I TORAH PORTION
"PEACE WITH THE PALESTINIANS (?)"
The Community is invited to meet and hear
a Mideast Scholar of International renown —
What Lies Behind
The Laws Of Kashrut.
RABBI RICHARD HERTZ
Special to The Jewish News
C
Professor Daniel Pipes
Director, Foreign Policy Research Institute
Senior Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania
Previously taught at Harvard U., University of Chicago and the U.S. Naval War College
Appeared on CBS This Morning Good Morning America, The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, The Today Show
Author of four books on Islam and the Middle East
Advisor to Bush for President Campaign
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Breast
self-examination —
LEARN. Call us.
i' AMERICAN
SOC
CAlrig
hapter 11 of Leviticus
in this week's Torah
portion ordains a
system of dietary laws that
specify what an Israelite may
or may not eat as food. These
dietary restrictions reflect the
idea that what one eats is a
matter of religious
significance.
During the early rabbinic
period, dietary laws developed
into major categories of
religious law; ever since,
they've been important
elements in traditional
religious life. Avoidance of the
impure is a prerequisite for
the attainment of holiness.
"You shall be holy unto me
for I, the Lord, am holy. I have
set you apart from other
peoples to be mine." These
laws of Leviticus offer a
means by which individual
Israelites and their families
may contribute to the attain-
ment of holiness. The broad
social objective is clear: to
maintain a distance between
Israelites and their neighbors
so that Israelites do not go
astray after pagan religions.
What lies behind these
dietary laws? In modern
times, scholars have noted
that the Torah's classifica-
tions of the dietary laws are
virtually unreflected in the
rest of biblical literature. This
absence is in itself a ma-
jor problem of biblical inter-
pretation. Scholars indicate
that dietary laws of the Torah
were not practiced in earlier
periods but were the subject of
great concern in the rabbinic
period after the biblical canon
was closed.
One of the myths of the
dietary laws is that they were
instituted for the purpose of
making people healthier.
Some thought the principal
reason the Torah forbids the
eating of the flesh of swine is
that pigs live in dirty and
loathsome surroundings. But
when the rules of kashrut
were instituted, they had
nothing to do with health or
physical fitness. The word
"kosher" appears in the Bible
three times, none of which is
connected with food.
The dietary laws were in-
stituted to make the people of
Israel holy. The Torah teaches
that God brought Israel out of
Egypt to be a holy people, a
people apart, distinguished
Richard Hertz is rabbi
emeritus of Temple Beth El.
from all others by outward
customs and ceremonies that
help make them holy, a
witness to God's sovereignty
and purity. The Israelites
were to be a kingdom of-
priests. These laws were to be
considered hukim statutes,
which must be obeyed
whether or not the individual
understands their purpose or
meaning.
Holiness is the purpose of
many ceremonial institutions
of Judaism, but especially is
holiness emphasized in con-
nection with the dietary laws.
The danger of becoming
assimilated and absorbed by
the surrounding peoples in
ancient times was felt then no
less than today.
Throughout history, the
Jewish people was able to
preserve its identity during
Shemini:
Leviticus 9:1-11:47,
Samuel I 20:18-42.
centuries of persecution be-
cause of the laws and regula-
tions by which the identity of
Jews was preserved. To main-
tain a distance between the
ancient Israelites and their
neighbors so they would not
go astray after pagan
religions was a basic objective
of the Torah.
Food had a particular func-
tion. People who ate together
and shared a common table
found conventional restraints
relaxed, with familiarity pro-
moted and close friendships
resulting. But many rabbis
warned Jews should not eat
bread with non-Jews because
they may be led to drink their
wine or to intermarry with
them, and thus be led to serve
their gods. By obeying dietary
laws, Jews made themselves
immune from the dangers of
assimilation.
Some believed that obser-
vance of the dietary laws
made for moderation. The
ability to suppress the crav-
ing for certain things had
strong influences on
character, developing self con-
trol and self-mastery. Others
believed dietary laws
toughened the moral fiber of
Jews and enabled them to
adapt to various conditions
and circumstances of surroun-
ding peoples. Still others
thought these laws tended to
develop traits of tenderness
and kindness especially with
regard to the meticulous ways
in which animals were to be
slaughtered.