Kosher Konundrum

At first glance, it may be hard to understand the reason for keeping kosher. After all, it’s not some big moral decision, nor does it seem to “change the world” as some concepts like Chessed and Tzedaka do. However, Jewish law instructs us to take great care in choosing and preparing the food that we intake, with complex laws that start with the cow in the meadow and don’t end till it’s on your plate! (And even then- make sure there are separate dishes!) If we see Kosher as a way to capitalize on this world, and not just a bunch of complicated rules about food, we’ll realize that it’s really a path to higher living and maximized pleasure.

There are two different perspectives on the idea of pleasure. Some think that in this world you should just focus on getting as much physical enjoyment as possible, which means gorging yourself mindlessly in order to satisfy your physical needs. Then there are the advocates of complete spirituality, i.e. abstinence. They shun pleasure and subsist on the bare minimum of physicality necessary to survive. This is a popular concept in some religions; all or nothing. But neither of these fills the needs of both the body and the soul.

So, there is the third, slightly less known perspective. The Jewish way of life is to realize that the world we are in was created for us, and that we weren’t meant to shun it but enjoy it in the proper way. That means taking something very physical, like eating food, and elevating the act by following the laws of kosher, and making a Bracha on it. This way you get the best of both worlds. You have just sustained your body by enjoying delicious food, and you have also elevated yourself by keeping a mitzvah.

Although Kosher is a chok, under the category of “because I said so” (a category of Mitzvot that the Torah doesn’t give an explanation for), there is a way to get a small glimpse of the reason that we keep it. Whatever we put into our mouths is digested, gives us life, and is absorbed until it actually becomes us. So each time that a person ingests food that is considered pure and holy according to Halacha, s/he elevates him/herself.

Keeping kosher also strengthens a person’s Jewish identity in another way. By eating different food, we’re creating a clear boundary between us and the gentiles. No doubt about it, breaking bread together is a very significant bonding experience; nothing says friendship more than sharing a drink or a meal. By restricting where we can eat to only kosher homes and restaurants, we are limiting our social lives to include only members of our community. This separation keeps us from assimilation, and keeps us “kosher”.

Some of the rules and regulations about which animals are okay to eat have a deeper meaning that can teach us an important Jewish concept. An animal is only rendered kosher once we know that it has the two signs dictated by the Torah. One is split hooves, and the other is that it chews its cud. The Torah lists the animals that have these signs and are Kosher, and the ones with either one or none that are forbidden. Parenthetically, the fact that the list hasn’t changed since the Torah was written; even though discoveries of new species are made every year, is a big proof of the truth of the Torah, which also strengthens Jewish identity.

Anyways, it is interesting to note that a buzzword that often follows the word “kosher,” is “pig”. Although the complex laws of Kashrut are mostly unknown, except to the knowledgeable Rabbis and mashgichim, many people are aware of the particular aversion to the pig - “ya, Jews don’t eat pork.” Why not focus on the bear, or the horse, other animals which we avoid with no less vigilance? There is a very important lesson that is imparted to every Jew by this constant reminder. The pig is the only animal that appears to be kosher on the outside- it has split hooves, but upon closer examination is missing the second sign. Judaism is telling us to be a person who is “tocho kibaro”- a person whose outsides reflect his insides. The most detestable trait in an animal, and therefore in us is two-facedness. In the Hebrew language, words with the same roots have a connection. The emphasis on the hypocritical pig teaches us to strive for unification between our “pnim”- insides, and our “panim” face.

So you see, kosher is not just a food style, but a lifestyle.