People who do not keep kosher often say how difficult it is.
But actually, keeping kosher is not really difficult in and of itself; what makes it
difficult to keep kosher is the fact that the rest of the world does not.
As we will see, the basic underlying rules are fairly simple.
If you buy your meat at a kosher butcher and buy only kosher certified products at the
market, the only thing you really need to think about is the separation of meat and
dairy.
Keeping kosher only becomes difficult when you try to eat in a non-kosher restaurant,
or at the home of a person who does not keep kosher.
In those situations, lack of knowledge about the host's ingredients and food preparation
techniques make it very difficult to keep kosher.
Some commentators, both Jewish and Christian have pointed out, that this may well have
been part of what God had in mind: as it make it more difficult for practicing Jews to socialize
with those who do not share the same religion.
General Rules Although the details of kashrut are extensive,
the laws all derive from a few fairly simple, straightforward rules:
1.
Certain animals may not be eaten at all.
This restriction includes the flesh, organs, eggs and milk of the forbidden animals.
2.
Of the animals that may be eaten, the birds and mammals must be killed in accordance with
Jewish law.
3.
All blood must be drained from meat and poultry or broiled out of it before it is eaten.
4.
Certain parts of permitted animals may not be eaten.
5.
Fruits and vegetables are permitted, but must be inspected for bugs.
6.
Meat cannot be eaten with dairy.
Fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables and grains can be eaten with either meat or dairy.
(According to some views, fish may not be eaten with meat).
7.
Utensils and cooking surfaces that have come into contact with meat may not be used with
dairy, and vice versa.
Utensils that have come into contact with non-kosher food may not be used with kosher
food.
8.
Grape products made by non-Jews may not be eaten.
There are a few other rules that are not universal.
The Details Animals that may not be eaten
Of the "beasts of the earth" you may eat any animal that has cloven hooves and chews its
cud.
Lev. 11:3; Deut.
14:6.
Any land mammal that does not have both of these qualities is forbidden.
Cattle, sheep, goats, deer and bison are kosher.
Of the things that are in the waters, you may eat anything that has fins and scales.
Lev. 11:9; Deut.
14:9.
Thus, shellfish such as lobsters, oysters, shrimp, clams and crabs are all forbidden.
Fish like tuna, carp, salmon and herring are all permitted.
For birds, the criteria is less clear.
The Torah provides a list of forbidden birds (Lev. 11:13-19; Deut.
14:11-18), but does not specify why these particular birds are forbidden.
Although all of the birds on the list are birds of prey or scavengers.
(However, some people avoid turkey, because it is was unknown at the time of the giving
of the Torah, leaving room for doubt.)
Of the "winged swarming things" (winged insects), a few are specifically permitted (Lev. 11:22),
but scollars are no longer certain which ones they are, so all have been forbidden.
Rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and insects are all forbidden.
Lev. 11:29-30, 42-43.
Any product derived from these forbidden animals, such as their milk, eggs, fat, or organs,
also cannot be eaten.
Rennet, an enzyme used to harden cheese, is often obtained from non-kosher animals, thus
kosher hard cheese can be difficult to find.
Kosher slaughtering The mammals and birds that may be eaten must
be slaughtered in accordance with Jewish law.
(Deut.
12:21).
they may not eat animals that died of natural causes (Deut.
14:21) or that were killed by other animals.
In addition, the animal must have no disease or flaws in the organs at the time of slaughter.
These restrictions do not apply to fish.
Draining of Blood The Torah prohibits consumption of blood.
Lev. 7:26-27; Lev. 17:10-14.
This is the only dietary law that has a reason specified in Torah: they do not eat blood
because the life of the animal (literally, the soul of the animal) is contained in the
blood.
This applies only to the blood of birds and mammals, not to fish.
Thus, it is necessary to remove all blood from the flesh of kosher animals.
Fruits and Vegetables All fruits and vegetables are kosher.
However, bugs and worms that may be found in some fruits and vegetables are not kosher.
Fruits and vegetables that are prone to this sort of thing should be inspected to ensure
that they contain no bugs.
Separation of Meat and Dairy On three separate occasions, the Torah tells
us not to "boil a kid in its mother's milk."
(Ex. 23:19; Ex. 34:26; Deut.
14:21).
The Oral Torah explains that this passage prohibits eating meat and dairy together.
The rabbis extended this prohibition to include not eating milk and poultry together.
This separation includes not only the foods themselves, but the utensils, pots and pans
with which they are cooked, the plates which they are eaten from, the dishwashers or dishpans
in which they are cleaned, the sponges with which they are cleaned and the towels with
which they are dried.
A kosher household will have at least two sets of pots, pans and dishes: one for meat
and one for dairy.
One must wait a significant amount of time between eating meat and dairy.
Opinions differ, and vary from three to six hours after meat.
Utensils This is possibly the most complicated section
of the kosher laws.
And was briefly mentioned in the last section.
Utensils (pots, pans, plates, flatware, etc.) must also be kosher.
A utensil picks up the kosher or "status" of the food that is cooked in it or eaten
off of it, and transmits that status back to the next food that is cooked in it or eaten
off of it.
Thus, if you cook chicken soup in a saucepan, the pan becomes meat.
If you thereafter use the same saucepan to heat up some warm milk, the status of the
pan is transmitted to the milk, and status of the milk is transmitted to the pan, making
both the pan and the milk a forbidden mixture.
This generally only applies to hot foods, and the rules are quite complicated so if
you are interested you will have to look it up yourself!
Grape Products The restrictions on grape products derive
from the laws against using products of idolatry.
Wine was commonly used in the rituals of all ancient religions, and wine was routinely
sanctified for pagan purposes while it was being processed.
For this reason, use of wines and other grape products made by non-Jews was prohibited.
.
If like me you are not a Jew you can be thankful that you don't have to follow these laws
as kosher is definitely hard to keep unless you live in a major city with a Jewish community.
(although many Jews today don't practice kashrut)
Clearly the laws were partly intended to keep people of Jewish heritage separate from other
cultures and it is likely one of the reasons Jewish culture has survived the diaspora and
maintained a clear identity.
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