Thought for the Week

You have invited other Jewish people around for dinner and they reply, “yes, that’d be lovely, but just to remind you, we keep kosher”.

The problem is… what does that mean?

If you go by this week’s portion, Shemini, then it lists numerous animals. As it happens, most are not available in high street shops (such as camel or rock-badger) but pork is definitely out, as are shellfish, birds of prey and most insects.

The difficulty is that Judaism has developed since biblical times and there are so many levels of kashrut: not eating those specific foods; not using foods that have even minute ingredients of them; not eating food unless it has been labelled as kosher, however obvious; not mixing meat and milk products, having separate crockery, cutlery and cooking utensils.

The only solution for your dinner guests is to ask them to be specific about what they mean.

Of course, there is no point in then having a wonderfully kosher meal, but spending the meal gossiping and back-biting. Just as important as what goes in your mouth is what comes out of it.

As for why bother keeping kosher in the first place, there is no reason given in Shemini, so rabbis have developed several different explanations: it’s a command and that’s that; it’s more hygienic; it’s acquired a ‘sanctity’ through time and practice over so many generations; it was an anti-idolatry measure; it teaches self-control; and several more interpretations.

The one I like best is that it acts as a daily reminder of our faith and the values by which we should live: when we come downstairs bleary-eyed for breakfast, grab a quick bite for lunch, or have supper later on.

Food, and our Judaism, is with us three times a day and says: eat, enjoy but also live well.