Kashrut (Kosher) kasher kosher. Often used when referring to the process of making meat kosher by washing, soaking, and salting it in a prescribed fashion. This must be done before it can be cooked, to drain the flesh of as much blood as possible. Today, most kosher meat comes already kashered, ready to be cooked and eaten. Kasher also refers to the process of heating and cleaning utensils and dishes so that they can be used for kosher cooking. It can also refer to cleaning a kitchen and its contents of hametz in preparation for Pesach. For example: “He poured boiling water over all the silverware to kasher it for Pesach.”kashrut kosher can eat. Usually used in the phrase “to keep kashrut.”kosher 1. The general term used to describe foods that are acceptable according to the Jewish dietary laws. The basic laws of kashrut are set forth in the book of Leviticus in the Torah, which contains a list of all kosher and non-kosher animals. Meat must come from an animal with split hooves that chews its cud (for example, cow, lamb, deer) and that is slaughtered in a ritual way by a shochet. Pork is forbidden. Fish must have both fins and scales. Thus shellfish, shrimp, and lobster are forbidden. Foods made with milk (milchig) cannot be eaten or mixed with foods that contain meat (fleishig) products. This comes from the biblical injunction that says: “You shall not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk.” Thus, combinations like cheeseburgers are not kosher. All fruits, vegetables, and grains (including pasta) are neither milk nor meat. Such foods are called pareve and may be eaten or mixed with either milk or meat. Eggs are also pareve.If a Jewish homemaker keeps kosher, the kitchen will have two sets of dishes (one milchig, one fleishig), two sets of silverware, two sets of pots and pans, and so forth. When foods are prepared, they are cooked and served with the appropriate utensils. manufactured packaged foods are designated kosher by a heksher on the label.Levels of observance of kashrut and the interpretations of the law vary widely among movements of Judaism and even among families. Some families who keep kosher at home will eat anything when in a restaurant. Some eat only vegetarian dishes or fish in a restaurant to ensure that the food is kosher (even if the tableware is not). Others will only eat in a kosher restaurant that is certified and watched over by a mashgiach. Some persons who keep kosher will eat in another person’s home; some will not unless they are sure the other person also keeps kosher.2. Permissible, proper, or legitimate. Often used when referring to ritual objects such as mezuzot or tefillin that are “correct” according to Jewish law and can be used. “Kosher” may also refer to situations and things outside of Jewish life. For example: “He wants to have a coed sleepover party, but I don’t think that’s kosher.”kosher for Passover The seal of approval (heksher) found on manufactured foods that are pesachdik and contain no leaven, making them acceptable for eating during Pesach.kosher style adj. English Jewish home-style cooking, including favorite foods such as brisket, corned beef, matzah ball soup, kugel, or blintzes. As the name implies, “kosher-style” food is not the same as ritually acceptable kosher food. Although the fare may be similar, the laws of kashrut are not observed in a kosher-style restaurant.

3787 כָּשֵׁר [kasher /kaw·share/] 1 to succeed, please, be suitable, be proper, be advantageous, be right and proper to. 1a (Qal) to please, be proper. 1b (Hiphil) to give success.  

Clean and Unclean Food Leviticus 11     The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: ³ You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud. ⁴ “ ‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. ⁵ The coney,^a though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁶ The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁷ And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. ⁸ You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. ⁹ “ ‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales. ¹⁰ But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to detest. ¹¹ And since you are to detest them, you must not eat their meat and you must detest their carcasses. ¹² Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you. ¹³ “ ‘These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴ the red kite, any kind of black kite, ¹⁵ any kind of raven, ¹⁶ the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, ¹⁹ the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.^b²⁰ “ ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. ²¹ There are, however, some winged creatures that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. ²² Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. ²³ But all other winged creatures that have four legs you are to detest. ²⁴ “ ‘You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. ²⁵ Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. ²⁶ “ ‘Every animal that has a split hoof not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean. ²⁷ Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. ²⁸ Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. They are unclean for you. ²⁹ “ ‘Of the animals that move about on the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, ³⁰ the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. ³¹ Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. ³² When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. ³³ If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. ³⁴ Any food that could be eaten but has water on it from such a pot is unclean, and any liquid that could be drunk from it is unclean. ³⁵ Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. ³⁶ A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. ³⁷ If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. ³⁸ But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you. ³⁹ “ ‘If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean till evening. ⁴⁰ Anyone who eats some of the carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. ⁴¹ “ ‘Every creature that moves about on the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten. ⁴² You are not to eat any creature that moves about on the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is detestable. ⁴³ Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. ⁴⁴ I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. ⁴⁵ I am the Lord who brought you up out of

According to this list there are 33 commandments regarding clean and unclean food. 

Dietary Laws (Kashrut; כַּשׁרוּת)

According to the dietary laws, all fruits and vegetables are permitted, based on the verse, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food” (Gen. 1:29). In fact, this verse and the subsequent one imply that vegetarianism was the earliest biblical ideal.

Only in the time of Noah did God allow humans to be carnivorous (Gen. 9:3). God did give Noah one restriction—the consumption of blood was prohibited—but the full set of dietary laws was commanded to the Israelites after they left Egypt, and was further embellished and explicated by the Rabbis. The Jewish dietary laws (derived largely from Lev. 11:1–43) detail which animals, birds, and fish may be eaten; how they are to be slaughtered and prepared; and the rules concerning the separation of meat and milk. 

Beasts

The Bible divides the “beasts of the earth” into those animals that are permitted for consumption (tahor; clean) and those that are prohibited (tamei; unclean). This is based on God’s command that Noah take seven pairs of every clean beast and two pairs of all unclean animals into the ark (Gen. 7:2), a difference that presumably related to the former group being suitable for sacrifice.To qualify as kosher, a quadruped must both chew the cud (ruminant) and have completely cloven (divided) hooves (Lev. 11:3; Deut. 14:6), meaning that they cannot hold prey and thus are not carnivores. The Torah specifies 10 herbivorous animals (wild and domestic) that meet these criteria: ox, sheep, goat, deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep (Deut. 14:4–5). The camel, hare, and hyrax chew their cud but are forbidden because they have incompletely split hooves; the pig has a completely cloven hoof but is prohibited because it does not chew its cud (Deut. 14:7–8). 

Birds

Although kosher quadrupeds and fish are mentioned by characteristics so that their identities are clear, the Torah specifically names 20 non-kosher species of birds, thus implying that all others are kosher (Lev. 11:13–19; Deut 14:11–18). The forbidden birds include osprey, kite, vulture, raven, falcon, and hawk. Unfortunately, over time the precise identities of some of the biblically prohibited birds became unclear. Consequently, the Shulchan Arukh ruled that it is forbidden to eat any species of bird (or its eggs; see p. 707) unless there is a well-established tradition that it is kosher (YD 82:2).¹ These include chicken, capon, Cornish hen, domestic duck and goose, pigeon, partridge, and peacock. In general, all birds of prey and scavengers that eat carrion are prohibited (Hul. 59a). According to Nachmanides, all unclean birds are in some degree cruel, so that one who eats their flesh becomes exposed to the danger of acquiring the same characteristic.² The Mishnah states, “Every bird that has an extra toe [talon], a crop [pouched enlargement of the gullet that stores food], and a gizzard that can be peeled [inner lining that can easily be separated from the outside muscular portion] is clean” (Hul. 3:6; 59a). Nevertheless, in regard to certain birds, such as pheasant, quail, and even turkey, there is a difference of tradition, with some communities regarding them as permitted and others deeming them forbidden.The Rabbis discussed whether the white stork (hasidah) was a kosher bird. According to the Talmud, its Hebrew name (lit., “pious bird”) reflects that “it shows kindness [hasidut] to its companions [i.e., by sharing food with other members of its species]” (Hul. 63a). Nevertheless, the white stork is still considered a nonkosher bird because it shows such compassion only toward its own kind and not to other species, a behavior that was scorned by the sages.³ 

Fish

Of “all that live in water,” only those that have fins (snapir) and scales (kaskeset) are “clean” and permitted as food (Lev. 11:9–12). The scales must be capable of being scraped off easily with a knife (Nachmanides), which excludes creatures with scales that are not clearly defined, such as shellfish, shark, catfish, and amphibians.⁴ Nachmanides explained that fish with fins and scales can swim close to the surface, so that occasionally they come up for air. This warms their blood and enables them to rid their bodies of excess fluids and other impurities. In contrast, those lacking fins and scales keep close to the bottom of the sea, cannot purify their bodies, and thus would be harmful to human health if eaten.⁵Jews are also forbidden to eat from “among all the swarming things of the water and among all the other living creatures that are in the water” (Lev. 11:10); this prohibits small aquatic creatures and large water animals that are not fish (such as seals, dolphins, sharks, and whales).⁶  A major controversy concerns the status of swordfish, which has scales when young but then loses them as it gets older. Swordfish is permitted by the American Conservative movement but forbidden by most Orthodox authorities.  InsectsThe Torah specifically permits the eating of four kinds of locusts (Lev. 11:21–22), but because none can be unequivocally identified, later rabbis declared all species of insects to be forbidden. The prohibition against “all winged swarming things” (Deut. 14:19) includes flies, bees, hornets, and similar insects. An exception is the product of an insect that is not part of its body, such as honey from bees (Bek. 7b).  Unlike milk from a cow, honey is a product of the flower nectar that bees gather and then convert into honey. The ban on “all the things that swarm upon the earth” (Lev. 11:41) forbids the eating of worms, beetles, snakes, scorpions, and lizards, which Rashi defined as being low, having short legs, and appearing to creep along the ground.⁷ Shechitah (שְׁחִיטָה)

The law of ritual slaughtering is derived from the verse, “you may slaughter any of the cattle or sheep … as I have instructed you” (Deut. 12:21). The Rabbis interpreted this to imply that Moses had previously taught the people a method of slaughtering animals. However, since the precise details are not mentioned in the Torah, it follows that the Jewish method of ritual slaughter must have been communicated as part of the Oral Law. Today, the complex and minute regulations dealing with ritual slaughtering must be carried out by a licensed shochet, who in addition to being a skilled professional must be a pious individual who is well trained in Jewish law.Jewish ritual slaughtering strives to prevent unnecessary suffering to the animal. It requires one continuous deep horizontal cut with a perfectly sharp blade with no nicks or unevenness. This severs the windpipe and all of the great blood vessels of the neck so that the animal instantly loses all sensation. Because an animal may not be eaten if it has not been properly slaughtered, the technical requirements must be strictly observed.In addition to slaughtering the animal, the shochet must also carry out a detailed examination (bedikah) of the carcass. Any defect of the major organs renders the animal treif and forbidden for consumption. Initially referring to the flesh of an animal torn by a wild beast or wild bird, the word “terefah” was later applied to the flesh of any injured or diseased animal that would not have lived for more than a year (Hul. 3:1). Eventually, treif became the generic term for any product that was not kosher, and thus not ritually fit for Jewish consumption. The halakhah permits certain abnormalities in the lungs that have been determined to be harmless. However, those Jews who are strictest in their observance of kashrut eat only glatt kosher meat—a term that is derived from the Yiddish word for “smooth” and refers to animals with smooth, lesion-free lungs.⁸Shechitah and bedikah of poultry are carried out in the same careful manner, though only the intestines are examined. There are no specific regulations about how fish are to be killed. After shechitah, the animal is suspended head down to drain as much blood as possible from the body.Jewish law prohibits eating the flesh of any kosher animal that has died without kosher slaughter. Termed “nevelah,” this includes not only an animal that died a natural death but also one that has been killed by hunting or was not correctly slaughtered. Unlike the nonkosher creatures that the Torah terms “abomination,” nevelah is permitted to gentiles; according to Sforno,⁹  it is forbidden to Jews only because it is not appropriate food for a holy people.¹⁰ Although Abravanel¹¹ deemed nevelah to be reprehensible to God because it was a pagan custom to eat of this particular kind of meat,¹² Rabbi Meir¹³ stated that the owner of the carcass had the right to benefit from it by selling it to a gentile, even though it could not be eaten by a Jew  

Preparation of Meat (Kashering)

The unequivocal biblical prohibition against the consumption of blood is the basis for the process of kashering meat (Lev. 7:26–27, 17:10–14). This is the only dietary law for which the Torah provides a reason: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have assigned it to you for making expiation for your lives upon the altar.” Therefore, before meat is cooked, it is necessary to remove all traces of blood—by soaking and salting the meat or by broiling or roasting it over an open flame.After being washed to remove all externally visible blood, the meat is placed in a large container and covered completely in lukewarm water for a half hour so that it softens and will absorb salt. The meat is then placed on a flat slatted board through which blood can drip or on a sloped board so that the blood can drain off into a sink or empty container. It is salted thoroughly on all sides and left on the board for one hour. Coarse (kosher) salt is used because of its effectiveness in drawing out the blood from the meat. After being rinsed off several times, the meat is considered in proper condition for cooking. This entire process must be completed within 72 hours after ritual slaughter; otherwise, the blood is considered to have congealed inside the meat, which must then be broiled or roasted over an open flame before it can be eaten.¹⁵Meat that is to be broiled does not need to be kashered, since the broiling process drains off at least as much blood as is removed by soaking and salting. Nevertheless, some people still sprinkle salt on meat before broiling. Salting is not considered effective enough to kasher the blood-saturated liver, which must first be broiled on a rack to allow the juices to drain before being further cooked in whatever way desired.¹⁶ 

Forbidden Portions of Kosher Animals

The sciatic nerve and its associated blood vessels must be removed before the hindquarters of any “beast” can be prepared for consumption. This nerve extends from the rear of the spinal column and runs down the inner side of the leg. Although some expert butchers can perform the difficult task of cutting out the sciatic nerve, in general the process is so time-consuming and costly that many kosher butchers do not handle the hindquarter at all. Packinghouses usually sell the hindquarters of kosher-slaughtered animals to the general market for nonkosher cuts of meat such as sirloin or T-bone steak and filet mignon.¹⁷The prohibition against eating the sciatic nerve is an eternal reminder of the wrestling match between Jacob and the “stranger,” which took place as the Patriarch was returning to the Land of

 Mixing Milk and MeatThe prohibition against mixing milk and meat derives from the verse, “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” (Exod. 23:19, 34:26; Deut. 14:21). Since it became impossible to determine which baby goat and which mother’s milk were related, the law was extended so that no animal (meat) could be cooked in any milk (dairy). The Rabbis interpreted the threefold repetition of this verse as defining three separate prohibitions: cooking meat and milk together, eating such a mixture, and deriving any benefit from it (such as savoring the aroma or feeding it to a pet) (Hul. 115b). The term “milk” was interpreted to mean all dairy products, such as butter, cheese, and fresh and sour cream. Because many commonly eaten processed foods contain unsuspected dairy ingredients—such as bread, cakes, and cookies made with buttermilk, nonfat dry milk, whey, or dairy-derived additives—kashrut observers always read the labels carefully and buy products only with a hechsher (kosher certification).Those Jews who are strictest about their observance of kashrut have special requirements for the dairy products they eat, consuming only those labeled chalav Yisrael (milk of the Jewish people). In addition to making certain of the standard requirement that all milk and dairy products never come into contact with any meat or meat products, the most rigorous insist that cows be closely watched to ensure that they never eat any nonkosher food or have their milk mixed with any that is not kosher.

The production of cheese is also tightly regulated. Most hard cheeses require that the milk be curdled or coagulated in rennet, the inner lining of the stomach of a calf. To be strictly kosher, the rennet must come from a kosher animal that was slaughtered in a ritually correct manner and whose stomach was correctly prepared and thoroughly dried. Conservative halakhic interpretation permits all hard cheeses. Today, cheese can be made using vegetable enzymes.²⁰In order to create a “fence around the Torah,” the Rabbis decreed that the separation of meat from milk must be as complete as possible. Thus it is necessary to use separate utensils (pots, pans, dishes, and flatware) for dairy foods and meat (known in Yiddish as milchig and fleishig, respectively). This entails storing the utensils in separate areas, washing them in separate bowls or sinks, and drying them with different dishcloths (ideally of distinct colors to prevent any mistake). When using a dishwasher, it is necessary to have separate dish racks; if these are not available, the dishwasher must be run through a cycle between meat and dairy loads.Because meat takes a long time to digest, or due to residual meat particles or fatty residues caught in the teeth or their taste remaining on the palate, Jewish law rules that one must wait a designated period after eating a meat meal before ingesting milk products. Customs range from an hour for Jews of Dutch ancestry to three hours for German Jews and six hours for those from other European countries. The waiting time between milk and meat is much shorter. One is generally permitted to eat meat almost immediately after a milk meal, after thoroughly rinsing the mouth and eating a piece of bread or some other “neutral” solid. After hard cheese, however, it is customary to wait a longer period (up to six hours in some traditions) before eating meat.Today, there is wide availability of imitation milk derived from soybeans, coconuts, almonds, rice, and oats that may be used with meat. Fruit, vegetables, grains, and eggs are all considered neutral (pareve) and may be eaten together with milk or meat dishes. Fish is also a neutral food, but the Rabbis traditionally prohibited cooking or eating fish and meat together because they were convinced that this mixture was dangerous for one’s health. Today, there is a difference of opinion on the subject of eating meat and fish together.Maimonides viewed the prohibition against mixing meat and milk as an attack on idolatry and superstition.²¹  He argued that combining meat and milk was a pagan custom and thus not appropriate for Jews. Abravanel and Luzzatto maintained that it was a humanitarian ordinance to discourage a practice that would tend to harden the heart.²² Ibn Ezra argued that it would be the “act of a cruel heart” to take milk, a substance that the Creator made to nourish life, and use it in a manner designed to destroy that life.²³ 

Rationales for the Dietary Laws

Many attempts have been made to explain the dietary laws. The Bible defines them as hukim, divine statutes that by definition are not explained in the text. However, the underlying rationale for the laws of kashrut is stated in the verse, “You shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I [your God] am holy” (Lev. 11:44). This commandment has two aspects: the positive aspect of imitating God by manifesting such divine traits as being merciful and loving, and the negative aspect of withdrawing from things that are impure and abominable. Thus Jews were required to avoid anything that could defile them, either physically or spiritually.²⁴  The consumption of nonkosher food impedes people’s ability to elevate and sanctify themselves, dulling their spiritual potential and creating a barrier between Jews and their perceptions of holiness.Maimonides noted that “the dietary laws train us in the mastery over our appetites; they accustom us to restrain both the growth of desire and the disposition to consider the pleasure of eating and drinking as the end of man’s existence.”²⁵ This concept is illustrated in the Sifra (11:22), a halakhic midrash on Leviticus, which states: “Let not a man say, ‘I do not like the flesh of swine.’ On the contrary, he should say, ‘I like it but must abstain, seeing  that the Torah has forbidden it.’ ”Effects on the SoulFor Ezekiel (33:25), the eating of blood was equivalent to the sins of idolatry and murder. Conversely, abstaining from this practice decreases the innate human instinct for violence. The Zohar extended this to all forbidden food, noting that the consuming of blood and the worshiping of idols are both referred to as “abominations.” The prohibition of birds of prey, which survive by their ability to kill other creatures, is a moral injunction against taking advantage of one another, for such predatory behavior is out of character with the Jewish attitudes of compassion and mercy.²⁶ For Ibn Ezra, the prohibition against aesthetically repulsive animals (such as eels, roaches, and ants) was simply that it would be impossible for one to have a pure, clean conscience with the knowledge that his own flesh is the product of a diet of insects, snakes, and other vermin. In his allegorical Torah commentary, Akedat Yitzhak,²⁷ Isaac ben Moses Arama (15th century) wrote: “The reason behind all the dietary prohibitions is not that any harm may be caused to the body, but that these foods defile and pollute the soul and blunt the intellectual powers, thus leading to confused opinions and a lust for perverse and brutish appetites that lead men to destruction, thus defeating the purpose of Creation.” 

Effects on the Body

As a physician, Maimonides observed, “All food that is forbidden by the Law is unwholesome.”²⁸ Sefer ha-Hinnukh noted that “the injurious effect of some forbidden foods in not known to us, or even to physicians. The True Faithful Doctor who has commanded us in all these things is infinitely wiser than we. How petty and foolish is the man who thinks that only those things which his understanding grasps are true, and everything else, everything unknown to him, is not true.”²⁹  Maimonides maintained that the reason for the injunction against the consumption of sacrificial fat (chelev) was that “it fattens and destroys the abdomen and creates cold and clammy blood.”³⁰  Concerning the prohibition of milk and meat, he added, “Meat boiled in milk is undoubtedly gross food, and makes a person feel overfull.”³¹  Later authorities argued that certain animals (especially nonkosher ones) harbor parasites that spread disease. Indeed, medieval Jews suffered less than their gentile neighbors from the waves of epidemics that decimated the population. 

Separation

The dietary laws preserved the distinction between the Jews and other neighboring peoples (Tob. 1:10–11), as is first told in the story of Joseph, when the Egyptians refuse to eat with their Hebrew visitors (Gen. 43:32). Later, the young Daniel in the Babylonian court “resolved not to defile himself with the king’s food or the wine he drank”; he made do with a spare vegetarian diet (Dan. 1:8, 12). And Judith ate her own food when she dined with a Babylonian general (Judith 12:2). In the Maccabean period, obedience to the dietary laws became such a mark of Jewish loyalty that Jews chose martyrdom rather than eating pig meat.³²For the early Rabbis, the secret of Jewish survival was separatism—being a holy people required being a people apart. As expressed in the early Apocryphal Book of Jubilees (22:16): “Separate yourself from the nations, do not eat with them, do not act according to their deeds, and do not associate with them, because their work is uncleanness, all their ways are contamination, detestation and abomination. They slaughter their sacrifices to the dead and pray to demons.”³³  By following the dietary laws, the observant Jew may have less opportunity to socialize with non-Jews (since this often entails eating together). According to this view, the observance of kashrut has been a critical factor in decreasing the rates of Jewish assimilation and intermarriage.³⁴ 

Conclusion

The general consensus is that the Torah is not a medical textbook and the dietary laws are not primarily designed to preserve bodily health. Rather, as Samuel Dresner wrote:Kashrut demands sacrifice, self-discipline and determination—but what that is really worthwhile in life does not? It demands the courage to turn our face against the powerful current of conformity that almost overcomes us daily. The goal of kashrut is holiness, a holy man and a holy nation. It is part of Judaism’s attempt to hallow the common act of eating, which is an aspect of our animal nature. It likewise sets us apart from the nations. Thus it achieves its objective—holiness—in these two ways, both of which are implied in the Hebrew word kadosh: inner hallowing and outer separateness.”³⁵^[4]

^[5] So what are our responsibilities today, as far as keeping “Kosher”?  It is very simple in fact.  G-d commands that His people be holy( Lev. 11:44), and He gives the guidelines for holiness(Deuteronomy 28:9-14).  By eating only the clean foods, and refraining from the unclean foods, one is in alignment with the will of G-d( Lev 11).  Now there are arguments from a Christian standpoint, that Yeshua rendered “all foods” as clean. And they cite Mark 7:1 as their proof.  However, Yeshua was a righteous Jew.  He had to keep all of the commandments and keep them correctly in order to be “the lamb without blemish”.  He would have never seen the unclean animals listed in the Torah, Leviticus 11, as food.  And Mark 7 is Yeshua speaking of the “tradition” of ritual washing of hands before eating.  Then some will use the argument of the dream of Peter (Acts 10:9-16) yet most don’t go on to read that the dream isn’t speaking of food, but of the Gentiles.  Still others use