Jul 29, 2008

I'll show YOU kosher!

Realization: I'm not very good at explaining to questioners why I don't mix meat/milk. What's a quick, one-sentence explanation that doesn't edge on "because the Torah says so" ...? I go into a big explanation of a variety of things, and well, I seek brevity.

(Note: At the present, my policy is no goat in goat's milk, no beef in cow's milk, etc. "Thou shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk" to me means just that.)

13 comments:

Tink *~*~* said...

I love the illustration for your post today. :D

Tink *~*~*
My Mobile Adventures *~*~*

Anonymous said...

I agree with Tink. It's a very cute illustration.

Chaviva Gordon-Bennett said...

Thanks! Of course, I can't take credit ... I got the illustration from a T-shirt (which I recently purchased).

http://12491.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/Index/design/design/milkmeat-975591

Anonymous said...

How about" it is a way of elevating and making spiritual a very physical act-which is a basic theme of Judaism" Maimonides thinks it is actually one of those things that are a chok--i.e. super rational--but its not impossible to try to come up with a rationale that makes it meaningful to you.Brad

Anonymous said...

Aw geez Chaviva. Now I can't come over to your house for dinner!

:(

Suburban Sweetheart said...

So you're down for, say, a chicken sandwich with muenster?

Rafi G. said...

I like the image, but I do not have a good answer to the question. Ultimately the only real reason is that the Torah says not to, and the Rabbonon have defined it, and expanded it (for example, to include chicken) over the years

Mottel said...

The truth always works the best -and because it's a commandment is the answer that most people will go with. A reason behind it? I always thought that a Jewish spiritual 'allergy' was a good comparison. When we eat, besides the body breaking down and digesting the food, absorbing the nutrients etc. the soul does the same for the 'spiritual energy' of the food -elevating it and using it in the service of G-d. We can not elevate nonkosher food . . . hence the term 'assur' (forbidden) related to the concept of being tied down -we can not elevate it.

Now about that chicken and cheese thing . . .

Anonymous said...

Spiritually speaking, I've heard the ban on mixing meat and milk as a way of honoring the difference between life and death (milk being the stuff of life, meat--i.e. dead animal--being death).

This may satisfy the casual questioner, but the real reason is that it is a Torah prohibition, and that is why it's not just a philosophical reason subject to change with one's personal growth, or a phase one goes through that one might just as easily abandon a few months or years down the road.

Chaviva Gordon-Bennett said...

Sorry about dinner, ck :) Cheeseburgers are overrated anyhow!

SS: Yup. I'll eat cheese on my chicken, though, most of the time I don't, unless it's a Husker sandwich at Bison Witches in Nebraska! Hah.

Rafi, Mottel, and Shim: Thanks for your responses. I was thinking more about it yesterday and I think you all make good points. I guess when someone (like my friend the other day) insists on further reasoning, perhaps in "modern times" why one wouldn't mix meat/milk, it makes sense that we would respect animals in death as in life -- cooking a kid in its mother's milk just seems improper, if not disrespectful.

And Mottel: I know, I know. In reality, I don't like fettucini and I don't usually put cheese on my chicken, so it doesn't happen very often at any rate :D

Rafi G. said...

but what about putting a kid in a different mothers milk (not its own)? why would that be cruel?

Chaviva Gordon-Bennett said...

Touche, Rafi ... touche.

I hadn't thought about that. Man. Hrm. I shall come back to this.

Anonymous said...

About the cheese and chicken...

If we are talking about "ordinary" cheese - cheese itself is not kosher as far as I know because of using lab-ferment (a ferment taken from the stomach of cows) together with milk... That is one of my biggest challenges with kosher food. There is vegetarian cheese around, but most of them taste sort of disappointing...

So the chicken and cheese sandwich would be a problem even without the chicken...

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