To Kosher or Not to Kosher

You may have heard the word kosher, but do you know what it means?

Dictionary.com defines kosher as:

ko·sher [koh-sher]

–adjective

1.	Judaism. a. fit or allowed to be eaten or used, according to the dietary or ceremonial laws: kosher meat; kosher dishes; a kosher tallith. b. adhering to the laws governing such fitness: a kosher restaurant.

2.	Informal. a. proper; legitimate. b. genuine; authentic.

–noun

3.	Informal. kosher food: Let’s eat kosher tonight.

–verb (used with object)

4.	Judaism. to make kosher: to kosher meat by salting.

—Idiom

5.	keep kosher, to adhere to the dietary laws of Judaism.

Ok, so kosher means “fit”. Kosher food would be “food fit to be eaten”. A kosher restaurant would be a “restaurant that serves food fit to be eaten”. So who decides what is kosher and what isn’t?

The answer is: G-d.

Vayikra (Leviticus) 11 covers the biblical kashrut (aka – kosher laws). They are in four main sections, each covering a different type of creature.

Creatures of the Land:

1 ADONAI said to Moshe and Aharon, 2 ”Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘These are the living creatures which you may eat among all the land animals: 3 any that has a separate hoof which is completely divided and chews the cud – these animals you may eat. 4 But you are not to eat those that only chew the cud or only have a separate hoof. For example, the camel, the coney and the hare are unclean for you, because they chew the cud but don’t have a separate hoof; 5  6  7 while the pig is unclean for you, because, although it has a separate and completely divided hoof, it doesn’t chew the cud. 8 You are not to eat meat from these or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

Creatures of the Water:

9 ”‘Of all the things that live in the water, you may eat these: anything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in seas or in rivers -these you may eat. 10 But everything in the seas and rivers without both fins and scales, of all the small water-creatures and of all the living creatures in the water, is a detestable thing for you. 11 Yes, these will be detestable for you -you are not to eat their meat, and you are to detest their carcasses. 12 Whatever lacks fins and scales in the water is a detestable thing for you.

Creatures of the Air:

13 ”‘The following creatures of the air are to be detestable for you – they are not to be eaten, they are a detestable thing: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, 14 the kite, the various kinds of buzzards, 15 the various kinds of ravens, 16 the ostrich, the screech-owl, the seagull, the various kinds of hawks, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, 18 the horned owl, the pelican, the barn owl, 19 the stork, the various kinds of herons, the hoopoe and the bat.

Swarming Creatures (aka – Insects):

20 ”‘All winged swarming creatures that go on all fours are a detestable thing for you; 21 except that of all winged swarming creatures that go on all fours, you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, enabling them to jump off the ground. 22 Specifically, of these you may eat the various kinds of locusts, grasshoppers, katydids and crickets. 23 But other than that, all winged swarming creatures having four feet are a detestable thing for you.

There is one final “main” section of the kashrut and it deals with animal corpses.

24 ”‘The following will make you unclean; whoever touches the carcass of them will be unclean until evening, 25 and whoever picks up any part of their carcass is to wash his clothes and be unclean until evening: 26 every animal that has a separate but incompletely divided hoof or that doesn’t chew the cud is unclean for you; anyone who touches them will become unclean. 27 Whatever goes on its paws, among all animals that go on all fours, is unclean for you; whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until evening; 28 and whoever picks up its carcass is to wash his clothes and be unclean until evening -these are unclean for you. 29 ”‘The following are unclean for you among the small creatures that swarm on the ground: the weasel, the mouse, the various kinds of lizards, 30 the gecko, the land crocodile, the skink, the sand-lizard and the chameleon. 31 They are unclean crawling creatures; whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. 32 Anything on which one of them falls when dead will become unclean -wooden utensil, article of clothing, leather, sacking -any utensil used for work; it must be put in water, and it will be unclean until evening; then it will be clean. 33 If one of them falls into a clay pot, whatever is in it will become unclean, and you are to break the pot. 34 Any food permitted to be eaten that water from such a vessel gets on will become unclean, and any permitted liquid in such a vessel will become unclean. 35 Everything on which any carcass-part of theirs falls will become unclean, whether oven or stove; it is to be broken in pieces -they are unclean and will be unclean for you; 36 although a spring or cistern for collecting water remains clean. But anyone who touches one of their carcasses will become unclean. 37 If any carcass-part of theirs falls on any kind of seed to be sown, it is clean; 38 but if water is put on the seed and a carcass-part of theirs falls on it, it is unclean for you. 39 ”‘If an animal of a kind that you are permitted to eat dies, whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until evening. 40 A person who eats meat from its carcass or carries its carcass is to wash his clothes; he will be unclean until evening.

This is what I refer to as ‘Biblical Kosher’. This is the kashrut as written in the Bible, the Tanakh (Torah + Prophets + Writings), and Torah (the Teachings & Instructions of G-d). There are some other areas of the Bible that deal with the kosher laws. Take Sh’mot (Exodus) 23:19; 34:26; and D’varim (Deuteronomy) 14:21 for example (NOTE: They all cover the same instruction):

Sh’mot (Exodus) 23:19
“You are to bring the best firstfruits of your land into the house of ADONAI your God. “You are not to boil a young animal in its mother’s milk.

Sh’mot (Exodus) 34:26
You are to bring the best firstfruits of your land into the house of ADONAI your God. “You are not to boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

D’varim (Deuteronomy) 14:21
“You are not to eat any animal that dies naturally; although you may let a stranger staying with you eat it, or sell it to a foreigner; because you are a holy people for ADONAI your God. “You are not to boil a young animal in its mother’s milk.

So now we have a basic outline of what it takes for food, or at least meat, to be kosher. So should we eat kosher or not? Well, I think the foods we eat are very important to how we act, how we feel, and who we are.

Chocolate, for example, has properties in it that simulate the feeling of being in love. Coffee has caffine in it that gives us a temporary energy “boost” and, usually, a very quick drop in that “boost”. Certain foods lower our cholesterol, our blood pressure, decrease or increase the risk of heart disease, etc. If we eat too much food that has a lot of carbohydrates, starch, and/or sugar we gain weight (provided there is not an increase in physical excersize as well). Just from a human perspective, what we eat has enormous consequences for our bodies and our lives. Because of some food’s abilities to affect our moods, what we eat can also affect those around us.

Now let me ask you this: What was the first sin ever committed by man?

Bereshit (Genesis) 3:1-6

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal which ADONAI, God, had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You are neither to eat from it nor touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “It is not true that you will surely die; 5 because God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it had a pleasing appearance and that the tree was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her; and he ate.

The first sin dealt with eating something that was not kosher, not fit for them to eat. And look at the consequenses of that sin. Because of Adam and Havah (English: Eve), the sepent was cursed, mankind was removed from ‘Eden, and sin entered the world. Hmmmm. I’d say that what we eat is very important to G-d and to us.

So why is the kashrut so restrictive? Why can’t we eat pork or shellfish (just two well known examples)?

We love G-d and desire to follow Him in all ways. He says not to eat it, we shouldn’t eat it. Yeshua, the Word of G-d made Flesh said, “If you love me, keep my mitzvot [commandments].” (Yochanon (John) 14:15). This is, for me, the one and only reason I need to eat kosher.

Others may need more. And so I offer these few things (as related to the examples above):

1) Pigs are one of, if not the, dirtiest land animals on the planet. A pig will not eat any food without first “slopping” it (i.e. – rolling it in it’s slop). A pig’s slop consists of mud/dirt, feces, urine, and rotting food that the pig hasn’t eaten. Go visit a pig farm and try feeding a fresh clean apple to a pig. They will take it over to their slop, roll around with it and get it good and dirty before eating it.

2) Some cities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and a few other states save (are you sitting down?) billions of dollars on waste disposal each year by feeding garbage to pigs. This garbage consists of pretty much any organic matterial, not just wasted foodstuffs. Those pigs are then, at a later date, sold, slaughtered, sold again, and cooked up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

3) Read this: Paralysis Outbreak In Meat Workers Handling Pigs’ Brains

3) More people are allergic to shellfish than to any other single kind of food. shellfish contains more allergen’s and toxins (except, possible, poisinous reptiles and spiders) than any other kind of meat on the planet.

4) You may have read about rising mercury (among other things) levels in our oceans and seas. What you may not know is that shellfish such as shrimp, crabs, and lobster actually clean the waters of mercury and other dangerous toxins (which is why their bodies are loaded with ‘em). If we weren’t harvesting shellfish from the waters, we wouldn’t be having rising mercury levels (again, among other things).

From just these two examples, pork and shellfish, it’s easy to see that there are sound reasons for not eating certain foods. It’s equally easy to see that G-d has some very valid reasons for telling us not to eat these things.

As for me and my family, we will kosher. How about you?

Sha’alu Shalom Yerushalayim,

Jason

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Tags: Bible Study, Dietary Laws, Kashrut, Kosher, Leviticus, Vayikra

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