Kosher is the Hebrew term used to refer to foods permitted according to Jewish dietary laws. These laws are based on various verses in the Five Books of Moses (Torah), which are interpreted and expounded upon in great detail in the Talmud and Jewish legal codes.
The only reason that the Torah gives for the prohibition against eating foods that are not kosher is that there is spiritual impurity associated with it. This impurity only effects Jews (don’t ask me how exactly that works), which is why there is absolutely nothing wrong with a non Jew eating non kosher food.
There’s absolutely nothing unhealthy or physically harmful about non kosher food. The reason why God commanded the Jewish people to eat Kosher has nothing to do with the physical quality or nutritional value of any particular food. In fact, the same exact animal can be considered either kosher or non kosher depending solely on how it is slaughtered. So clearly there’s nothing intrinsically harmful or deficient in a non kosher animal, at least not in the physical realm (Jewish mysticism has much to say on the spiritual harm caused to Jews by eating non kosher).
Myth Buster – Kosher food has nothing to do with a rabbi blessing it. The food is either Kosher or not, regardless of any blessings, spells or incantations.
What foods are Kosher?
All food that grows from the ground (including underwater) is Kosher.
That includes all fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, as long as they are raw and unprocessed. Once they are cooked or processed, their kosher status is no longer guaranteed. In other words, you can walk down the produce isle in any supermarket and fill your cart with any fresh fruits and veggies you desire.
However, if the produce has been cooked, or if the salad has been cut and dressed before packaging, then you cannot be sure that it is Kosher, since you don’t know exactly how it was prepared (we’ll get to utensils later). In other words, while the underlying produce is Kosher, the processing can make it non Kosher.
Fish that have scales and fins are Kosher.
These 2 criteria are clearly stated in the Torah. All other water creatures that do not have BOTH scales and fins of the water are not Kosher. Examples of kosher fish include carp, salmon, whitefish and tuna. Non Kosher seafood includes shark, squid, lobster, shrimp, clams, and oysters.
Again, once a Kosher fish is cooked or processed, its Kosher status is no longer guaranteed (since non Kosher ingredients might have been used).Fish do not have to be killed in any special way to be considered Kosher (unlike animals).
Animals that have split hoofs and chew their cud are potentially Kosher
These 2 criteria are also clearly stated in the Torah. I say potentially because in order to be fit for consumption, the animal must be slaughtered and prepared according to strict regulations (which are way beyond the scope of this, or pretty much any, article you’ll find on the internet).
For example, if you shoot a Kosher animal, or if it’s killed in any other way or even if it simply dies of old age, it becomes non-kosher. Examples of Kosher animals are cows, goats, lamb, deer, and buffalo. Non-kosher animals include camels, horses, dogs, cats, bears, elephants, lions, and of course, pig.The milk from a kosher animal is kosher. Therefore, cow’s milk is kosher, but camel’s milk is not.
Kosher Birds need to be specified.
The Torah provides no physical signs that indicate whether a bird is Kosher. Instead, it offers a long list of species of birds that are kosher, but most cannot be positively identified by the experts. Birds of prey are considered to be non Kosher.
Kosher birds include chicken, turkey, goose, duck, and quail. These birds must be slaughtered and prepared in the prescribed manner to be fit for kosher consumption. Shooting a bird,
