Welcome to the kick-off question for AskJewishGirl, and it’s a terrific one, concerning kashrut—the dietary laws.
Kashrut is something I’ve long wanted to know about. Both in general, as in the reasoning behind dietary laws at all, and then some specifics. The separation of milk and meat, for example, or no animal with cloven hooves which does NOT chew a cud (if I’ve got that right).
GailInEstes
Kashrut’s roots go back almost as far as the roots of Judaism itself. Let’s start with the word “kosher.” It simply means “proper” or “fit,” as in “fit to eat.” It is perfectly correct to ask if a contract is kosher, or even if someone is a “kosher person.” The basics are:
(1) Some animals (this includes fish and birds) cannot be eaten at all; (2) Permitted animals must be slaughtered properly; (3) All blood must be drained from the animal once it has been slaughtered; (4) Certain parts of permitted animals may not be eaten; (5) Meat and dairy may not come into contact with each other; (6) Utensils (including storage, cooking, eating, etc.) must be used for either milk or meat. A utensil which has come in contact with non-kosher food is no longer kosher; and (7) Grape products (wine, brandy) made by non-Jews cannot be consumed by Jews. I’ll go over these as briefly as possible.
(1) A kosher animal is one which has a cloven hoof AND chews its cud. Permitted are: cattle, sheep, goats. Deer are also technically permitted (see “Game Animals” below). Kosher fish are those with fins AND scales. No shellfish or shark steaks. Sorry, shrimp is out. It gets more complicated for birds, but generally hunters (eagles, hawks, owls, falcons) and carrion eaters (vultures, buzzards) are forbidden.
The justifications are many, varied, and frequently conjectural, but usually related to idolatry and the separation from paganism. As far as fish are concerned, I’ve heard explanations from cleanliness (many shellfish are bottom- or waste-feeders) to the unfamiliarity of a desert tribe with shellfish (although Israel has always been a Mediterranean country). For birds, it is distasteful to eat anything which eats carrion. Also, since any animal which has been killed by another animal is trayf (non-kosher, rhymes with “safe”), it makes a certain logical sense that the hunting birds are excluded. I’d love to hear other theories, but for now, it is (as Tevye the milkman would say) a Tradition.
(2) A shokhet is a trained ritual slaughterer, always a man for traditional reasons and because upper-body strength is needed. He draws a very sharp knife (sakin) across the throat of the animal in one fast, continuous motion. The animal is hung up by its hind legs until the blood is drained. The shokhet then examines the cut to make sure it’s smooth. If there’s a nick or a break the animal is considered to have died in pain and the meat is not kosher; this is one of the most humane kinds of slaughtering. Since this must be done on an animal-by-animal basis, you can see why kosher meat is more expensive. Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shechita for more info.
Sakin (credit: Google Images)
(3) Once the blood is drained, the animal is butchered and the meat distributed to kosher outlets. The cook will submerge a cut of meat in brine for about an hour to draw any remaining blood out. You can see how this would affect Jewish cuisine, since the meat must be made juicy again. For the Biblical reasons for draining blood, see Lev. 7:26-27, and Lev. 10-14. As a side note, kosher meat is never aged; it’s eaten as quickly as possible.
(4) Animals must be porged that is stripped of veins, the sciatic nerve and other things or else it is trayf. The sciatic nerve is considered to be the nerve that was damaged in Jacob’s hip when he wrestled with the Angel (Gen. 32:29-30 and Hosea 12). In Israel porging is done more commonly than in the U.S. by specially trained men.
(5) The separation of meat and dairy is probably the most famous of the kashrut laws. The source is the Biblical injunction “do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” (Ex. 23:19; Ex. 34:26; Deut. 14:21). Anything in the Bible is to be taken seriously, so since this is repeated three times, it’s very serious. The rationale is lost in time, but for what it’s worth, here’s my two shekels. Pagan tribes sacrificed the first-born kid (or lamb or calf) of the spring to the gods, often by boiling the kid in its mother’s milk. The Abrahamites (we weren’t even Israelites yet) were trying to separate themselves and their new, radical beliefs from the pagan world. So they rejected this ritual. But to make sure it never happened by accident, they decided never to boil any kid in any kind of milk. And then any kind of white meat (chicken, veal) in milk. And then…you get the idea.
There’s also a third kind of food—parveh. These are foods which will go with either meat or dairy: grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables (plants in general), and eggs.
(6) The separation of utensils is a logical extension of the above. You do not need two dishwashers or two refrigerators. You do need two separate sponges or steel wool pads. Any utensil which becomes trayf must be either buried or re-koshered by a rabbi. And finally…
(7) Grape products are only kosher if made by Jews. This one’s uncomfortable in today’s world. The rationale comes from the injunction against idolatry, and was also probably part of the Abrahamites’ efforts to separate themselves from the pagan world; alcohol has been a sacrificial item world-wide since it was discovered. It used to be that kosher wines, often made by Manischewitz, Kedem or Rokeach were so sweet they were almost syrups. However, some very nice kosher dry whites and reds are now available.
(8) Special extra section—Kosher for Passover. This includes all of the above PLUS the avoidance of anything made with yeast. This honors the unleavened bread (matzah) that the Israelites flash-baked and ran with out of Egypt. This means no bread, cake, beer (it’s the yeast) and other liquors. It also means a special set of plates, silverware, cooking and storage pots used ONLY for Passover. There are recipes which will get around the restrictions, usually using eggs (as many as a dozen in one cake recipe) to act as leavening.
Oh, and the pig. If there is such a thing as super-trayf, it would be the pig. It has cloven hooves, but doesn’t chew its cud, so it wouldn’t be kosher under any circumstances. But there is a special place in the trayf list for pigs. Again, this is just my theory (and please let me hear from you), but in many pagan religions, both in the Middle East and in Europe, pigs are used widely as sacrificial animals, and as religious totems. The fact is that the pig is one of the easiest animals to raise. Pigs will eat anything, including corpses and garbage. They don’t need grazing or foraging land, as do cattle, goats and sheep, which means pigs can be raised by a farmer, rather than a nomadic tribe. But since the Abrahamites were trying to distinguish themselves from the surrounding pagan world, the pig, with its indiscriminate eating habits and status as a pagan religious symbol, was probably a fairly easy animal to target for special disgust. Even today there are Jews who cheerfully eat cheeseburgers, but who can’t stomach bacon cheeseburgers. Full disclosure: AskJewishGirl doesn’t keep kosher and loves BLTs.
A quick note on game animals. Although bison, mountain goats, deer, antelope, elk, etc. do have cloven hooves and chew their cud, they are almost always hunted. Since they are not slaughtered ritually, they are not kosher.
Having plowed through all this, you may ask: Why bother? I’m glad you asked. If you are Orthodox, it’s easy: God said so. For the rest of us, it’s harder. A quick survey of reasons is: (1) to show solidarity with world Judaism; (2) self- discipline; (3) to honor the traditions which have helped preserve us as a people for approximately 6,000 years; (4) to have a home in which any Jew can eat; (5) to remember your heritage with each mouthful you take. I found some of these at http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Projects/Reln91/Blood/Judaism/kashrut/kashrut.htm, but have run into them at synagogues, inter-faith meetings and conversations at parties.
Well…that’s enough for one blog. By all means comment, argue, dispute, discuss. That would be very Jewish indeed.
EXTRA! Here’s the original, accept-no-substitutes AJG Contest: What’s the one kosher insect? (Hint: Check the New Testament.) The winner is the first person to come up with the answer, by time-stamp, Pacific Standard Time to baystein@earthlink.net with KOSHER BUG in the Subject line. The prize is glory.
Recipe for chicken soup. One nice chicken, cut into 8 pieces; chicken bouillon cubes (if desired); carrots, celery and onions cut into bite-size pieces; egg noodles (any kind from broad to angel hair); salt, pepper and garlic. Put the chicken pieces into a very large pot and cover with water; add the bouillon cubes if you want. Add salt, pepper and garlic to taste. Cook on low for about 2 hours, or until the chicken is completely cooked. Remove the chicken and debone it, cutting the meat into bite-sized pieces. Return to the pot and add the vegetables. Add more water if necessary. Taste and adjust spices. Cook until the veggies are completely cooked. Cook the noodles and add them to the soup. Tastes even better the second day. Note: To be traditional leave the yellow fat that floats to the top and mix it in when you re-heat. This is called schmaltz and can be saved for other Jewish dishes, like matzah brei (rhymes with “fly”). If you’re health-conscious, skim it off.
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