&gt; There is NO law requiring death from eating pork!<p>I don&#x27;t see anywhere in the article that even remotely suggested there is. And I certainly made no such claim.<p>Eleazer is a hero in Maccabees because he chooses death rather than violate the Mosaic law.<p>The eating of pork products was a key point of differentiation between the Romans and the Jews, not because the dietary laws relating to pigs are more important (to the Jews) than the other laws, but because the Romans ate a lot of pork products and the refusal of obedient Jews to partake was an obvious sign of their refusal to fall in line with Roman culture. It was not the only such point of contention, but in an article <i>about</i> eating pigs, it stands to reason that the pork issue is going to get a mention.<p>&gt; Pork simply has nothing whatsoever to do with it!<p>Eleazar was killed for refusing to eat pork (or more accurately for refusing to pretend to eat pork). I think pork has at least something to do with that.