Definition:

Jewish dietary laws, from the root meaning “clean.”

In Judaism, it is perhaps true to say that, at least in small part, you are what you eat. In the Torah, the purity of the people is in part maintained by eating a pure diet, and these were greatly expanded upon by the Rabbis in the Mishnah and Talmud.

At its core, kashrut is about eating clean food. Anthropologist Mary Douglas notes that the vast majority of laws of kashrut relate to what are known as interstitial species – species that cross boundaries. For example, if a species lives in the sea but walks, such as a crab, it is unkosher, because it has crossed a boundary. If it is a bird but cannot fly, such as an ostrich, it similarly is unkosher. The Torah enumerates a number of animals which, due to their inherent characteristics simply cannot be kosher under any circumstances. The characteristics of kosher animals can be summarized as follows:

• Walking animals: need to chew the cud and have a cloven hoof.
• Swimming animals: need to have fins and easily removable scales.
• Flying animals: cannot be birds of prey.

Kashrut extends much further than specific animals, though. The animal must be slaughtered in the most painless method possible, generally regarded to be shechitah, which involves an immediate loss of pain from the animal. Once slaughtered, there are other conditions for an animal to be kosher, for example, there can be no blood in the meat.

The Rabbis understood the verse “you shall not seethe a kid in its own mother’s milk” (Ex. 23:19, Ex. 34:26, Deut. 14:21) as another boundary to be observed – that milk and meat should not be consumed in the same meal. Because meat products are digested more slowly than milk products, it was considered necesarry to wait for a period of time after eating meat before eating dairy products. This period is often set at three hours but some people observe up to eight hours, depending on their Rabbi. Because it was inconceivable to the Rabbis that Abraham did not know the laws of kashrut (even though they were given years after him on Mount Sinai), they understood the verse in which Abraham serves milk and meat to his guests (Gen. 18:8) as being an example of this observed time period.

Apart from Mary Douglas’ understanding of kashrut, there are many other reasons ventured for the practice. Some suggest that a community that observes the same dietary restrictions is more likely to stay together and that kashrut is thus ultimately a matter of communal survival. Others suggest that these laws were the healthiest way to survive in the desert (without obvious refrigeration). Some suggest that they are a way of life designed to separate Jews from the rest of society. Jews who follow kashrut do not generally subscribe to such reasonings – kashrut is observed because it is commanded of us by God in the Torah and because it draws us closer to God.

As kashrut developed, so the intricacies of the system developed. A little-known but important element of kashrut is called bitul b’rov (nullification by majority), another similar element called bitul b’shishim (nullification by one sixtieth). The first suggests that in certain circumstances, a trace unkosher element within kosher food is nullified by the majority, the second is for cases where it is nullified if it is less than one party in sixty. These important but poorly known concepts introduce the flexibility and creativity into kashrut that is so essential to prevent it from becoming oppressive.

Rav Kook believed that just as the laws of worship were designed to wean us away from idolatry, so the laws of kashrut were designed to wean us away from eating meat. Certainly today in the Reform Movement, there are a number of Jews who maintain a vegetarian diet in their understanding of the fulfillment of the laws of kashrut. Many such vegetarian Jews hold that the laws of kashrut were pertinent in a society when people owned and slaughtered their own cattle and therefore in a society in which few of us come into contact with cattle on a daily basis, the laws of kashrut need to be more compassionately assessed.

One of the most interesting developments in the Jewish community’s understanding of kashrut is that of eco-kashrut. This idea, first proposed by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in the 1970s, focuses on the original intention of kashrut – that which is acceptable to God. For example, it asks whether an animal that has been slaughtered properly is eco-kosher if it has spent its entire life caged, or perhaps if it has been force-fed growth hormones. Eco-kashrut is not opposed to kashrut, but it does ask important questions about the kashrut business. Some fruit or vegetables, for example, may be kosher in the strict sense of the word, but are they eco-kosher – have they been sprayed with chemicals that pollute the ground? Eco-kashrut extends from mere food, for example, when drinking a cup of tea which may be kosher according to rabbinic law, if it is served in a polystyrene cup that takes hundreds of years to decompose, is it eco-kosher? Is a household cleaner eco-kosher if it pollutes when it flows down the drain? Even the money we use to buy products faces questions about eco-kashrut – if it comes from a bank that invests in environmental degradation or supports abuses of human rights, is it eco-kosher? There are no eco-kashrut authorities although there is individual training available worldwide for certification. Eco-kashrut allows us to move beyond simply checking a label to see if something fulfils basic requirements of slaughter – it demands an extensive but nonetheless appropriate assessment of the ethics of our food and possessions.

Ultimately, food is essential to all and thus it can be used by all of us to draw closer to God. We say blessings over our food which we hope is at the highest ethical standard possible, in accordance with God’s wishes. For many Jews today, kashrut is an essential part of their connection to God, although it should be remembered that in no way does it replace the need for ethical behaviour between all people, something which is so essential in Reform Judaism.

Sources:

• Gaia and Melekh HaOlam, Paradigm Shift, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Rowan & Littlefield, 2005
• Down To Earth Judaism, Arthur Waskow, William Morrow, New York, 1995
• Encyclopaedia Judaica, Keter Publishing House, 1972, Vol.6, 26 - 45

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