firstly; i apologize if anyone thought i was making fun of the jewish traditions. that was not my intention, i should of expressed my thought with more sensitivity. let my try again . . a legit question about “what is kosher”? if certain food products, i.e. pork, shellfish, etc. are not kosher, what technically makes them “not kosher”. if a veggie is grown outdoors; whos to say theres not “un-kosher” dna present in the soil? after all, everything is recycled thru the soil. so is this a factor? how deep do you take this if you take it serious?
bda, the rules for what makes something kosher come directly from the Bible’s Old Testament, or are derived from the rules that exist in the Old Testament. So what makes something ‘kosher’ is compliance with that set of rules. Nothing more, nothing less.
- Rick
thank you bricker . . but that doesnt answer my question . . if certain food products, i.e. pork, shellfish, etc. are not kosher, what technically makes them “not kosher”. if a veggie is grown outdoors; whos to say theres not “un-kosher” dna present in the soil? after all, everything is recycled thru the soil. so is this a factor? how deep do you take this if you take it serious?
What technically makes pork “not kosher” is that it is prohibited by Leviticus 11:6 (you may not eat “the pig, which does indeed have hoofs and is cloven-footed, but does not chew the cud and is therefore unclean for you.”) Shellfish is prohibited by Lev. 11:12 (“Every water creature that lacks fins or scales is loathsome for you.”)
A vegetable grown outdoors is not prohibited anywhere. That makes it kosher.
Earlier in this thread, we wondered what would happen if a bit of prohibited food fell on to permitted food. The general answer is that if the ratio of permitted food to prohibited food is 60:1 or greater, no problem. (Unless the prohibited food gives a taste to the permitted food, in which case it’s irrelevant how small the amount is - it’s all prohibited.)
In the question you raise, then, even if there is “non-kosher DNA” in the soil, it wouldn’t be of sufficient quantity to trigger the exclusion rule.
The general question “How far do you take it?” … well, since I’m not Jewish, I don’t take it any distance at all; I don’t follow any of the laws. A Reform Jew may choose not to follow any of the laws. I have a friend who was raised Orthodox, and keeps his own version of kosher (for example, he eats chicken and cheese sandwiches because the prohibition is against mixing the flesh of the kid in the milk of its mother, and chicken doesn’t produce milk – his own rule, not the ‘official’ kosher rule).
So the answer to “how far do you take it” is “it depends”. But in no case do “non-kosher DNA in the soil” come into play – that I am aware of.
- Rick
This, of course, involves the traditional rabbinical dictum, “Build a fence around Torah,” i.e., made the day-to-day laws even tougher than the Torah actually says, to create a safety zone. Therefore, “Don’t boil the kid in its mother’s milk,” becomes, “Don’t mix meat and dairy, period.”
John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams