It’s Tuesday, and we’re back with a great Tuesday TorahTutors tidbit for you – as always, real Torah from real TorahTutors sessions.
When a TorahTutors student asked to talk about reasons for certain mitzvot, the tutor put together some ideas, including about kashrut.
First, we might talk about two categories of mitzvot:
- Ethical/moral commandments (mishpatim) – we can easily understand their reasoning.
- Other mitzvot (chukim) – we don’t know the real reason, and we observe them because Hashem commanded us to keep them… but we can also try to attribute rationale to them.
Jews keep Kosher because God said to, but here are some explanations different people have offered that add meaning for them:
Moral Reasons– Animals that are shechted (ritually slaughtered) suffer minimal pain. Animals/birds of prey are forbidden, which reminds us not to be vicious.
Mystical Reasons– Holy people need a holy diet. Non-kosher food blocks the spiritual potential of the soul.
National Reasons– Having similar dietary restrictions, keeps the Jewish people eating/socializing together.
Disciplinary Reasons– Laws of kashrut train us to think before we act, rather than just grabbing at whatever we see and feel like eating.
Hygienic Reasons– We avoid eating animals that died on their own, or unhealthy animals (e.g., lungs need checking); milk and meat may have different rates of digestion; etc.
*****
Which reason(s) make sense to you?
Do you find it helpful to think about possible reasons, or is “because God said so” a satisfying motivation to observe chukim?
*****
Want to learn more, about kashrut laws or philosophy or anything else?
Check us out!
Any age, any background, anytime, anywhere.
