There is more than one way to eat Kosher. Below is my simple guide to understanding exactly what I mean when I use this term as well as a brief explanation of where it comes from.
Leviticus 11 is the chapter in the Torah that mainly deals with hebraic food laws. There are other passages that deal with food as well, and I will briefly discuss those, but this is the heart of Kosher requirements. It starts with major meat sources:
MAMMALS:
“11:3 Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.” The most common examples of these types of animals are below, but this also includes game such as deer, elk, antelope, and moose to name a few.
“11:4 Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 5 And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 6 And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 7 And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.”
This rule also includes other animals such as the horse, donkey, and zebra. While it may sound off-putting to think of eating these in America, it is not uncommon in other countries and cultures to consume these animals.
SEAFOOD:
“11:9 These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat.“ This is pretty straight forward, if it lives in the water it must have fins AND scales. Therefore it only includes most fish species. There are several fish that do NOT have scales and these include: catfish, sturgeon, and there is debate on swordfish as they have scales only in their developmental stages. I personally avoid swordfish for this reason, but it is a personal choice.
There are a LOT of animals in our lakes and oceans that are left out in this description and that includes all shellfish, sharks, dolphin, whales, squid, octopus, mollusks, etc.
BIRDS:
Moving on to birds things get a lot easier. Basically there is only a list of specific animals you cannot have and everything else is fair game. You can find this list in Leviticus 11:13-19 and it includes: eagles, vultures, kites, falcons, ravens, the ostrich, hawks, the sea gull, owls, the cormorant, storks, herons, the hoopoe, and the bat. You will notice that the birds listed are all birds of prey. This makes deciding if a particular bird is Kosher or not fairly simple, does it hunt other animals for food? If yes, then it’s not considered food. This is a pretty manageable bird list in American society. Popular Kosher poultry includes: chicken, duck, quail, and turkey.
INSECTS:
“11:22 Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind. 23 But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.” Basically, if you want to, you can eat grasshoppers, locust, and crickets. Enjoy. I’ve heard crickets come dried with many interesting spices, but I haven’t been brave enough to try them to date.
ADDITIONAL FOODS NOT ALLOWED:
“11:27Â And all that walk on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you.” Major animals that come to mind with this are bears, dogs and cats. Though as it states, anything with paws is not to be eaten.
11:29 “And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground: the mole rat, the mouse, the great lizard of any kind, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon […] 42 Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat…“ This precludes all rodents and reptiles. Popular dishes served down South that are not considered Kosher include gator, frog legs, and snake.
So those are the absolute basics of Kosher eating. But eating Kosher and following Torah go beyond just what protein source you consume. There are many rules and regulations surrounding foods in order for them to be certified Kosher. Below are a few big topics that I get asked about regularly as well as areas that I feel are important to mention.
BUTCHERING
There are a lot of rules regarding animal cruelty as well as proper butchering in order to drain all the blood from animals after they are killed. Eating or consuming blood is strictly forbidden in Torah. Unlike most cultures thousands of years ago, the Jewish people have always kept to high standards of humane butchering. In the days before refrigeration, it was not an uncommon practice to butcher an animal slowly, eating parts of it at a time and allowing it to live a painful and miserable life until the family could finish consuming it. While that sounds horrifying to modern ears, it was a way for families to procure meat that was unspoiled. However, Jewish law forbid this type of inhumane treatment of animals. Animals were to be killed quickly and efficiently with a sharp blade free of imperfections. This is not explicitly outlined in the Torah, but has been a part of the oral Rabbinical teachings for centuries and is validated in Deuteronomy 12:21. Road kill and wounded animlas, even those that are considered “clean” as explained above, are not to be eaten (Exodus 22:30).
MEAT AND DAIRY
Exodus 23:19 and Deuteronomy 14:21 both say: “[…]You must not cook (boil) a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
There are multiple explanations for this, but one in particular notes that this was a popular pagan practice at the time performed for a good luck charm. As is the way with many Jewish customs, this was later expanded in order to never break Torah to include not eating meat and dairy together in the same meal. In fact very strict regulations exist that include never using the same utensils, cookware, sinks, etc that could lead to cross contamination between meat and dairy. In order for a food to be certified Kosher it must pass everything related to these guidelines. This practice is not strictly commanded in the Torah, and is something my family and I do not observe. I rarely ever boil meat in general, but I feel very comfortable in American society knowing my meat and dairy products are coming from different types of farms and thus I would not be in non-compliance on this point.
GMO’s
This is a rather complicated topic. There are multiple verses in Torah dealing with not breeding together animals from different species or grafting different branches of fruit trees together. However, there are no specific instruction not to eat these if it has already been done. My personal feeling is that if you’re not supposed to do it, you are not supposed to eat it. But this is debated among the Rabbis. I try to avoid GMO foods when at all possible due to the above and other health related reasons. You can make an argument both ways, but in this grey area I have personally made the decision to avoid.
So there you have it. This is a simplified explanation of the definition of Kosher I will be using on my site and in my kitchen. If you have any additional questions regarding a Torah observant lifestyle, drop a comment below.
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