In this day and age, most Jews do not keep Kosher. Why not? Is it because we are more knowledgeable than our forbearers the past 3,000 years? Do we know what they knew, weighed the information and concluded that keeping Kosher is out? Or, was it a slide away from observance over the years and over the generations due to getting along in a modern world? I am betting that 99.9% of us will answer - if we are truthful - that its the latter case. We dont know what our ancestors knew and we are comfortable doing what we are doing. What could possibly motivate us to keep Kosher? Well, if we really knew that there is a God who gave us the Torah and that we have a covenant with Him to keep the Torah (which includes Kashruth!) -- it would probably motivate some people. Then again, I can hear the response -- What? You want me to buy new dishes, pots and pans ... and two sets? Are you nuts? Do you realize how difficult it would be to keep Kosher? The changes to my kitchen and to my lifestyle? Everything in life has a cost. The only question is if one believes that the payoff is worth the investment. A person is going to do what a person wants to do. What if keeping Kosher would help ensure that your children marry someone Jewish and that you would have Jewish grandchildren? Would that be motivating? What if it were healthier, enhanced spirituality, increased personal discipline, inculcated moral values? Would that intrigue you to look further? Perhaps the following benefits from and understandings of keeping Kosher will be food for thought: Hygienic: There are many laws that promote health. The Torah forbids eating animals that died without proper slaughter and the draining of the blood (which is a medium for the growth of bacteria). It also forbids eating animals that have abscesses in their lungs or other health problems. Shellfish, mollusks, lobsters (and yes, stone crabs) which have spread typhoid and are a source for urticara (a neurotic skin affliction) are not on the diet. Milk and meat digest at an unequal rate and are difficult for the body; they are forbidden to be eaten together. Birds of prey are not Kosher - tension and hormones produced might make the meat unhealthy. Moral Lessons: We are taught a sensitivity to feelings - even to the feelings of animals. A mother and her young are forbidden to be slaughtered on the same day and a kid (goat) is not to be seethed in its mothers milk. We are also instructed to forbid cruelty to animals. The Torah forbids removing the limb of an animal while it is still alive (a common practice before refrigeration). When we slaughter an animal, it must be done with the least possible pain; there is a special knife that is so sharp that even the slightest nick in the blade renders it non-permissible. This prevents pain to the animal. And we are reminded not to be vicious by the prohibition to eat birds of prey which are vicious. National Reasons: We are a unique people, with a mission of Tikun Olom,repairing the world. We have a special diet to remind us of our mission and to keep us together as a people to fulfill it. Keeping Kosher puts up a barrier. Intermarriage is kind of hard when you have to take your non-Jewish date to a Kosher restaurant or if you go to a prospective mother-in-laws home and you wont eat her food.... Keeping Kosher is also a reminder of our gratitude to the Almighty for taking us out of Egypt; its a symbol of the covenant between us and God (read Leviticus 11:45-47). Mystical: The Torah calls us a Holy People and prescribes a holy diet (read Deuteronomy 14:2-4). You are what you eat. Kosher is Gods diet for spirituality. Jewish mysticism teaches that non-kosher food blocks the spiritual potential of the soul. Kosher animals properly slaughtered and prepared have more sparks of holiness (according to the Kabbalah) which are incorporated in our being. Discipline: If one can discipline himself in what and when he eats, he can discipline himself in other areas of life. Kashruth requires that one must wait after eating meat before eating milk products and may not eat certain animals or combinations of foods. If you disagree with these understandings and benefits, you would likely be able to find in history some great rabbi who was on your side. But that same rabbi would agree with every other great rabbi that the real reason we eat Kosher is because God commanded us to do so in the Torah He gave to the Jewish people and that we, the Jewish people, bound ourselves to God in a covenant to keep the commandments of that Torah. The prime directive of the Torah is that the Almighty does not want us to become neurotics. If one wants to upgrade his observance of the Torah, he must do it in intelligent, calculated steps. Just as a parent loves the first steps of his toddler, the Almighty treasures our steps towards fulfilling his Torah. Do what you can do with thoughts of doing even more. This is the sane approach in coming closer to the Almighty and fulfilling his commandments.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 01:05:01 +0000