Kosher for Christmas




Not Kosher! (Photo: Profberger@en.wikipedia)


Of the many reasons modern-day man gives for keeping kosher (health, sanitation, environment, etc.) - the most foolproof one seems to be this:  Because the Torah tells me so.  Substitute the word “Bible” for “Torah” – and you’ve got what sounds like the follow-up to “Jesus loves me, this I know…”

The Torah is, indeed, a foundational part of the very same Bible that Christians use.  It consists of at least the first

five books of the Hebrew Bible (or what many refer to as the “Old Testament”).  These books include Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy – which contain stories, such as the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt, that are integrally tied to Christian theology.  If books from the Torah were simply “old” stories that are no longer relevant, would Christians today still be fiercely debating on the merits of the Genesis creation stories?

Certainly cases can be (and are being) made for picking and choosing what parts of the Hebrew Bible are especially relevant to Christianity.  These cases are also being fiercely debated.  Why choose some sections and not others?  Faith picks up where logic leaves off in resolving conundrums of this sort.

Therefore, keeping kosher for Christmas (and throughout the rest of the year) might be part of some people’s Christian faith.  Knowing some essentials about the kashrut laws might therefore be important for all Christians.  Some might then be inspired to try at least some of these Torah instructions.

According to Judaism 101, the kashrut (kosher) laws include:  the prohibition against eating certain kinds of animals altogether; the killing in specific ways of birds and mammals that may be eaten; the prohibition against eating certain parts of even the permissible animals; the prohibition against grape products that were processed by non-Jews; the prohibition against eating the flesh of permissible birds and mammals together

with dairy products; and the draining or broiling out of all blood from permissible meat and poultry.

Resources

http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashrut

Copyright December 23, 2010 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved