| What about kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws? |
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| Written by Web Master | |
| Thursday, 11 December 2003 | |
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On kashrut, in particular and Jewish practice in general, we try to
encourage a deeper and fuller lived Jewish life through study and
experience rather than simply to legislate. We recognise that
individuals will come to their own decisions but are as insistent as
possible that those decisions be based on Jewish thought, knowledge and
experience.
In a way, then, the answer here is not very different from the answer to the question about Shabbat. The Jewish dietary laws are about bringing a religious dimension to the ordinary, everyday act of eating. They are an attempt to make even this mundane event holy (set apart for a special purpose), they are a reminder to us that we are Jewish even when we are having an earnest business lunch or a quick snack out. Rabbi Lionel Blue once described kashrut as the equivalent of a knot in a handkerchief, a reminder. This is another of Judaism’s brilliant insights. However, there are times when some of the ‘traditional’ legislation seems to us to have got quite out of hand and become an end in itself, if not an obsession. Reform Judaism is extremely keen on people retaining the knot in the handkerchief, remembering their Jewishness and their Jewish values when they are eating. How this is achieved will vary – some find abstaining from ‘forbidden foods’ sufficient, others wish to keep a traditionally ‘kosher home’, many others hear in vegetarianism traditional Jewish values expressed in 21st century terms. We believe in kashrut but, as with so many mitzvot (commandments, obligations), refuse to allow its definition to be frozen in the past.
It goes without saying that all Reform Synagogues observe kashrut on their premises. This is a recognition of the need for the community to provide a living experience of observance which individuals can use as part of their learning and personal decision making. Trackback(0)
Comments
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You state that reform synagogues keep kashrut in the building. Can you confirm that for example, biscuits that do not have a hesher but are marked vegetarian but not the "K" on the pack are acceptable?
One of the biggest misconceptions about kashrut – the Jewish dietary laws – is that it is a simple polarity of expression – either kosher or unkosher. Of course, the Torah often talks in these terms, but Rabbinic law is much more vague on the matter. Kashrut depends as much on the Rabbinic authority being asked as much as it does the texts upon which it is based. For example, some Rabbis in Germany thought that turkey was unkosher, while most Rabbis today would say that it is kosher. Over Passover, Ashkenazi and Sephardi authorities disagree over what is "kosher for Pesach." Recently, when Mars added trace amounts of animal whey to their chocolates, one authority ruled that it was kosher, while another ruled unkosher, based on a rule that is important for your question.
The Rabbis hold that if an item accidentally has less than one part in sixty that might render it unkosher, and we cannot identify it (e.g. if a tiny drop of milk falls in a chicken soup) then it's still kosher. According to the law of the land, something is vegetarian if it contains less than 2% meat. One part in sixty is 1.6%. So it could be said that an item marked vegetarian doesn't strictly correspond to the rabbis' demand of one part in sixty. How much you would like to quibble over 0.06% of an item of food is for your own personal discretion. If an item is marked by the Vegetarian Society, however, it definitely contains 0% meat, and supercedes the requirements laid out by the Rabbis. Rabbi Zalman Shachter Shalomi created the idea of Eco-Kashrut, in which the entire chain of production was analysed for whether or not it was "kosher," i.e. acceptable. For example, could a drink served in a polystyrene cup which goes to landfill really be called kosher? What if the animal being eaten were killed in a kosher way but was pumped with growth hormones throughout its life – would that be kosher? Headed by the Jewish Renewal movement, Eco-Kashrut is becoming more and more popular, especially as Jews become more environmentally conscious. Thus, synagogues are often creating kashrut policies that not only expect items to be marked vegetarian, but may be locally sourced, ethical food. To conclude, then, biscuits marked as vegetarian do not conform to orthodox standards of kashrut, but do for almost all Reform communities. However, others demand a more stringent form of kashrut, insisting that their communities also maintain some kind of kashrut standards based on ethics as well. The answer was by Rabbi Neil Amswych, Principal Rabbi of Bournemouth Reform Synagogue
What type of Kosher must converts agree to for their conversion to be valid?
No one converting to Reform Judaism would be expected to have a hechsher (a seal from an Orthodox Rabbinic Beit Din) on all the food they eat. I am born Jewish and a Rabbi and I am happy to eat vegetarian food in non Kosher restaurants or at the homes of non Jewish friends.
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