By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — Parashat Sh’mini is one of the primary sources for Kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws, in the Torah. Specifically, Sh’mini contains the specifications for Kosher and non-Kosher mammals and seafood and lists of Kosher and non-Kosher birds.
The underlying reason for the laws of Kashrut is often misunderstood. People think that the laws of Kashrut are based on ancient misunderstandings of healthy and non-healthy foods and food combinations. One example is that many people believe pigs are forbidden because they were a source of trichinosis.
Kashrut has nothing to do with health. Rather, it is defined by our tradition as a path to holiness. Just as we honor God through our actions toward our fellow human beings, so do we honor God through what we eat. Every time we sit down to a meal we sanctify the experience by partaking of some kinds of food and abstaining from others. Even through as mundane an act as eating, we remind ourselves of and experience God’s commanding Presence and holiness.
In some communities, unfortunately, Kashrut has become a way of diminishing others rather than elevating its observers. Some Jews use their observance of Kashrut as a source of pride and to prove that they are better Jews than others. They glory in the strictness of their Kashrut observance and look down their noses at others, whose Kashrut they distrust and in whose homes they will not eat. This feeling of superiority is completely opposite of the sense of humility and gratitude the observance of a mitzvah is supposed to engender.
Rabbi Elliott Dorff wrote about this in his introduction to this year’s Rabbinical Assembly Passover Guide. Although he comments specifically on Passover Kashrut, his words also serve as moral guidelines for our observance of the dietary laws during the rest of the year. I have italicized the particularly relevant sentences.
“Because Passover involves more dietary strictures than the rest of the year, many Jews become downright compulsive about the rules of the holiday. We should be careful not to use these rules to assert our superior piety over others, and remember that observance of Passover should not come at the expense of the values of honoring our parents and treating everyone with respect. Passover is really important – a central feature of what it means to live a Jewish life. Its very meaning, though, is completely undermined if the dietary rules of Passover lead people to treat each other with disrespect. “
“So as we explain the dietary rules of Passover below, we fervently hope that they will instead function as they are supposed to – namely, to serve as graphic reminders throughout the holiday of the critical lessons of Passover, of the need to free ourselves and the world around us of all the physical, intellectual, emotional, and communal straits that limit us and others in living a life befitting of people created in the image of God.”
As you may have already heard, the Committee of Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly recently published t’shuvot (religious responsa) allowing the consumption of kitniyot, such as beans and rice, on Pesach.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue. He may be contacted via leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)