David Kraemer cites milgrom in saying that "the customs and rituals of any society are a reflection of it's values." (Kraemer p. 12-13) What are the values behind separating milk from meat? Furthermore, why are (some) Jews as heavily invested in this Kashrut policy as they are in the pig?
If eating practices are perhaps more important than the food choices, what are they (for Jews) and how do they that reflect (Jewish) values?
It appears that there is an argument regarding whether these rules were of/for the elite vs. the common person. It feels important that we should touch on this, yet I cannot formulate a coherent question at this time.
If prohibited food represents "gentile food"- wherein the food represents that person- what is the characteristics for which Israelites/Judeans were trying to avoid in their neighbors?
Is there a specifically "jewish" food? If so, what and why/how?
(I like parenthetical comments)
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It is ON!
Welch's for Pesah? " Welch's Teams With Manischewitz in Battle Over Kosher Grape Juice " (NPR, 10/10/17)
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Other Fun things from the reading:
Pig is not in the Encyclopedia of Jewish food, but Sausage and Hot Dogs are. (Even if it says "beef" or turkey." don't forget to check the casing!)
Avodah Zarah 35b - "What did the sages see [that impelled them to prohibit gentile bread]? They were worried about marriage."
Perhaps the origination of the phrase - "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
Did anyone else find the article by Max Apple just a little sad? Rather than being an explanation or celebration of the ethical, traditional and cultural underpinnings of kashrut as an important Jewish institution, I felt like it gave voice to a kind of neurotic obsession that many Jews have with food. Being a "little Ralph Nader on preservatives" by the age of eight and having the important task of reviving zede when he chokes on his obligatory Shabbos fish head are not exactly what I would call fond memories of a familial connection to Kashrut. I'm really hung up over this idea of celebrating and ritualizing what other's might call OCD. Are there any other thoughts on this topic?
“Knowing which animals could be consumed and which not, the Israelite would also have known which qualities could be emulated and which shunned. … Most often, therefore, the eating practices were about what Israel could and, particularly, could not eat – not about what they actually did nor did not eat. They were, in other words, most often about negation – negations of certain evil qualities and, by extension, negation of nations who displayed those qualities.” (Kraemer, page 22)
A whole new meaning to the phrase, “you are what you eat.” I know that certain food evoke certain feelings for me but generally those feelings come after I eat. I wonder what my eating habits would look like if I approached the items in my meal as teachers for the character qualities I wanted to emulate that day. And, would I put imagined or real animal character qualities on my food? For example, I pretty much think the cow is one of the laziest animals I’ve seen. So, when I want to just lounge around and graze all day, I should have a big steak?
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