For the source text click/tap here: Chullin 128
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As we have noted, the laws of tum’at okhalin – ritual defilement of food – will only apply if two basic requirements are met:
The item must be perceived as food appropriate for human consumption, and
The item must have been made wet with one of seven liquids, e.g. water or blood (see Vayikra 11:37-38).
Our Gemara quotes a Tosefta from Massekhet Okatzin (3:1) where Rabbi Yehuda relates that Rabbi Akiva taught:
The ḥelev – forbidden fat – of a slaughtered animal, in villages, needs intention to be used for food, but does not need to be made susceptible to impurity, since it has already been made susceptible by the blood of the slaughtering.
The two explanations cited by Rashi express diametrically opposed assessments of the status of ḥelev. According to the first explanation, ḥelev is an inferior food, eaten only in circumstances of need, in places where there is insufficient ordinary meat. According to the second explanation, however, ḥelev is a luxury food, consumed only by the wealthy.
These two explanations may serve as the basis for two different understandings of the essential nature of the Torah’s prohibition against eating ḥelev.