Give a detailed account of the Jewish food laws and their origins

AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

Give a detailed account of the Jewish food laws and their origins

In Judaism, Jews have to eat kosher food. Kosher literally means fitting or correct and the kosher food laws are called ‘kashrut’. Foods which are not allowed are called ‘Treyfah’ which means torn. Kosher food can be bought from specialist kosher shops and some supermarkets now have special kosher sections. If a Jew lives in a Muslim community they are able to buy kosher food as Islam also states that Muslims should eat kosher food. All the food laws can be found in Leviticus chapter 11 in the Torah.

Jews can only eat animals that chew the cud and have cloven hooves. This originates from the sentence in the Torah that says ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat. You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud. There are some that only chew the cut or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them.’ (Leviticus 11:2-4). The cud is when some animals have little balls of grass form in their stomach after swallowing. The animal then brings the grass up to their mouth and chews it again before digesting the cud. These animals include cows, sheep, goats and deer which means the only meat Jews can eat is beef, lamb, veal and venison but not pork, rabbit or horse. The Torah repeatedly says that Jews must not eat these as ‘they are unclean for you.’

When animals are slaughtered they have to be killed by a shochet, being someone specially trained who will have studied for six years. The process of animal slaughtering is called shechitah. The animals should be in the least amount of pain when they are killed and it should be done quickly so the shochet cuts the animals’ windpipe with a very sharp knife to make the animal unconscious. When meat is eaten it should be eaten with as little blood as possible. To do this the meat will be koshered which involves sprinkling the meat with salt and washing ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Jews are not allowed to eat milk with meat because of the verse in the Torah that states ‘You shall not boil the kid in its mother’s milk.’ Meat and milk dishes have to be eaten and cooked separately. They should not be cooked with the same spoon or eaten from or placed on the same plate. All utensils have to be kept separately and an observant Jew must have a separate sink and shelves for meat and milk products. In some strict houses they would have a separate kitchen for each. When eating a meat product a Jew should wait three hours before eating a milk product and an hour after a milk product before eating a meat product. This is because it takes longer for meat to be digested than milk.

Jews are able to eat any fish that has fins and scales which are detachable from the skin. This originates from verses 9 –12 in Leviticus Chapter 11when it states ‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales…Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you.’ Those permitted include cod, haddock and trout, plaice, herring, mackerel, salmon, tuna and pike. Jews are forbidden to eat shellfish and octopus, as they are not kosher. Some types of fish can be threatened by insect infestation especially cod so Jews have to check the fish and remove any unwanted insects before cooking just as when they check fruit and vegetables.

In Judaism there is no particular way of recognising which birds or poultry are kosher. Jews always refer to the Torah as it gives a long list of birds which are not kosher. This is found in Leviticus 11:13-19. ‘These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable,’ which include the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, any black kite, any raven, the white and desert owl and are basically the large majority of birds of prey. This means that in theory Jews are allowed to eat any poultry which is not on the list. However it is not entirely clear as to which birds the Hebrew names refer so Jews eat the birds which have been traditionally used in the past eg chicken, turkey and duck. When cooking chickens Jews may find something wrong with them eg internally and so will take them to the Rabbi to check they are kosher before cooking.

All fruits, vegetables and grains are considered kosher in Judaism. All Jews have to check fruits and vegetables before eating to make sure they are free from insects. Non-Jews do this as well because most people would not want to eat dirty fruit and vegetables. However, Jews check theirs extremely closely as it is seen as a sin as well as repulsive to eat ‘creepy crawlies’. Washing leafy vegetables is common but does not remove all the insects so for example Jews wash their lettuce thoroughly. They then hold it up to the light and look under each fold. All vegetables are checked like this. In case any insects crawl into fruit Jews carefully examine their fruit as well.

Some foods in Judaism are considered neutral (pareve). This means that they can be eaten with either meat or milk dishes. However, there are some exceptions as in some Jewish communities fish and meat or fish and milk are eaten together. In some communities they can be served at the same meal on different dishes using separate utensils. Flour is considered pareve when it does not contain dairy additives and some cheeses that contain animal-origin rennet from a non-kosher animal are not allowed in Judaism.