On this page you will find:
Jewish law, i.e. Kosher food laws
The Talmud
The Tenakh
The Food Laws
Food that Jews are permitted to eat is called kosher, meaning 'fitting'. From this we get the word kashrut, the state of being kosher. The opposite of kosher is treifah.
The rules are:
- All plants are kosher
- Animals which have split hooves and chew the cud, such as cows and sheep, are kosher. This excludes animals like pigs.
- The Torah gives a long list of birds which are treifah. Jews can eat any bird which is not on this list, though in practice they focus on chicken, turkey and duck.
- Jews may only eat animals and birds which have been killed by shechitah
- Shechitah is a cut across the throat made with a razor sharp knife. Causing pain to any living creature is strictly forbidden in Jewish law. Shechitah has been shown to be a humane way of killing animals.
- The Torah commands Jews not to eat the blood of animals and birds. Jews use salt and water to remove blood from meat before they cook it.
- Only fish which have fins and scales may be eaten. All other seafood is forbidden.
- Jews are not permitted to eat insects and so must carefully wash all fruit and vegetables.
- Meat and dairy products are not eaten together. A kosher kitchen would be laid out in two parts, a meat section and a dairy section. These practices are based on the Biblical verse: "You must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk" (Exodus 23:19)
How relevant do you think these laws are today?
The Talmud
One of the most remarkable things about the Jewish religion is their attitude towards their texts. Make no mistake, these texts are sacred and many Jews believe they are to be obeyed to the letter. However, they also acknowledge that they, as simple humans, can never hope to fully understand the word of G-d, and so need to discuss and interpret the text to try and find the true meanings. Although most religions do this to a certain extent, the normal pattern is that interpretations that are deemed incorrect are then pronounced 'heretical' and any followers of it condemned. With Judaism, on the other hand, they have taken all these discussions, debates, queries etc and published it in th Talmud. This book has become a sort of guide to reading the Torah - it is a set of volumes designed to help Jews fully understand the will of G-d (as far as they are able) and so live their lives in the proper fashion.
The Talmud is made up of the following: (click for full sized image)
The Tenakh
- The Hebrew Bible has three parts to it: Torah (Teaching); Neviim (Prophets); and Ketuvim (Writings)
- The first letter of each of these words, 'TNK' makes up the Jewish word for the Bible, pronounced Tenakh
- The five books of the Torah are the most important. They give Jews the mitzvot (commandments) by which they are supposed to live as people chosen by G-d for a special task.
- The Neviim describe G-d's activity in history. Individual prophets speak G-d's word to people, sometimes offering hope, but more often denouncing their people's disloyalty to G-d. They appeal for just and truthful behaviour.
- The Ketuvim are very varied in content, style and length. They best knnown are the Psalms, which are prayers or songs to G-d. They still feature prominantly in Jewish worship.
- The Torah is read in the synagogue, followed by a reading from the Neviim. Some of the Ketuvim are read on special days in the Jewish Calendar.
- The text of the Bible is carefully handed on by scribes, and the ancient art of interpreting the text continues....
