Shemini: You Are What Your Food Ate

One of the most well-known aspects of Jewish practice would probably have to be our dietary laws. The word, "Kosher," alone has made its way into modern English usage, where it means "proper" or "legitimate," as in "That e-mail I got from the Nigerian prince who needed me to loan him money didn't seem quite Kosher." Even someone who's never met a Jew may very well still be familiar with the word "Kosher." But what does Kashrut (the broader term for keeping Kosher) really entail? Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't really have much to do with bagels, lox, or shmaltz (if you don't know what that is, don't ask...).

One of the main principles of Kashrut forbids us to mix dairy products with meat products. This is based on a verse in Exodus 34:26, where it says, "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." The rabbis turned this single principle into a much broader prohibition against anything dairy being mixed with anything meat. Besides that, the rest of the laws of Kashrut primarily govern which animals we can eat and which are off limits, and how the animals are slaughtered. This week's Torah reading includes Leviticus, chapter 11, which gives us the general run-down of which cold cuts... err, I mean animals, are Kosher. And there's something striking about the list we are given.

There are a few guiding principles - criteria for all mammals, criteria for anything aquatic, and a specific list of approved birds - but we don't actually get any explanations. The Torah never tells us why certain animals are ok and others are not. The laws are simply presented, and we are expected to comply. Now I'm not suggesting we NOT comply, I'm simply pointing out that the laws are not qualified, and if we want to understand the laws better, we have to interpret for ourselves. For example, we are forbidden to ingest any blood, and the forbidden birds seem to generally be birds of prey (eagles, hawks, vultures, etc.). Perhaps the Torah feels that eating carnivorous birds means eating whatever they ate, including the blood of other animals, which is why they're off limits. Sort of a "you are what you eat" type of scenario.

It's also important to realize that Kosher animals aren't "cleaner" animals. We're not talking about healthier eating. It's about creating restrictions for yourself. It's about taking a stand regarding your food, and not eating whatever is put in front of you. Even if you don't follow the strictest form of Kashrut, do you still have certain moral or ethical guidelines that govern your eating habits? What do you know about how your meat was killed, or how the animal was treated before it died? We aren't told why certain foods are permitted and others forbidden, perhaps because we're meant to contemplate the reasons for ourselves.

We don't always think of it this way, but meat-eating involves a great responsibility. Another life was sacrificed so that we might be nourished and sustained. I encourage you to take that responsibility seriously. Just because we eat meat, doesn't mean that animals should suffer. And it doesn't mean we can eat whatever we want and as much as we want. "Kosher" does mean "proper," but for each of us that might hold different meaning. It should, however, mean something. And we all have the responsibility to figure out what that means for us, and to live our lives accordingly.