# Question for Jewish dopers, do alot of you eat ham? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039 "2010-09-17T01:18:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/21 "2010-09-17T13:24:56Z")
I don’t. I converted to Judaism, and developed a dislike of ham even before I started keeping kosher. If Chabad really, really wanted more people to keep kosher, they would have gotten my grandmother’s cherry-glazed ham recipe from her before she died. If you’d eaten it, you would not want to eat ham for the rest of your life, either. I already promised my share of pork products to Lynn Bodoni. Some of Mr. Neville’s relatives don’t keep full kosher (they will eat meat in non-kosher restaurants, and I don’t think they worry about mixing milk and meat), but they don’t eat pork products. I knew someone in college who got a ham and cheese sandwich on matzo from the dining hall during Passover. At the memorial service for Mr. Neville’s atheist-with-Jewish-heritage great-aunt, they had ham and cheese sandwiches. Takes all kinds to make a world. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/22 "2010-09-17T13:29:35Z")
Bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon. Kashrut is for schmucks. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/23 "2010-09-17T14:04:28Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > In fact, a Jew could call himself religious and still have no religious objection to eating ham, as Reform Judaism doesn’t insist on traditional kashrut. This. Religious Jew here. I made an Orthodox conversion, but now, after years of soul-searching, identify as a Reform Jew. I have a love-hate relationship with pork. I try not to eat it (avoid ordering pork dishes, for example), but will eat it if someone offers it to me or if it’s mixed in some dish and I didn’t know about it at first. However, I usually feel bad about eating it afterwards. I’ve never liked seafood anyway so I don’t usually have any problems with the shellfish part of kashrut, but I freely mix meat and dairy without a care in the world. I do try to keep kosher as best as possible during high holidays and on shabbat. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/24 "2010-09-17T14:10:21Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > [@kombatminipig](#): > > > > Secular Jew. I don’t keep kosher at all. I see no moral benefit to it, and I’ve never felt that it makes me less of a Jew not to, though many would disagree. > > > > And no, I won’t be fasting tomorrow, though i traditionally do (though I don’t attend services). This is mostly because I’m on vacation with my gf though 😉 > > Just curious: If you’re non-religious and see no reason to keep kosher, what reason do you have to fast? I can answer that for myself (I’m non-religious and don’t keep kosher, but I do fast on Yom Kippur). I don’t know. It’s just something I do. I think it was originally because I wasn’t allowed to when I was a kid (they’re excused), but now I do it just because. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/25 "2010-09-17T14:20:47Z")
I will happily eat just about anything, including ham - I was raised Reform Jewish, but these days am nonpracticing unless you coulnt showing up for weddings and funerals. But I think even among Reform Jews, refraining from pork is about the last dietary restriction to go. The vast majority of Jews who won’t eat pork will happily eat shellfish, for example, which according to kashrut is equally verboten. P.S. Personally, I believe that spirituality and food have nothing to do with each other. Provided I’m not drinking the blood of Christian babies, that is. I’d go vegetarian, for example, long before I’d keep kosher. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/26 "2010-09-17T14:22:43Z")
I don’t eat ham, but it’s because I don’t like it, not because of kosher rules. Otherwise, I don’t keep kosher. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/27 "2010-09-17T14:30:14Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > P.S. Personally, I believe that spirituality and food have nothing to do with each other. The way I see it, it’s just a sacrifice G-d asked me to make. It would be even more meaningful if I had given up chocolate for Him. But, He asked for pork products. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/28 "2010-09-17T14:36:19Z")
There’s a commentary (probably originally by Rashi and Ibn Ezra): The prohibitions against eating pig appear twice in the Bible, and everybody’s familiar with them. The prohibitions against bad speech appear all over the place, and many people couldn’t quote one off the top of their heads. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/29 "2010-09-17T14:46:29Z")
I’m glad to see there appears to be a relaxed attitude on kosher rules. Because I’m having some Jewish friends over this weekend and I’m barbecuing an owl. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/30 "2010-09-17T14:52:56Z")
A few years back, the WSJ had an interesting article…about a top-secret farm in Israel. What were they doing? Building A-Bombs? NO-raising pigs! I have no way of knowing how much of this was true (never been to Israel); but the article mentioned that many Israelis refer to pork as “white steak”. Is this true? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/31 "2010-09-17T14:53:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m having some Jewish friends over this weekend and I’m barbecuing an owl. My favorite – Owl be right over. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/32 "2010-09-17T15:18:59Z")
There should be a follow up thread for “Hindu dopers: do you eat a lot of beef”? At least in my experience, you’d be surprised how many do. And gleefully, at that. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/33 "2010-09-17T15:20:15Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > > [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > > > P.S. Personally, I believe that spirituality and food have nothing to do with each other. > > The way I see it, it’s just a sacrifice G-d asked me to make. It would be even more meaningful if I had given up chocolate for Him. But, He asked for pork products. Well, go ahead and knock yourself out - to each his own. I’m an agnostic, so I don’t see the purpose of a non-vegetarian avoiding pork. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/34 "2010-09-17T15:52:17Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > Well, go ahead and knock yourself out - to each his own. I’m an agnostic, so I don’t see the purpose of a non-vegetarian avoiding pork. What if you don’t like it, and are glad to have an excuse not to eat it? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/35 "2010-09-17T15:57:33Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > > [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > > > Well, go ahead and knock yourself out - to each his own. I’m an agnostic, so I don’t see the purpose of a non-vegetarian avoiding pork. > > What if you don’t like it, and are glad to have an excuse not to eat it? As I said, to each his own. If keeping Kosher works for you as a way to avoid something you wouldn’t eat anyway, go right ahead! I just don’t believe in being judgmental about other people’s eating habits. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/36 "2010-09-17T16:19:24Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > > [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > > > P.S. Personally, I believe that spirituality and food have nothing to do with each other. > > The way I see it, it’s just a sacrifice G-d asked me to make. It would be even more meaningful if I had given up chocolate for Him. But, He asked for pork products. He already asked you to give up part of your dick! That’s hard core enough. Don’t give Him any ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/37 "2010-09-17T16:23:44Z")
I don’t particularly like ham as it commonly appears in delis, though I do love prosciutto and bacon and pork chops and pork roasts. It is a taste thing, not a cultural thing. My brother likes ham fine. I don’t think we had it in our house (we did have bacon and pork chops) so that may be why I never got a taste for it. I don’t hate it like I hate yams and liverwurst, I just don’t choose it. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/38 "2010-09-17T16:30:25Z")
Completely non-religious person of Jewish heritage. I love me some pork product. Give me a ham, ham, bacon, pork chop and ham sandwich and I’m a happy man. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/39 "2010-09-17T16:44:08Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > > [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > > > What if you don’t like it, and are glad to have an excuse not to eat it? > > As I said, to each his own. If keeping Kosher works for you as a way to avoid something you wouldn’t eat anyway, go right ahead! I just don’t believe in being judgmental about other people’s eating habits. I try not to. Unfortunately, some people seem to think the mere existence of people who keep kosher is a judgment on them for not doing so. It isn’t. If keeping kosher works for you, either spiritually or, more prosaically, in terms of avoiding foods you don’t like, or if it’s something you do for cultural reasons, go for it. If not, don’t. I can’t speak for everybody who keeps kosher, but I don’t think any less of anybody for not keeping kosher. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039/40 "2010-09-17T16:54:02Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > > [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > > > As I said, to each his own. If keeping Kosher works for you as a way to avoid something you wouldn’t eat anyway, go right ahead! I just don’t believe in being judgmental about other people’s eating habits. > > I try not to. Unfortunately, some people seem to think the mere existence of people who keep kosher is a judgment on them for not doing so. It isn’t. If keeping kosher works for you, either spiritually or, more prosaically, in terms of avoiding foods you don’t like, or if it’s something you do for cultural reasons, go for it. If not, don’t. I can’t speak for everybody who keeps kosher, but I don’t think any less of anybody for not keeping kosher. I’m glad you feel that way, but I sure have relatives who don’t. Nobody in my family remotely keeps Kosher (except my grandmother when she was a child), but there are a few who won’t eat pork. My aunt, for example, as she gets older, is getting to be more and more judgmental of people who eat pork. She lives 1200 miles from me, and I don’t see her very often, so I don’t tend to keep close tabs on her dietary preferences. She will happily eat shrimp, sausage pizza, etc., but when I went out for Cuban food with a friend and brought my doggie bag of roast pork back to her fridge, she threw an absolute hissy-fit about how repulsed she was at the idea of pork being in her fridge, and how could I eat something so disgusting? (Of course, she’s also just plain crazy, and getting crazier. Last time we were there, my husband and I decided to try to do something nice by cooking dinner - a lovely Moroccan lamb and apricot tagine. She made a big show of how disgusted she was by it, and how it nauseated her because of the cumin. Which she never eats, except all the other times she eats Greek, Latin, or Middle Eastern food, when she apparently doesn’t notice it.) Sigh…maybe my family is just crazy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-jewish-dopers-do-alot-of-you-eat-ham/554039.md?page=3)