The cleanliness concept is important to Jewish rituals of keeping kosher and the ceremony washing of hands. The Jackal's are particularly upset when they say "They kill animals to eat them, and they disregard rotting carcasses". Also Jews trace their lineage matrilineally, just as the elder jackal describes "My mother waited, and her mother, and all her mothers, right back to the mother of all jackals. Believe me!"" Kafka tries to show how the Jackals are hypocritical in their understanding of cleanliness, which is to "drain it empty and clean it right down to the bones".