Making Sense of the Sedra: Shemini

In the second half of Parshat Shemini we come across the rules of kashrut:  “The law regarding animals, birds, all living creatures that move in water and all animals that creep on the ground, to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.”

Kosher food is perhaps the most defining characteristic of being a Jew. Countless households around the world only consume ‘pure and clean’ animals just as listed in the Torah thousands of years ago. Why is keeping kosher so important?

Throughout the ages, rabbis have offered various reasons for the laws of kashrut. There are writings of health benefits and that it is more hygienic, plus rabbonim have listed reasons of spiritual harm in non-kosher food. Yet even with these many explanations the reasons for the laws of kashrut are still shrouded in mystery.

Our sages have declared these laws as chukkim – laws beyond our understanding, with which our approach is: ‘I have a desire for these foods, but I will not partake since my Father in Heaven forbids it’. Certainly, these laws are difficult to comprehend. But perhaps if we cannot understand the reason for kashrut, we can at least marvel at what such restrictions have created for us. The magic of Judaism is that the practical laws transform our lives!

Some years ago, a Jewish writer named David Goldman took on the laws of kashrut in his home and penned this some time after:

“One day my daughter and I agreed that we would consume no more non-kosher meat, and we would separate it from dairy. Some months passed before it dawned on me that I had migrated to the inside of Judaism, rather than pressing my nose against the window and looking in. I did not take the leap of faith across the chasm toward Jewish observance, to be sure: I was pushed by a stern-faced 14-year-old. Still, the world felt different afterward: I ate meat less frequently, and with a sense of awe at the God who rules over life and death. First one does, then one understands. Judaism is a religion of the body… it impressed upon me that the narrative and the legislative parts of the Bible, the ethical and the ritual, the ineffable mystery of life and death and the rules of the kosher kitchen, all are woven into one seamless fabric. Judaism instead provides a supernatural answer to the mystery: God gives us means to sanctify our physical life on earth and therewith the promise of eternal life. As the Torah states, ‘You shall eat before the Lord.’”

It seemed, he continued, that eating kosher was the single strongest change that brought him closer to Judaism and drew him closer to a life of meaning than philosophy or prayer.

It is our practices and lifestyle that most deeply affects us, not abstract thinking or values. That is the strange power of Judaism, with all its detailed laws and limitations. There is good reason why kosher food is one of the most widely-known Jewish practices. It permeates and fills our lives. The food we eat and what we steer clear of, whether we understand it or not, has this ability to set us apart and to focus ourselves more on serving God. It may be a mystery, but it is a meaningful, impactful one at that.