Sciatic nerve

From Freepedia

The sciatic nerve is a large nerve that runs down the lower limb. It is the longest single nerve in the body.

Arising from the lower part of the sacral plexus, the sciatic nerve enters the gluteal region by the greater sciatic foramen of the hip bone.

It continues down the posterior compartment of the thigh, until it separates into the tibial nerve and the common peroneal nerve. The location of this division varies between people.

Pain along the sciatic nerve is called sciatica.

Sciatic nerves from frogs and rats are often used in physiology experiments on nerve conduction because this nerve is large, and easily dissected and manipulated.

In Judaism, a slaughtered animal must have this nerve removed. If it is not removed then the entire thigh is not eaten, and is generally sold on to a non-Jewish butcher, although the rest of the animal is still kosher (i.e., fit for consumption). The process of removing the nerve is called traibering in Yinglish from an Aramaic word meaning "fat", or nikkur, meaning "to clean", in Hebrew. This process is complex and painstaking and since the 13th century is rarely performed outside Israel, as there are an abundance of other meat cuts available. Nowadays, especially in Israel, it has come back into practice, mainly due to the fact that some of the choicer cuts of meat come from the hind-quarters, as well as because there are substantially fewer non-Jewish butchers to whom the hindquarters can be sold.