What is Kosher?
- Originally it meant good and proper and later became “something fit” for ritual
use and even applied to witnesses who “were competent” to testify.
- Ester asked the king
do her a favor if he found it “good and proper” (kosher).
- Later it evolved into
dietary laws NOT for health reasons, but whose purpose was to bring holiness
and unity to the Jewish people.
- The Bible gives no
reason for the distinction between the clean and the unclean.
- A Shochet, who is trained in the laws of the Shechita (Kosher
slaughtering), does the killing.
- I include more
scripture here than you want to know.
Est 8:5 – If it’s good and
proper, kosher; do me a favor
5 And said, If it please the king, and if I have
found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right (kosher) before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be
written to reverse the letters devised by Haman KJV
Lev 11:2-47 – A
distinction between clean and unclean.
2 Say to the Israelites: `Of all the animals that
live on land, these are the ones you may eat:
3 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof
completely divided and that chews the cud.
4 "`There are some that only chew the cud or
only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews
the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you.
5 The Coney, though it chews the cud, does not
have a split hoof; it is unclean for you.
6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not
have a split hoof; it is unclean for you.
7 And the pig, though it has a split hoof
completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.
8 You must not eat their meat or touch their
carcasses; they are unclean for you.
9 "`Of all the creatures living in the water
of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales.
10 But all creatures in the seas or streams that
do not have fins and scales--whether among all the swarming things or among all
the other living creatures in the water--you are to detest.
11 And since you are to detest them, you must not
eat their meat and you must detest their carcasses.
12 Anything living in the water that does not have
fins and scales is to be detestable to you.
13 "`These are the birds you are to detest
and not eat because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, the black
vulture,
14 the red kite, any kind of black kite,
15 any kind of raven,
16 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any
kind of hawk,
17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,
18 the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,
19 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and
the bat.
20 "`All flying insects that walk on all
fours are to be detestable to you.
21 There are, however, some winged creatures that
walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on
the ground.
22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket- or
grasshopper.
23 But all other winged creatures that have four
legs you are to detest.
24 "`You will make yourselves unclean by
these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening.
25 Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must
wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening.
26 "`Every animal that has a split hoof not
completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever
touches [the carcass of] any of them will be unclean.
27 Of all the animals that walk on all fours,
those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their
carcasses will be unclean till evening.
28 Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash
his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. They are unclean for you.
29 "`Of the animals that move about on the
ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great
lizard,
30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard,
the skink and the chameleon.
31 Of all those that move along the ground, these
are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean
till evening.
32 When one of them dies and falls on something,
that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood,
cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and
then it will be clean.
33 If one of them falls into a clay pot,
everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot.
34 Any food that could be eaten but has water on
it from such a pot is unclean, and any liquid that could be drunk from it is
unclean.
35 Anything that one of their carcasses falls on
becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean,
and you are to regard them as unclean.
36 A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting
water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean.
37 If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be
planted, they remain clean.
38 But if water has been put on the seed and a
carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
39 "`If an animal that you are allowed to eat
dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean till evening.
40 Anyone who eats some of the carcass must wash
his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the
carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening.
41 "`Every creature that moves about on the
ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten.
42 You are not to eat any creature that moves
about on the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on
many feet; it is detestable.
43 Do not defile yourselves by any of these
creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean
by them.
44 I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves
and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature
that moves about on the ground.
45 I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt
46 "`These are the regulations concerning
animals, birds, every living thing that moves in the water and every creature
that moves about on the ground.
47 You must distinguish between the
unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those
that may not be eaten.'" NIV
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