GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE DIETARY LAWS
“The dietary laws concern themselves with what animals, birds, and fish may be eaten, the way in which they must be prepared for consumption, and the fact that meat must not be consumed or cooked together with milk or other dairy products.” (Encyclopaedia Judaica, Dietary Laws)
The Encyclopedia Judaica provides a good summary of the dietary laws, which I will try to further summarize below. As a general principle, animals/birds that eat other animals, i.e., living off the dead, are prohibited, while animals/birds that are herbivorous are generally permitted. Although pigs are generally considered herbivorous, I heard a recent story from the Civil War of wild hogs eating the battlefield dead, which in some areas remained unburied until several years after the war. Not surprisingly, the people in these areas refused to eat wild pig for years. Philo, the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher, suggested that creatures with evil instincts were forbidden lest men might also develop these instincts, (Spec. 4:118).
Animals: The major distinction is clean (tahor) and unclean (tame). Clean animals chew the cud and have wholly cloven hoofs, (Deut 14:6). Generally, these animals are herbivorous enumerated in the Law as: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the hart, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the pygarg, the antelope, and the mountain-sheep, (Deut 14:4-5).
Birds: Leviticus 11:13-19 lists 20 “unclean” birds, while Deuteronomy 14:12-18 lists 21. The rabbis combined these lists to arrive at 24 “unclean” birds (Hul. 63a-b). In addition, the eggs of forbidden birds are also forbidden (Hul 64b). Even the eggs of permitted bids are forbidden if they have been ferilized (Hul. 64a-b). The Bible does not list “clean” birds, but according to the Mishnah “clean” birds must have a crop, a gizzard which can easily be peeled off, and an extra talon.
Fish: Only acquatic creatures that have at least one fin and one easily removable scale are “clean” (Lev 11:9-12).
Insects: The short answer is that no insects are permitted because the four kinds of locust permitted (Lev 11:21-22), cannot be easily identified. One seeming exception to the general principles, honey is regarded as “transferred nectar” and may be eaten even though the bee is a forbidden insect, (Bek. 7b)
Ritual Slaughter (Shehitah): With the emphasis on clean and unclean animals, it is easy to overlook the importance placed on preparing the animal.
“So complex and minute are the regulations that the slaughter must be carried out by a carefully trained and licensed shohet…Should a defect be found in some of the organs, such as the brain, the windpipe, the esophagus, the heart, the lungs, or the intestines, the animal is terefah, and forbidden for consumption.”
There are eight categories for defects that would render an animal as unacceptable: (1) perforated organ walls, (2) split pipes, (3) missing limbs, (4) missing or defective organs, (5) torn walls or membrane covers or organs, (6) a poisonous substance introduced into the body (such as mauled by another animal), (7) shattering by a fall, or (8) broken bones. It is assumed in the Talmud (Hul 3:1), that these defects would lead to death within one year and eating a dead animal is prohibited. The same laws apply to poultry, but there are no specific rules concerning the method by which permitted fish are to be killed.
Because there is a strong financial incentive to process every animal, I have read about cattle with broken or injured limbs being forced through the traditional meat packing process. In addition, it has been a practice to grind up the bones of processed animals for cattle feed. “Mad cow” disease can be propagated in this manner and I do not expect that this practice would be kashrut. I also wonder if the introduction of “growth hormones” in animals would be considered an unacceptable substance introduced into the body.
Preparation of Meat (Koshering): The prohibition against the consumption of blood (Lev 7:26-27, 17:10-14), is the basis for the process of koshering, the drawing out and draining of blood from meat before cooking. The process begins by suspending the animal head down to drain as much blood as possible. The remaining blood can be removed by either salting the meat, or roasting the meat over an open flame. Poultry must be opened and salted inside and out.
The salting process involves fully immersing the meat and bones in clean cold water for 30 minutes to open pores enabling the salt to draw blood from the surface and softened fibers of the meat. The meat is then laid out on specially grooved or perforated boards placed at an angle to allow drainage. The meat is then sprinkled with salt. The meat is left to stand for one hour, then washed 2-3 times in cold water. The process must be completed within 72 hours after the animal was slaughtered, otherwise, the animal can only be koshered by roasting over an open flame.
There are various interpretations on the prohibition against consuming blood. The best understanding may come from the words of Ezekiel who equated the eating of blood with the sins of idolatry and murder, “You eat meat with the blood, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood,” (Ezek 33:25). Some interpret the words of Ezekiel as connecting man’s violent nature to the consumption of blood.
Forbidden Mixtures: Even clean animals have portions that are forbidden to eat. The sciatic nerve must be removed, as a prohibition traced back to the blow inflicted by Jacob, (Gen 32:33). Also prohibited are the fat portions attached to the stomach, abdomen, and intestines since these were apportioned to God in the Temple offerings, (Lev 3:17, 7:23-25). In regards to eating liver, “Salting is not considered effective enough to kosher the liver, which is full of blood. It is therefore sprinkled with salt, cut across or pierced several times, and placed on or under an open flame, until it changes color, or a crust forms.”
Permissible foods can be rendered “unclean” when they are mixed with prohibited foods since any amount of a prohibited food is forbidden, (Yoma 74a). In the case of accidental mixing, permitted foods are considered contaminated,
“if the food inserted is large enough to effect the taste. For practical purposes, it was decided that only if the quantity of forbidden food was less than 1/60 of the permitted food…is it considered not to have affected the taste…If the forbidden admixture is a type intended to affect the taste, then the mixture is forbidden even if the admixture is less than 1/60.”
In the latter case, even an amount less than 1/60 of leaven would make unleavened bread leavened.
Milk and Meat: In the case of milk and meat (Ex 23:19, 34:26, Deut 14:21), three distinct prohibitions are given: (1) cooking meat and milk together, (2) eating such a mixture, and (3) deriving any benefit from such a mixture (Hul. 115b). “Milk” includes all dairy products, such as cheese, butter, sour cream, and cream. The separation includes using separate utensils, dishes, and cutlery for meat and dairy products. In addition, separate sinks for washing and separate dishcloths for drying.
A person may not eat milk after meat in the same meal (Hul. 105a). Most West European Jews wait three hours, while some wait only one hour. Meat can be eaten immediately after milk dishes, provided that the mouth is rinsed and some bread eaten. Milk derived from soybeans, coconuts, etc., may be used with meat. Fruit, vegetables, and eggs can be eaten together with either meat or milk dishes. However, the rabbis prohibited the eating of fish and meat together for health reasons, but this provision is not given in scripture. Strictly observant Jews drink only halav Yisrael, milk bottled under the supervision of a Jew, i.e, Tevye.
Two theories are prominent in the prohibition against cooking a kid in its mother’s milk. Maimonides believed that the activity was “somehow connected with idolatry,” possibly a fertility rite. Abraham Heschel provides a contemporary explanation, “Milk, which is the only food that can sustain the body by itself. It would, therefore, be an act of ingratitude to take the offspring of such an animal and cook it in the very milk which sustains us.”
(to be continued - Scott)
No comments:
Post a Comment