|
I'd answer that eco-kosher is a new and evolving concept combining common sense and compassion with a range of ancient Jewish teachings, including kashrut, caring for the earth (Bal taschit), respecting animals (Tza'ar ba'alei chayim), protecting one's own body (Sh'mirat haguf), not oppressing workers and customers (Oshek), the sharing of food, money and work-time with the poor (Tzedakah) and the Sabbath and Jubilee years of rest for the land and from deliberate economic use of it (Shmitah and yovel). These teachings are being incorporated into a set of simple, daily practices to properly respect the earth, ourselves and all other life.
excerpted from the Arthur Stillman Memorial Torah Weekend Lecture
by Terry Gips
|
Parashat Shemini includes the list of permitted and forbidden animals, and forms one portion of the basis of the Jewish dietary laws we refer to as 'Kashrut.' A parallel list is found in Deuteronomy 14). In addition to forbidden animals, there are additional Torah prohibitions: eating meat with milk (more precisely: a kid boiled in its mother's milk, mentioned three times), the consumption of blood, the sciatic nerve (from the story of Jacob's wrestling match) and certain portions of fat. Previous parashiyot have explored some of the various rationales and possible meaning of the rules of Kashrut (see 5764, 5763). The importance of food in Judaism and Jewish culture cannot be exaggerated. Kolel's Sunday, Apr. 3 event: The Role of Food in Jewish Identity with cookbook authors Bonnie Stern and Mitchell Davis is sold out! And this is one of Judaism's greatest strengths. "Religion" or "spirituality" is not confined to religious acts, but the very stuff of life: eating! Every time we eat can be a purposeful act, a kind of spiritual ecology.
But I want to consider the word/idea of 'kosher' itself, and not the dietary rules per se. I cringe when I hear someone described as being 'kosher,' (as in, 'He ordered a special meal, because he's kosher'). Of course, I know when people say someone is 'kosher' what they mean to say is, "That person keeps a kosher home," or "That person restricts their diet to kosher food." Even if you only eat kosher food, you only 'keep kosher,' you yourself aren't kosher! Today, it is relatively easy (if you live in a large city like Toronto) to keep kosher. A variety (and ever-growing number) of products are made with vegetable shortening instead of lard or other animal-derived fats, and are certified. There are even fine restaurants (not just deli-style, kosher pizza and felafel stands) under rabbinic supervision. A generation ago when Jews were anxious 'to fit in', people were almost apologetic about keeping kosher. Now, it seems that so many people are on some kind of restrictive diet: lactose free, low-carb 'Atkins', salt-free, it's almost in fashion to have a dietary restriction! Being ethnic is now cool; keeping kosher has lost its stigma; it's almost hip! But as it becomes 'easier,' at the same time, keeping kosher may be losing its deeper meaning.
Many readers may be surprised to learn that the word 'Kashrut' or even the word 'kosher' (in Hebrew 'kasher') does not actually appear in the Torah! In the Torah (as we described last week), holiness was more concerned with separation; the ideas of spiritual discipline, restraint, obedience, or a sign of Jewish identity, associated with 'keeping kosher' developed later. The word, kasher, does appear only one time in the Bible (our favourite word hapax legomenon is the technical term to describe this phenomenon). In fact, it was in the Megillah we read just this past week on Purim, 'If it please your Majesty,' she said, 'and if I have won your favour and the proposal seems right to Your Majesty... ' (Esther 8:5). And here, in this context, kosher is clearly not referring to food. Even today, of course, 'kosher' is not a word that exclusively describes food. We typically associate 'kosher' with 'food,' but the fact that non-edible items can be kosher, (or not), means that at its core, kosher is not about food. You can have a kosher Torah, a kosher Tallit, a kosher Sukkah, or not. According to the Talmud, even witnesses can be 'kasher.' And all these things are not edible! One can occasionally hear 'kosher' used in its original sense; people (sometimes not even Jewish) describing a shady deal might say, "I don't think this contract is 'kosher.' " I guess, in this way, maybe it is all right when someone truly upstanding is described as 'kosher,' but not because of their diet.
So what is 'kosher?' There is a misconception that 'kosher' (when it refers to food) means clean, or healthy. Many food industries play this up ('We answer to a higher authority"} and there is a trend to market 'kosher' food to even the non-Jewish market. But anyone familiar with many traditional Jewish dishes, can attest to the fact that a meal can be strictly kosher, and still clog your arteries. Many non-Jews believe that kosher food is blessed by a rabbi. They may be confusing Rabbis with the shochet, a specially trained ritual slaughterer who recites a blessing before slaughtering an animal, or the mashgiach, the ritual supervisor/inspector who attests to a company's compliance with regulations. However, kosher food is not blessed (until we eat it- when a blessing is said by the person eating it!). Although mistaken, this popular misconception somehow (correctly) recognizes the idea that kosher food is somehow (supposed to be) connected to holiness and increased spirituality.
But how does this happen? In the olden days, keeping kosher wasn't easy, but it was relatively simple: one only had to worry about forbidden foods. Food preparation was done mostly at home. Today, with processed and prepackaged foods, except for any food chemists who are among our readers, many of us can hardly even pronounce many of the chemical ingredients listed on our groceries, and certainly don't know what they are or where they come from. Glycerides can be animal based; sodium caseinate is often a milk derivative; even our fruits and vegetables are often coated with waxes and oils. Most of us are unaware of the additives that are in our foods; raisins, aluminum foil, and maple syrup can have meat derivatives. Did you know that marshmallows have gelatin, (which is derived from animals)? I never knew, for example, that the reason maraschino cherries aren't kosher is because the red dye used to colour them is derived from a Mexican scale insect (and insects, you'll be happy to remember- except for certain species of locusts- aren't kosher!) So today, if you want to keep strictly kosher, it's no longer about what you eat; it has become mostly about buying ingredients with certain accepted certification marks: popular symbols are
 .
But be careful here; there are dozens and dozens of kosher certification agencies. (Many organizations use the letter 'K' in some form: inside a circle, a diamond, a star or even two tablets; a 'K' by itself isn't reliable.) And it seems that what might be kosher for one person is not kosher for another. And some certification marks don't seem to be respected by anyone I've spoken to! So keeping kosher has gotten easier and more complicated at the same time.
Lessons for Today
For many Jews, keeping some/all of the rules of Kashrut adds a spiritual dimension to their daily eating and connects them to the Jewish people. But there is a problem: although there are many wonderful reasons for keeping kosher, those reasons can feel largely disconnected from scanning labels for food additives or kosher trademarks, or worrying about which fork goes in which drawer. The question is, if what and how we eat makes a difference to our spiritual lives, how can the basic principles of Kashrut be re-applied to make sense in the modern world? Here is a personal example of this kind of question of 'deep structure': It is a custom to refrain from eating meat the week prior to the Ninth of Av (Tisha B'Av) as a sign of mourning for the Temple. I remember asking an Orthodox rabbi whom I deeply respect what I (as a vegetarian) should do for that first week of the month of Av. I already don't eat meat year-round! Should I give up tofu? Or should I give up cooked, warm food, and only eat salads and raw food? Or maybe refrain from bread, the quintessential symbol of a meal and human made food? Although I asked the question in all earnestness, the question made no sense to my rabbi friend. The rule is: 'No meat.' According to him, there was nothing I needed to do, and I felt cheated that we weren't able to go beyond the rule and somehow extract the deeper meaning and re-apply the original intent to my lifestyle today.
To return to the original intent of 'kasher' to mean 'fit' or 'proper', what would that mean today? Terry Gips quoted above lists a number of suggested values that could be used: Caring for the earth, especting animals, eating healthfully, environmental justice. Arthur Waskow and Rabbi Zalman use the term 'eco-kashrut' to try to broaden our category of what is kosher and what is not. Is milk-fed veal kosher? Is fur kosher? Are grapes picked with non-union labour kosher? Is radiated, pesticide-grown, and genetically modified food kosher? There is no accepted, centralized rabbinic authority making its decisions on these questions. Whether or not you buy food marked kosher, nowadays it seems that there are more questions we need to ask to truly know whether how we are eating and what we are buying and how we are living is 'kosher.'
Shabbat Shalom
|
