachalos Assuros 8:14

We are permitted to derive benefit from the sciatic nerve; one may therefore send a non-Jew a thigh that contains the sciatic nerve. He may even give him the entire thigh in front of another Jew without concern that the Jew will eat from it before the nerve is removed because the place of the nerve is easily identified. However, if the thigh was cut into pieces, then he may not give it to a non-Jew in front of another Jew out of concern that the other Jew might eat from it.

Maachalos Assuros 8:15

When the Torah states: “Do not eat,” “You may not eat,” “They may not eat” or “It may not be eaten,” the idea is that both eating and benefit are prohibited unless a verse explicitly tells us otherwise, as Deuteronomy 14:21 does regarding a neveila, “Give it to the stranger in your gate and he will eat it,” and Leviticus 7:24 does regarding forbidden fat, “You may use it for any labor,” or unless our oral tradition tells us that we may benefit from it, which is the case regarding swarming and crawling creatures, blood, a limb from a live animal and the sciatic nerve. According to the oral law, it is permitted to benefit from these prohibited things even though we may not eat them.