Thoughts on “Keeping Kosher”

Those of you who know me are now thinking, “But Sharon, you’re not Jewish. Why are you pondering the subject of ‘Keeping Kosher’?” Simple answer: One of our colleagues from the New York office is here in our Portland office today, and he keeps kosher…very strictly. It made me curious about what the specific requirements are, so I looked it up during my lunchbreak. What I found is that in addition to helping me understand those of my friends, acquaintances & co-workers who choose to keep kosher, it also helped me to understand that “keeping kosher” is a very good idea given to us by a very loving God who wants us to be healthy!

(As you read, please remember that these are simply observations on a very amateur level! I am certainly no expert on this subject, I’m simply recording my thoughts at this particular stage in my understanding. :-) )

My observations…

Kosher law prohibits the consumption of all water creatures which do not have fins or scales. This would include shellfish such as lobsters, oysters, shrimp, clams & crabs, as well as fish like catfish which don’t have scales. Why would such yummy seafood be forbidden??? It seems that most of these creatures are either scavengers and/or predators, meaning that much of their diet can contain toxins, diseases, or other things which are destructive to the human body.

The same types of limitations are applied to the flying creatures. Kosher law forbids the eating of all birds of prey and scavengers. The birds which are permitted are the ones which tend to be cultivated by man (chicken, geese, ducks, etc), and whose diets can therefore be accounted for.

Rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and insects are all forbidden, presumably for the same reasons.

(I haven’t quite figured out the reason behind distinguishing between land mammals which “have cloven hooves & chew their cud”, and those that don’t...)

It is also interesting to note that the way in which the animal died makes a difference as to whether or not it is kosher. If it died of natural causes (which means it could have been diseased), or if it was killed by another animal (which may have been diseased or a scavenger, and passed that to the now dead animal during the struggle), it may not be eaten. The animal must have been slaughtered as quickly and painlessly as possible, with “a quick, deep stroke across the throat with a perfectly sharp blade with no nicks or unevenness. This method is painless, causes unconsciousness within two seconds, and is widely recognized as the most humane method of slaughter possible.” This method also “ensures rapid, complete draining of the blood, which is also necessary to render the meat kosher.”

I believe that God knew exactly what kind of junk is in the various animals that He forbade his people to eat, and that those potential toxins, diseases, etc would compromise their health. He wanted His precious people to live full & healthy lives, and it is for that reason that He gave such strict laws about what to eat & what not to eat.

It will be interesting to continue digging further into this subject over time, and I'm sure that you'll get to read about it here!

'Til next time...