About Kosher Rules
Many of us have grown up hearing about the Bible, the Old Testament and the stories of the Jewish people and their laws. We can go to the store and see products listed as Kosher for the Jewish community. However, most non-Jews do not understand what Kosher means. Here is a brief explanation of the Kosher rules.
History
According to the Torah, or the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the Jewish people were to live a life governed by a series of laws. Every aspect of their life was covered from their food to the way they cut their hair. Kosher is a term that refers to these set of laws in reference to the food preparation and handling. In was not a ritual or blessing that made the food Kosher, it was a set of handling instructions. If the food was prepared properly, it was considered Kosher.
Significance
If we look into the practices of the Jews and their laws, it is apparent that a lot of the practices ended up as being health standards even though these reasons were never stated in their Torah. Many of the USDA standards of today are not even as stringent as the Kosher regulations. Rules about preparing food in a strict manner, kept bacterial contamination at bay and prevented a lot of illnesses. Rules against killing certain animals kept the people from eating the very animals that they needed for travel like the camels, or the pig that took more food to feed than it produced.
Features
Animals that had cloven hooves and chewed its cud were okay to eat; all other animals were forbidden. These animals could only be slaughtered in a strict way, the blood had to be removed from the meat before it could be eaten and certain parts were never eaten. Fruits and vegetables were allowed, but could not contain any bugs. Meat could not be eaten with dairy, and some groups will not eat fish with meat. However it was okay to eat fish with dairy. Dishes could not be used for meat and then dairy, or for non-Kosher foods and then Kosher foods. Jews could only eat or drink grape products made by Jews. The rules are very detailed and too numerous to mention here. For a full listing, see the link below for Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Laws.
Misconceptions
Sometimes you will see a restaurant that advertises that it serves food Kosher-style. There is not a Kosher style of food rather a method of cooking that is Kosher, no matter what ethnicity. Usually they are referring to traditional Jewish recipes. Another common belief is that a rabbi has to come in and bless the food, thus making it Kosher. Any food can be called Kosher as long as it has been subject to the Kosher rules of ingredients, preparation and handling.
Certification
To handle the obvious difficulty of determining the validity of the Kosher claim, Kosher certification organizations have been formed to inspect the food and certify it as being Kosher. It is still quite controversial as the standards are not consistent within the different levels of Judaism. Basically a trained professional from a certification organization is hired to inspect the ingredients in certain foods and he will stamp the food with a hekhsher, certifying the Kosher level and the certification.
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