Kashrut Quiz

- Because God says so in the Bible- Keeping kosher helps keep us aware of our choices and conscious decisions- Keeping kosher helps us be more humane in treating the animals who die so we can eat- Keeping kosher helps make a Jewish home "Jewish"- Keeping kosher is a way to assert one's Jewish identity. It sets you apart.

K'dusah means 'holy.' It's also one of two prayers Jews say when in a minyan, reminding them of the importance of coming together as a community to live as a holy people

Milchig

Fleishig

Special certification marking on the packages of products (usually foods) that have been certified as kosher

Parve

Treyf, treyfah

- An observant Jews will not eat meat and cheese together.- Jews in their homes typically use separate dishes, utensils, and racks to avoid contamination

Means kosher and parve

...the product is certified for Passover use.

- Maimonides: the observance of kashrut serves as a kind of discipline that "accustoms us to restrain both the growth of desire and the disposition to consider the pleasure of eating and drinking as the end of man's existence."
-General: Though searching for reasons is an important part of reading the Law and may gives us the feeling that we are drawing near to the Eternal, the observant Jews accepts the arbitrary nature of some commandments as the way things are. Why? Because God wants us to.
For a Jew who keeps kosher, every meal, every snack, every shopping trip forces her to consider the nature of what she is eating, the how and the why of it. And the consciousness that creates goes far beyond the "how many calories, how many grams of fat" of the compulsive dieter. A kashrut-observing Jew is brought face-to-face with his belief in the Almighty every time he lifts a fork to his mouth or puts a box of cereal in his shopping cart. To achieve that complete sense of connectedness to the Holy, an extra set of dishes seems a small price to pay.
Ultimately, this consciousness of the presence of the Ineffable is achieved by separating the word into pure and impure, the sacred and the ordinary. The division between kosher and treif, the separations of niddah are like the Havdalah blessing that closes each Shabbat. We acknowledge that Godd has divided the world in all these many ways and we imitate those divisions by observing those mitzvot. And in doing so, we set ourselves apart as a holy people.
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Michael Zaroovabeli December 22, 2009 at 9:13pm ReplyOn demand, I am writing a short Dvar Torah on why eating kosher is so important in the religion and I have also included is some of the laws of kashrut.
It is believed that the laws of kashrut transform food into an opportunity for spiritual enrichment. The most obvious idea behind kashrut is self control and discipline. It is said that Kashrut imposes certain restrictions on the type of food one can eat. The Torah injunction “Therefore take good heed of yourselves,” (Devarim 4:15) prioritises both our physical and spiritual well being. Jews, who observe these dietary laws (kashrut), must make regular decisions about what they eat, when they eat it and how they prepare their food.
It is said that the dietary laws force us to stop and think about daily activities and deter us from going through life in autopilot. There are many rules, which govern kosher food. For example:
1) An animal must have split hooves and chew the cud to be said to be kosher (these laws are given in the book of Vayikra (Leviticus)).
2) A sea creature is only considered to be kosher if it has fins and scales. So most species of fish are kosher (tuna, salmon, etc.). Any food product of a non-kosher animal is also said to be non-kosher.
3) It has been said that meat and milk cannot be consumed together. The prohibition against meat and milk is said to remind us where our food comes from. The meat is from a dead animal, the milk from a living animal. These are foods that have their origin in living creatures and keeping them separate reportedly makes us aware of their source. Also there is a pasuk in the parshah of ‘Mishpatim’ in the book of Shemot which says how one should not cook meat and milk together.
The animals eating under kashrut are thought to be chosen in part for their symbolism. It is hoped that we will absorb the qualities from these animals and, by not eating animals that are not kosher we are therefore not thought to be absorbing those attributes which we don’t want.
The kosher laws are also felt to be designed to encourage us to view ourselves with dignity and to act with dignity. It is considered that the discipline that we use in choosing the food we eat also has an impact on how we lead our lives and how we treat ourselves and the people around us.
In addition, kashrut is thought to have health benefits. This is because the laws also require all blood to be drained from an animal before it can be cooked; this is done by salting it. It is thought that, as kosher meat contains no blood, it can help prevent the spread of diseases, such as BSE and CJD or Bird Flu, which are spread via the blood as no infected blood can be passed to humans.
Hope you all have a great week ahead, from Michael Zaroovabeli learning at Ohr Sameach yeshiva.

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