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Welcome to 10 Minute TopicsThis week’s topic is: Kashrut
Kashrut Explained
Kashrut (keeping kosher) is a set of laws that was given to Moses by G-d. Keeping kosher meansfollowing these many laws and not just simply refraining from eating pork or shellfish. Many people have tried to find the reasons G-d commanded that the Jews keep kosher but kashrut isone of many mitzvot from G-d that do not have any rational explanations. This does not meanhowever, that Jews can simply dismiss these laws.The main purposes of Kashrut are:1. to limit the number of animals the Jew is permitted to kill and eat;2. to render the slaughter of the permitted animals as painless as possible;3. to cause revulsion at the shedding of blood;4. to instill self-discipline in the Jew;5. to help sustain Judaism and the cohesion of the Jewish community; and6. to raise the act of eating from an animal-like level.The kosher animals that may be partaken of by the Jews (such as the cow, chicken, and certainlocusts) must have certain characteristics. Land animals must have split hooves and chew their cud, fish must have both scales and fins, and birds may not be birds of prey. Even if the landanimals are kosher, certain parts of the animal (the sciatic nerve and its adjoining blood vesselsas well as the chelev) may not be eaten. The non-kosher animals that may not be partaken of bythe Jews (such as the pig, rabbit, and eagle) do not have these characteristics.A shochet must follow certain laws regarding how animals are to be slaughtered and how themeat must be prepared in order for the clean animals to be considered kosher. The shochet mustensure that the animal has no broken bones and the knife being used must be totally free of anynicks or imperfections. The animal must have its throat slit in a specific area with one stroke toensure the least pain for the animal. All the blood must be drained and salt is used to help ensurethat any further blood will be soaked up before the meat is ready for purchase.In addition to these differences between kosher and non-kosher food there is the prohibition of mixing dairy and meat. This prohibition includes all milk-producing mammals but excludes fish.Originally fowl was not considered "meat" in the sense that fowl does not produce milk.However, rabbinic rulings have now prohibited mixing dairy and fowl.The status of kosher, treif (non-kosher), and pareve (neither kosher nor non-kosher) also extendsto utensils, plates/bowls, pans, the act of cooking, cooking and cleaning surfaces, fuits andvegetable, and drinks such as wine, grape juice, soda, milk, and alcohol. All utensils, plates/bowls, pans, and cooking and cleaning surfaces must be rendered kosher in order for thefood to retain its kosher status. The concept of bishul Yisrael demands that a Jew be involved inthe cooking or processing of food in order for the food to be considered kosher. All fresh fruitsand vegetables are kosher. However, it is important to thoroughly inspect them to ensure thereare no bugs or worms on the fruits and vegetables since most of them are not kosher. When itcomes to wine and grape juice, the process of mevushal ensures that the wine and grape juice iskosher. Cholov Yisrael is an ancient practice that involves a Jew being present from the time of milking from a kosher animal (such as a cow) until the time of bottling to ensure that the milk from the kosher animal will not be mixed with milk from a treif animal. In the United States,
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