Jewish dietary taboos

The core of Jewish dietary taboos is to follow the rules of "Kosher (Hebrew meaning "fit for eating"). The source of all rules is the commandments in the core Jewish classic "Tanach", which have been supplemented and interpreted by later generations of rabbis in the "Talmud" to form a complete system. Currently, Jews of different sects have very different implementation standards for the rules, and not all Jews strictly abide by relevant taboos.

Many people's first impression of the Jewish diet is "don't eat pork." In fact, this is only a very small part of the kosher rules. If you really count it strictly, there are many more things you can't eat than you can eat. A few years ago, I went to a supermarket in the Orthodox Jewish community of Brooklyn, New York, and I was stunned as soon as I entered the door. The refrigerated cabinets put together in ordinary supermarkets were directly divided into two independent areas, with cheese, butter, and yogurt on one side, and fresh meat, cured meat, and processed meat products on the other. Even the checkout counters were set up separately. If you took meat products and went to the counter in the dairy area to check out, the cashier would ask you to change places.

Let’s talk about the requirements for terrestrial animals first. They must meet the two conditions of "club hooves" and "rumination" at the same time. Pigs just stepped on the red line - they have cloven hooves but do not ruminate, so they have naturally become the most famous forbidden animals. In addition, rabbits, camels and other animals that do not meet the double standards cannot be eaten. Even cattle, sheep, and deer that meet the requirements cannot be killed and eaten casually. The blood vessels, trachea, and esophagus must be cut off by specially trained licensed butchers (shochet) with extremely sharp knives to minimize the pain of the animals. After that, all the blood must be drained and the tendons in the thighs must be picked out. This is why the ancient Chinese called Judaism the "Tiaojin Cult." Only the meat that has gone through this process can be considered kosher. Oh, by the way, almost all insects are also forbidden, with the exception of a few species of locusts, but now except for a very small number of ultra-Orthodox people, no one will touch them.

The requirements for aquatic products are simpler: they must have both fins and scales. So shrimp, crab, shellfish, eel, and catfish that everyone loves to eat are all on the forbidden list. I went to eat paella with a conservative Jewish friend before. He sat there for ten minutes and picked out all the salmon pieces in the meal and ate it. The remaining shrimp and mussels were not even touched. He said that his grandmother taught him since he was a child that "aquatic products that feel slippery and have no hard scales, no matter how fragrant they are, cannot hold out their chopsticks."

Many people don’t know that the most stringent and easily tripped-up kosher rules are actually the “separation of milk and meat” requirement. To put it simply, dairy products and meat products must not be eaten at the same time. Even the installed tableware and wiped rags must be completely separated. Orthodox families often prepare two sets of pots, two sets of plates, and even two refrigerators to store milk and meat respectively. You have to wait 6 hours after eating meat products before eating dairy products, and conversely, you only need to wait 1 hour after eating milk. I used to know an Orthodox Jewish girl who brought her non-Jewish boyfriend home for dinner for the first time. The boy didn't know the rules and took a plate that had been filled with roast beef to serve cheese cake. Her mother yelled at her for half a month, saying that even if she washed it eight times, the "traces" of the meat could not be removed, and it must not be used to hold milk.

But not all Jews were so strict. Among the three main sects of Judaism, the Orthodox follow the rules 100%. Even the processed foods sold outside must have kosher certification before they can be eaten. If you look carefully at the packaging of imported food, you will most likely have seen the small circle with the letter U or K. That is the internationally accepted kosher certification mark. With this mark, Orthodox can buy with confidence. Conservatives are a lot more lax. They adhere to the core rules, such as not eating pork, not eating scale-free aquatic products, and trying to separate milk and meat. But occasionally when dining out, you can eat vegetables and fruits that are not certified as kosher, so you don’t have to worry too much. The Reformists are even more relaxed. Most Reform Jews feel that these rules are ancient hygiene experience. Now that living conditions are better, there is no need to stick to them. Not to mention eating pork and seafood, there are also many people who eat milk and meat together.

Regarding the origin of these taboos, academic and religious circles have never agreed. Religious people naturally feel that this is a commandment given by God to the Jews. It does not require any secular reasons. Obeying it is a manifestation of faith. Many historians believe that this is essentially an ancient health and epidemic prevention rule: in ancient times, there were no refrigerators, pork could easily carry tapeworms, and shellfish could easily spoil and cause food poisoning. The requirements for bloodletting and slaughtering were all to reduce the risk of food contamination. Some sociologists believe that the biggest role of this set of rules is identity-the common dietary rules bind the Jewish community together and distinguish it from other ethnic groups. Even if they are scattered around the world, as long as they eat the same kosher food, they will have a sense of belonging to the community. Each of the several arguments has merit, and no one can convince anyone.

A few years ago, I visited the Old City of Jerusalem and ordered grilled lamb chops from an Orthodox restaurant. I casually asked the waiter if he could have yogurt sauce for dipping. The waiter shook his head like a rattle and said, "Absolutely not. You can either have it with yellow mustard, or you can go out and walk two steps to the dessert shop next door to buy ice cream after the meal. You only have to wait for 6 hours."

In fact, for many secular Jews nowadays, these taboos are no longer iron rules that must be observed. It may be that during the Passover festival, the elderly in the family will deliberately not make leavened bread and avoid pork, and they will do whatever is convenient for them. After all, whether it is religious commandments from thousands of years ago or life experiences handed down from ancient times, in the end, it comes down to life, whatever is comfortable and in line with one's own will.