Meat must not be eaten from animals which have died naturally, but every animal and bird must be ritually slaughtered with a blessing. It is done by a highly skilled Jew who slits the animal’s throat as painlessly as possible with one stroke of a sharp knife. The blood, which pours out, is drained and not eaten in the meat. This is because the blood represents to the Jew the life of the animal and all life is recognised as given by G−d. The animal is then inspected to make sure that there are no traces of disease.
Certain parts of the animal are forbidden. The hard fat below the diaphragm and the sciatic nerve in the thigh. The fat is forbidden since it was originally used for burning on the altar. The sciatic nerve is forbidden in memory of the biblical story in which it is said that Jacob wrestled all night with G−d and
… he struck him in the hollow of his thigh, so that Jacob’s hip was dislocated as they wrestled.
Next the meat must be thoroughly washed to remove any further traces of the blood. This involves soaking the water for about half an hour until the pores have opened and then the meat is sprinkled with salt and left to absorb for about an hour. Finally it is then rinsed again. Liver cannot be drained of its blood by soaking and salting it but instead it is cooked well to remove any final traces of blood.
It is forbidden to cook and eat milk and meat together. This comes from a law found three times in the Torah:
You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk. (Exodus 23 verse 19, 34 verse 2, Deuteronomy 14 verse 21)
This has led the Jewish people to separate completely meat and milk and their products. They use separate cooking utensils and cutlery and never mix the two or serve them at the same meal. After eating meat a time limit of not less than 3 hours is maintained before anything milky may be eaten. However, meat can be eaten quite soon after milk products as long as the mouth and hands are cleansed between the two.
Food is carefully labelled to help Jews ensure that they eat food that is Kosher. This label has a K for kosher and a D to show that it is a dairy product. The stamp shows it has been checked and approved by the Bet Din.
B) Explain the importance for Orthodox Jews of continuing to observe these laws.
The Jewish food laws, if observed, effect a Jew every day of his life. It reminds him constantly that he is called by G−d to be holy in everything that he does. Such rules obviously set an Orthodox Jew apart from a reform Jew or from his gentile neighbour since a Jew must buy hid food in a kosher food shop, especially butchers, where he can be sure that he fulfils the requirements. A strict, Orthodox Jew will not eat food cooked by a gentile and therefore he can only eat out in kosher, Jewish restaurants.
Jewish food has been an important ingredient in maintaining Judaism through the years and a lot of Jewish families are held together today by its gatherings around the table and its sharing in the traditional Jewish foods. Modern life affects Jews as much as others and they may also have stand−up breakfasts or TV dinners. Most Jewish families try to eat together as much as possible or at least once a day and always on Shabbat. Observant Jews say a blessing over food to show that they are grateful to G−d for what they are about to eat.
If Orthodox Jews in this generation follow the rules and regulations for food then they will teach their children about these rules who will teach their children and the rules will keep going. This will keep the religion alive. Reform Jews do not keep the same rules when it comes to food so a lot of this will only be relevant to Orthodox Jews.
Observance of the Jewish food laws continually serves to remind the Jews of their roots and where they have come from. The bible merely states that the laws are observed because “I am the Lord that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your G−d. Ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11 verse 44)
C) “There are both advantages and disadvantages in having strict food laws.”
There are some advantages. For example, it really does keep the Jewish religion or any religion alive. All the Jewish people are following the same set of rules which means that every Jew will be in the same boat. These rules are G−d’s word as it is all written in the Torah. The Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai from G−d himself. This means that the rules and regulations for food are obviously what G−d wanted the Jews to follow.
There are also some disadvantages to having a strict set of food laws as I know from experience that kosher food, especially meat, is much more expensive. Therefore this can cause problems for a kosher family that have not got a lot of money to spent on products like kosher meat. Also there can be a lot of temptation to eat something like a pork sausage, as it is a food that the Jewish people have never eaten. It can be very tempting to just have a small bite. Also it is almost impossible to tell the difference between a pork and beef sausage. Therefore a kosher person could eat a pork sausage not knowing that it was not beef.
I do agree with this statement, as I believe that there are many different advantages and disadvantages in having such strict food laws.
