Kosher

[Catholig]

Why don’t Catholics (or Christians in general) keep Kosher households? It would seem that if Jesus was a faithful Jew, then we should all be as well.

Answer

17 Do you not understand, that whatsoever entereth into the mouth, goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the privy? 18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart, and those things defile a man. 19 For from the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. 20 These are the things that defile a man. But to eat with unwashed hands doth not defile a man.

5 I was in the city of Joppe praying, and I saw in an ecstasy of mind a vision, a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners, and it came even unto me. 6 Into which looking, I considered, and saw fourfooted creatures of the earth, and beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air: 7 And I heard also a voice saying to me: Arise, Peter; kill and eat. 8 And I said: Not so, Lord; for nothing common or unclean hath ever entered into my mouth. 9 And the voice answered again from heaven: What God hath made clean, do not thou call common.

Catholig

 

[obadiah]

Why don’t Catholics (or Christians in general) keep Kosher households? It would seem that if Jesus was a faithful Jew, then we should all be as well.

Try the Eastern Orthodox Fasts, during them we go totally vegin.

 

[lak611]

Try the Eastern Orthodox Fasts, during them we go totally vegin.

I used to work with a woman who was Coptic Orthodox. When we ordered pizza at work, we had to get one without cheese for her. It seemed like she was always fasting. Easter time seemed to be about the only time she was not fasting. She was even fasting in the summer.

 

[obadiah]

I used to work with a woman who was Coptic Orthodox. When we ordered pizza at work, we had to get one without cheese for her. It seemed like she was always fasting. Easter time seemed to be about the only time she was not fasting. She was even fasting in the summer.

We are supossed to fast Wednesdays and Fridays, the night before Communion, and before sundays. The married are to refrain from sex before communion

 

[lak611]

We are supossed to fast Wednesdays and Fridays, the night before Communion, and before sundays. The married are to refrain from sex before communion

Thanks for explaining the fasting. I was always embarrassed to ask my co-worker about it.

 

[obadiah]

Thanks for explaining the fasting. I was always embarrassed to ask my co-worker about it.

Don’t be embarrassed Sister, I had a very difficult time when I was Protestant and became Orthodox.

 

[MelanieAnne]

I have a friend from my college days (who was also a bridesmaid in my wedding) who is a “conservative” Jew. As her parents did, she keeps “Kosher” at home ~ complete with the separate dishes & cooking pots and 2 refrigerators & all.

Except she serves pepperoni pizza, with cheese, on paper plates, on a card table in the family room. (Other meals are served on the “regular” plates in the dining room.)

This doesn’t sit well with me, although I have never raised the issue with her. But my thinking is “either you are kosher or you are not”, but NOT sometimes “on” and sometimes “off”.

Even back in my college days, while they were keeping Kosher in their family home, her Dad would sometimes go out to lunch and have a bacon-cheeseburger. Go figure.

And as to whether we Christians should keep Kosher, I don’t know the answer, but some of my Christian (but not Catholic) friends celebrate passover and not Easter. That’s something I haven’t figured out yet.

 

[KarenNC]

This doesn’t sit well with me, although I have never raised the issue with her. But my thinking is “either you are kosher or you are not”, but NOT sometimes “on” and sometimes “off”.

I have been told that when a Jew is asked if s/he is keeping a particular mitzvah that s/he is not doing, the answer should be “not yet” rather than “no” as part of acknowledging that everyone is on the path, but at different places. Maybe this is more of a Reform attitude than a Conservative or Orthodox one, I do not know.

Which is better, that one tries to keep a religious discipline, whatever one’s religion, but does so imperfectly, or that one never tries at all because one knows one will not be likely to do so perfectly?

Also, I note that you put “conservative” in quotations. In Judaism, Conservative is a branch of Judaism, like Reform or Orthodox is. So she would likely be a Jew who attends a Conservative temple rather than a Jew who is conservative in her views, if that makes sense. Conservative and Reform Jews often have a somewhat different relationship with the kashrut laws than Orthodox Jews do.
kosherfood.about.com/od/kosherfaq/f/jewskeepkosh.htm

jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm says
"About 25% to 30% of Jews in America keep kosher to one extent or another. This includes the vast majority of people who identify themselves as Orthodox, as well as many Conservative and Reconstructionist Jews and some Reform Jews.
However, the standards that are observed vary substantially from one person to another. According to the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS), only about 17% of Jewish families eat kosher meat all the time. (see Table 28 in the survey, if you can find it – I can no longer locate it online). Others keep kosher more strictly some times than others.
The strictest people will eat only foods that have reliable Orthodox kosher certification, eating only glatt-kosher certified meats and specially certified dairy products. They will not eat cooked food in a restaurant unless the restaurant has reliable Orthodox certification, and they are unlikely to accept an invitation to dinner from anyone who is not known to share their high standards.
Others are more lenient. Some will “ingredients read,” accepting grocery store items that do not contain any identifiably non-kosher ingredients. Some will eat cooked food in a restaurant or a non-kosher home, as long as the meal is either vegetarian or uses only kosher meat and no dairy products. Some will eat non-kosher meat in restaurants, but only if the meat comes from a kosher animal and is not served with dairy products. Many of these more lenient people keep stricter standards in their homes than they do in restaurants or in other people’s homes.
As rabbi/humorist Jack Moline noted, “Everyone who keeps kosher will tell you that his version is the only correct version. Everyone else is either a fanatic or a heretic.” (Growing Up Jewish, 1987). There is a lot of truth in this humorous observation. I have no doubt that I will receive mail calling me a heretic for even acknowledging the existence of lower standards. "

 

[MelanieAnne]

I would agree with that if it wasn’t a way of life. Since I know it was a way of life, it seems like hypocrisy to me.

But I still love my friend, I just think that she is misguided in certain ways. Who knows, maybe she thinks the same of me about things I don’t even know about.

In my mind, if you are keeping a “kosher home”, the whole home should be kosher, and there should be no exception for the card table in the family room. But that’s me.

And hey, my opinion about what is or is not kosher doesn’t count for a thing, it’s just my opinion. But hypocrisy has always been an issue for me, and here, I see hypocrisy, but I am not the only person in the world & other people may see this another way. I just probably will not agree with them, but that’s OK.

 

[Zooey]

There are some Jews who wouldn’t go to such a supermarket. But they tend to live in communities that have their own grocery stores. I don’t even know if there is anything in Jewish law that would prohibit shopping in a regular grocery store, as long as you are buying kosher food.

I know many observant Jews that have no problem with shopping in a grocery store that sells non-kosher items. (including me).

The dietary laws are a powerful way to remind Jews that everythign is a gift from God and that despite the power we have been granted, we are not permitted to exercise it over everything.

This reminds me of a couple I know…(I grew up in the same neighborhood as the husband). They spent a year in Israel some years back.(He is a scientist & taught at a university). She was telling me about shopping there. Apparently, the kosher rules are different for Sephardic Jews than for the Ashkenazic Jews. The nearest market had special closed bins for items that one group could eat, while the other could not…(The storeowner was actually Christian & had worked this out with Jewish leaders).
The result was great for his Jewish customers, as they shopped at different hours, & he opened & closed the bins & cupboards. Helen said, it was hard to get used to the idea for her…Not being Jewish, she often wanted things from both sets of things, & had to work out a schedule for shopping…
They were very impressed at the way that this had been worked out for everyone. Personally, I remember thinking that I wished that everybody in this world could work together as well as the people in the neighborhood they lived in…

 

[weirdluis18]

Answer

Catholig

No offense, but both those two passages quoted are taken out of context. The first one from the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is talking about ritual cleansing and religious fanaticism. The second one is talking about the idea that Jews and Gentiles should not socialize. Although, it is not correct to think that keeping Kosher is obligatory or will lead you to salvation, one can keep kosher, because Jesus himself said that he did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.