Daily life: food laws
Food laws
Judaism’s food laws are known as . These rules are contained within the mainly in the Books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. Following them shows obedience and self-control.
Food that is allowed is called . Food that is not allowed is called treif or .
Kosher rules
- Land animals must have cloven (split) hooves and must chew the cud, meaning that they must eat grass.
- Seafood must have fins and scales. Eating shellfish is not allowed.
- It is forbidden to eat birds of prey. Only clean birds, meaning birds that do not eat other animals, can be eaten. Poultry is allowed.
- Meat and dairy cannot be eaten together, as it says in the :
do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk (Exodus 23:19). So Jews who follow these dietary rules cannot eat cheeseburgers for example. Often this rule is extended further, so that people wait up to six hours after eating meat before they eat dairy.
Treif
Food that is not allowed is called treif. Examples include shellfish, pork products and food that has not been slaughtered in the correct way, known as . Animals must have their throats cut with a sharp knife by a , a person trained to slaughter animals in a kosher way. The blood must then be drained from the animal because in in the Book of Deuteronomy (12:23) it forbids Jews to eat or drink blood. No animals that have died naturally can be eaten.
Parev
Neutral foods, that can be eaten with either meat or dairy, are called and these include vegetables, pasta and rice. As long as these are washed thoroughly before eating, no kosher rules will be broken.
Orthodox Jews and food laws
Jews keep all the rules of kashrut. Some even have separate utensils and perhaps fridges for the preparation and storage of meat and dairy products.
Reform Jews and food laws
Although Jews may choose to observe all of the kashrut, they believe this is down to personal choice. Some Reform Jews observe a selection of the laws. Others observe kashrut at home but not elsewhere.
Keeping kosher in the UK
In big cities with large Jewish populations in the UK, there may be kosher supermarkets, shops and restaurants catering for the Jewish communities. Often these are located nearby . Even in smaller communities where there are fewer Jewish people, most major supermarkets will have a kosher food section. Many food manufacturers produce ordinary foods to kosher standards. Also, some foods and drinks are labelled ‘parev’ to show that they contain no meat or dairy.
Some Jews will avoid eating out at dinner parties, non-kosher restaurants and cafes. Some, particularly Reform and Liberal Jews will be less strict about the rules when eating out or at friends’ homes. Lots of Jews may stick to vegetarian or vegan options when eating out, as all of these foods are parev.
