By Leibel Estrin
In Vayikra 11:9, the Torah presents the signs of kosher animals, birds, fish, and insects, and permits or prohibits various species of animals. The Torah also has many other laws that deal with eating, such as not to eat the sinew of the thigh, not to mix milk and meat, etc. All dietary laws fall in the category of kashrus. Kosher means “fit” or “proper.”
The laws of keeping kosher are chukim, statutes, meaning a decree from G-d.[1] Nevertheless, our Rabbis have found many reasons for the laws of kashrus. One of the most famous has become a common saying: “We are what we eat.” This adage recognizes that food spiritually affects the one who consumes it. If something is not kosher, it’s incompatible with our soul.
Spiritual incompatibility is one explanation for the laws of kashrut. Yet researchers have found many health benefits, as well. For example, pig meat may have trichinosis. Eating milk and meat together is hard to digest. However these explanations are side issues, for no matter how healthy or unhealthy a particular item is, its kosher status represents the Will of G-d. Therefore, kashrus is not a set of laws that can become outdated through modern methods of sanitation, food inspection, or production[2].
In general, food falls into three categories, milk, meat, and pareve (neither milk nor meat).
Meat
Any meat or fowl, and/or food made with meat and fowl products like bones, soup or gravy are fleishig (meat). Similarly, meat ingredients in any product (including liver pills), must meet all requirements for kosher meat. Among them:
- The animal chews its cud and has split hooves.
- It must be slaughtered according to Jewish law by a skilled and carefully trained kosher shochet, “ritually trained slaughterer.”
- The permissible animal parts must be salted before cooking.
There are many laws concerning the kashrus of meat.
Bladerunner
The knife used to slaughter an animal is called a chalaf. The blade must be surgically sharp. The tiniest nick causes the knife and the meat to be trafe (literally “torn,”), meaning “non-kosher.” To make sure that the blade is perfectly smooth, the shochet will run his fingernail across the blade, feeling for imperfections.
As a freelance writer, I once attended a meeting about a new product. It was a “smoothness tester.” At the time, it was the most advanced instrument of its type on the market and could gauge surface imperfections down to .0001 of an inch. During the presentation the engineer casually mentioned that, while the company’s instrument could measure the depth of any imperfections, the human fingernail was just as accurate in finding them.
Dairy
The term milchig, “dairy” refers to all types of milk, butter, cream and yogurt, and every variety of cheese, whether hard or soft. It also refers to milk derivatives such as sodium caseinate and lactose. Even the smallest amount of dairy in a food causes the food to become dairy. Therefore, you should not eat or use these foods with meat products.
Dairy foods require certification verifying that the milk and cheeses:
- Are from a kosher animal.
- Have no meat-fats or any meat substances mixed into them.
- Contain no non-kosher substances.
Pareve
Foods that are not meat or dairy, or their derivatives, are considered pareve “neutral.” Pareve foods can generally be served with either meat or dairy meals, can be prepared in meat or dairy pots, and may be served on meat or dairy dishes. However, pareve foods cooked in a meat pot may be only served on meat dishes. Similarly, pareve foods cooked in dairy pots may be served only in dairy dishes.
Pareve food cooked with meat or dairy products become “fleishig” or “milchig” respectively. If the pareve foods only touched milk or meat, you can wash it and the food will remain pareve, as long as a) the pareve and meat or milk items are room temperature or cooler, b) and all the items have not been mixed with pungent or sharp foods such as onions, lemons, pickles, etc.
It is not necessary to have a separate set of dishes for pareve foods. However, it is common to set aside serving trays and especially bakeware as pareve. These are always washed separately from meat and dairy dishes. You should also have separate dish sponges, dish towels, draining boards, etc. Below are some laws pertaining to pareve foods.
Fish
To be kosher, fish must have both fins and scales.
Kosher Food for Thought
Why do Kosher Fish Need both Scales and Fins?
Fins symbolize ambition. Just like fins propel the fish in one direction, ambition is what propels man.
Scales symbolize integrity. Just like the scales protect the fish, integrity is what protects man from temptation.
The jails are filled with people who were driven by blind ambition, but lacked personal integrity.
To be kosher, i.e. to live a G-dly, moral life, you need the drive to make this world better and the integrity necessary to prevent temptation from blocking your way.
Eggs
Eggs must be opened and examined. A blood spot in an egg, whether raw, cooked, or fried, renders that egg unkosher. Each egg should be opened into a glass examined before being cooked or mixed with other eggs. If you find a blood spot, the whole egg should be discarded and the vessel washed in cold water. According to Jewish tradition, it is advisable to cook at least three eggs at a time.
Leafy Vegetables and Grains
Green leafy vegetables and certain grains and fruits that could contain worms and insects must be inspected before they can be used. You should examine these foods thoroughly and even wash them in cold water to remove any worm or insect. An insect does not, however, make the food or utensil non-kosher. You can simply remove it. It is also common to find worms in packages of noodles, etc., especially if they have been stored for a long time.
Oil
In recipes where oil or shortening is required, it must be pure vegetable shortening, as many oils contain animal fats. To ensure that the oil being used is free of animal fats, it must be under strict Rabbinic supervision.
Basic Pareve Foods
Following is a list of some pareve foods. They are pareve as long as they do not contain any meat or dairy products. Products that have been processed must have reliable supervision.
Breads* Soft drinks Juices
Some cakes Eggs All grains
Some hard candy All types of kosher fish All vegetables
Cereals* All fruits Cookies*
*An increasing number of food processors are adding milk products to obtain extra Vitamin D and calcium. For example, candy and cereal often contain milk products, as do some low-calorie sweeteners. Often, commercial kashrus organizations will publish bulletins describing changes in the condition of items, labeling mistakes, or other vital information. To make sure that the items that you’re buying are kosher, you should visit their sites on the Internet or subscribe to their publications.
Separating Meat and Dairy
The prohibition against combining meat and dairy foods is mentioned in the Torah, elaborated in the Talmud, and passed down through the generations of the Prophets and Rabbis. It teaches us that this prohibition applies three different ways.
- Eating: We must not eat any meat and dairy foods or their derivatives together.
- Cooking: We must not cook any meat and dairy foods together. The term cooking includes baking, frying, roasting, etc.
- Benefiting: Not to have any benefit from meat and dairy foods cooked together such as selling or doing business with such foods.
To avoid any transgression, it’s customary to have two sets of dishes, silverware, and cleaning utensils.
Here are some rules about separating meat and dairy foods:
You shouldn’t have meat and dairy foods at the same meal even if they were made separately and even if you wait between eating.
After eating dairy, you should rinse your mouth and eat something pareve, ideally with a hard consistency. Most people wait one-half hour after eating dairy before they will eat meat or meat products. Other people wait one hour. Certain hard cheeses (Swiss, Muenster, etc.) stick to your teeth and take longer to digest. These require waiting six-hours before eating meat.
If you eat meat, you must wait six full hours before eating dairy. If you find a small piece of meat between your teeth after six hours, you should remove it and rinse your mouth. However, you do not have to wait another six hours.
If you are on a special diet and for children under nine years old, you should consult a Rav. If there are no special problems, you should train children early to wait between eating meat and dairy.
The six-hour waiting period is standard for all Jews, except those groups that have halachically established other customs.
If you do not chew or swallow the food, but spit it immediately from your mouth, you don’t have to wait. You should still rinse your mouth well. However, if you have chewed or swallowed even the smallest amount of food, you have to wait.
If pareve foods were prepared in meat or dairy utensils that were not used within the last twenty-four hours, then even though that item may not be eaten with the opposite type of food, the waiting period is not necessary.
However, if the pareve food is sharp or spicy, then even if the utensils were not used with hot meat or dairy respectively within the last 24 hours, they may not be eaten with the opposite food.
Concerning the waiting period for these, and the definition of the terms sharp, spicy, and hot, consult a qualified rabbi.
The Deeper Meaning of Kashrus.
“For I am the L-rd your G-d; sanctify yourself therefore and be holy; for I am holy.” (Vayikra 11:44)
The passage mentions holiness and sanctification yet it is found in the Torah section dealing with kashrus. To understand how spiritual terms such as holiness and sanctification relate to such physical activities such as eating, we should look to another verse. This one is in Devorim (8:3), “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the L-rd does man live.”
Kabbalah and Chassidus explain that the “G-dly spark” in the food is the true source of nourishment for man. It enables man to benefit from something that is on a spiritually lower level. At the same time, man is able to elevate this spark of the physical, thereby making this world a fit dwelling place for G-d. In return, the individual becomes spiritually refined and better able to receive G-d’s blessings.
From a slightly different perspective, our sages teach us that each Jewish home is compared to a “miniature, personal Holy Temple,” i.e., a dwelling place for the Divine Presence. The table in the home is compared to the Altar. In the Sanctuary, only perfect offerings were brought upon the altar and consumed. Similarly, we should only consume food that is absolutely proper for serving the Creator.
Words of Wisdom
You are what you eat. (Common folk saying)
Eat according to your means. (Genesis Rabbah)
Two Chassidim were comparing the greatness of their respective Rebbes. “My Rebbe can heal the sick.” the first Chassid proclaimed, and then he asked, “What can your Rebbe do that makes him so special? “My Rebbe?” exclaimed the other Chassid. “Why, he can eat without bending his head down to his food. Instead, he “elevates” his food up to his head.”
[1] As mentioned earlier, Chukim are G-dly decrees that are beyond logic.
[2] For example, Jewish law states that we must use milk from a kosher animal. To ensure that the milk is from a kosher animal or hasn’t been mixed with the milk of a non-kosher animal, a Jew must be present during its processing. (Milk and milk products supervised by a Jew from the time of milking through their complete processing are known as Cholov Yisroel, “Jewish milk.”) Today, government inspection allows us to be reasonably certain of the source of various milk products. Still, the law does not change. If you have a problem keeping Cholov Yisrael due to health, unavailability, etc., ask a Rav what to do. There is another point. Many people feel that if the packaging does not contain non-kosher ingredients, the item must be kosher. According to the government, ingredients used in small quantities do not have to be listed. Also food processors can change ingredients yet continue using their old labels until new labels are printed. So you cannot rely on government regulations to determine the kashrus of a product.
An excerpt from the book “Judaism From Above The Clouds.”
Leibel Estrin has been writing about Jewish topics for four decades. He is working as a Jewish chaplain for the Aleph Institute. Leibel has recently published a work on Jewish perspectives and values entitled “Judaism From Above The Clouds.” To read more of Leibel’s writings and to purchase his book click here.
