Most likely a combination of ignorance, superstition, availability, experience and foresight just like the taboos of every other ancient people. For example perhaps the levant swine carried copious amounts of disease and parasites. People ate it and got sick. So the people decided swine was an abomination perhaps contaminated by evil spirits and declared do not eat it. Or perhaps some animals such as the calf had limited parasites and was more healthful to eat. It became allowable. Also, the calf was associated with their deity and by eating it it was as if they were partaking of their deity. ACJA
“…Another theme is avoiding creatures that are disgusting, as discussed in the previous post. This is clearly the reason for the prohibition of most insects, which the Torah explicitly refers to with the word sheketz, repulsive…”
What is not halachically disgusting to your religion may be “sheketz” to others. Consider slitting a cow’s throat and watching it writhe in awful torment as it dies. Thats the only avenue to render it halachically acceptable to be eaten. To you it is not sheketz, to animal ethicists it’s a very abominable sheketz — an unholy recipe for animal torture. There’s nothing kodesh about shechita when an electric shock to the animal’s brain renders the same result, sans the ungodly torment wreaked on the cow.
What’s kodesh to you is an contemptible abomination to others.
Why isn’t rendering the animal numb to pain before slitting its throat kodesh? After all, we know a lot more about the notion of צער בעלי חיים and methods of reducing or eliminating today than was known 1500 years ago.
Sheketz, kodesh and repulsive is in the eye of the beholder and shechita without first stunning is certainly in a very repulsive category.
In earlier times, slaughtering with a smooth knife instead of a jagged one was probably the most compassionate method. So, your complaint is not against Rabbi Slifkin's explanation of kashrus but rather against a system that didn't allow for change.
<< What is not halachically disgusting to your religion may be “sheketz” to others >>
True. Had you stopped there, this comment would've been spot-on. Instead you turned it into a rant against shechita methods. The topic was specific animals being repulsive or not—not the methods of killing them. That was no more germane here than different people's taste in dishes, or different eating etiquette in different cultures.
I am surprised that neither R. Slifkin nor any other poster has brought up Marvin Harris, whose hypothesis is that originally many prohibitions - not merely in Judaism - arose for ecological, not religious, reasons and only later were transformed into religious reasons.
To become holy is the go-to answer for mitzvot that seem illogical. 1 size fits all. But, what does "holy" even mean? I assume it means closer to God, but I do not buy into that goal. What is so great about being "close to God"? I have never found that God particularly wants me to be close. Whether I performed mitzvot or not, I never felt that God was welcoming me in. He seems happier when I keep my distance.
Holiness is defined for us through the Mishkan, the tabernacle. There are different ways to get there: elevation (altar), partnership (showbread), light (Menorah), Intimacy (Ark). Loving G-d AND loving men are both ways to reach for holiness. Kashrut is all about reminding us of these, especially elevation (the most fundamental of the paths to holiness). More here: https://creativejudaism.org/2020/10/12/seeking-holiness/
I do not warm up to a place, the mishkan, a time, Shabbat or YK, or the slaughter of animals as ways to approach God. The concept does not work for me. I do not believe God wants us to burn his creatures to produce a fragrance that he likes. I bug out when I hear people fantasizing about re-instituting sacrifice in the 3rd Temple.
All living things will die, sooner or later. Making our lives (or those of animals) be purpose-driven is to choose to aim for meaning and growth. Eating animals itself promotes life: there are far more pigs and sheep and cows and chickens in the world because we eat them. And the Torah seeks us to promote life as a necessary precondition for lives to mean something. In the case of people, that means choosing to do good. Seeking holiness through the Mishkan includes creativity, partnership with G-d, spreading light and knowledge... there are multiple avenues through which we can seek holiness. Including loving our fellow man.
Aside from fulfilling my responsibilities to my family and to be kind to others, I do not see or need any "higher" purpose to my life. My mortality is simply a fact, not needing further investigation. For sure, serving the Lord is NOT my purpose. I see no evidence that he even wants it. Please do not hit me with the old circular-reasoning "logic" that serving him is intended to improve ourselves--the Bible and Talmud make it clear that mitzvot r intended to serve him. Anyway, I do not see any spiritual elevation or ethics in people who apparently perform many mizvot. Please do not tell me it is the person's fault, not the system's. Any good system must work with real people, not saints. If a diet purports to be great, it is NOT great if the average human cannot stick to it.
Please do not misunderstand me: I do NOT believe G-d wants meticulous observance of mitzvot as the goal for mankind, and I agree with you that merely going through the motions does not bring holiness (though it can reduce the opportunity for less productive things). Mitzvos have a purpose. They are all symbolically linked to those purposes. Doing mitzvos is a gateway to growth, not the purpose in themselves. The text offers explanations for any chok from within the text itself.
I do not need mitzvot to "reduce the opportunity for less productive things." I know how to productively use my time. I do not need hocus pocus inexplicable activities to avoid doing "less productive things."
So why do you think there are responsibilities to your family or to be kind to others? Where does that come from? Hint: every pagan/primitive society in the history of the world has, at one time or another, eaten people. So being kind is in fact counter-natural and counter-intuitive. Where does it come from?
Like most serious Jews, u probably never studied comparative religion. The Bible and Talmud have no idea of anything but their own misconceptions. Trust me, "pagans" know that representational icons have eyes, though they see not, and ears, though they hear not. Like it or not, other cultures r as smart as the Jewish narrative! And I know that 1 day I will die, like most other living things. So what? My life does not rotate around that, and I do not need a fantasy to deal with it.
Unless one starts with certain “givens” such as perhaps that there is a G-D who wishes to communicate with humanity and that there has been / is revelation from G-D to humanity and that the Giving of the Torah is included as an example of such revelation and communication, then it might be very difficult or even pointless to “see or need any ‘higher’ purpose to [] life”
If there is no point to your existence, then you might as well live for hedonistic narcissism, and you are in good company. Most of Western Civilization is in decline for precisely this cause.
So the Israelites developed the laws of Kashrus when and where according to this post? What did God do? Ratify whatever was developed? Anything happened at Har Sinai?
No, won’t. Because each survivor had a different experience, some suffered more than others and you have acknowledge the validity of each survivor’s unique personal experience and response to what happened to him or her.
"Not Kosher" is also a colloquial inaccurate term. The Torah refers to these animals as "impure." A goat is also "not kosher" until properly slaughtered and prepared for legal consumption.
Why does everything need to be scientifically sustainable? Do you have a scientific explanation for Hashem's existence?
Animals that have cloven hooves but so not chew cud are hypocrites. There is a Yiddish expression for someone who is not what is pretends to be - chazir fisl kosher (pigs have kosher feet). I think that the pig is especially hated because during the Hasmonean civil war, Hyrcanos' supporters sent a pig up the wall instead of a kosher sacrifice. This may also be a coded reference to the Romans, as, for the Jews, the pig symbolized Rome. Several legions had a wild boar as their symbol as it symbolized power in Roman culture.
Most likely a combination of ignorance, superstition, availability, experience and foresight just like the taboos of every other ancient people. For example perhaps the levant swine carried copious amounts of disease and parasites. People ate it and got sick. So the people decided swine was an abomination perhaps contaminated by evil spirits and declared do not eat it. Or perhaps some animals such as the calf had limited parasites and was more healthful to eat. It became allowable. Also, the calf was associated with their deity and by eating it it was as if they were partaking of their deity. ACJA
@Rav Slifkin
“…Another theme is avoiding creatures that are disgusting, as discussed in the previous post. This is clearly the reason for the prohibition of most insects, which the Torah explicitly refers to with the word sheketz, repulsive…”
What is not halachically disgusting to your religion may be “sheketz” to others. Consider slitting a cow’s throat and watching it writhe in awful torment as it dies. Thats the only avenue to render it halachically acceptable to be eaten. To you it is not sheketz, to animal ethicists it’s a very abominable sheketz — an unholy recipe for animal torture. There’s nothing kodesh about shechita when an electric shock to the animal’s brain renders the same result, sans the ungodly torment wreaked on the cow.
What’s kodesh to you is an contemptible abomination to others.
Why isn’t rendering the animal numb to pain before slitting its throat kodesh? After all, we know a lot more about the notion of צער בעלי חיים and methods of reducing or eliminating today than was known 1500 years ago.
Sheketz, kodesh and repulsive is in the eye of the beholder and shechita without first stunning is certainly in a very repulsive category.
In earlier times, slaughtering with a smooth knife instead of a jagged one was probably the most compassionate method. So, your complaint is not against Rabbi Slifkin's explanation of kashrus but rather against a system that didn't allow for change.
you couldn't be further from the truth on that...
Can you elaborate?
<< What is not halachically disgusting to your religion may be “sheketz” to others >>
True. Had you stopped there, this comment would've been spot-on. Instead you turned it into a rant against shechita methods. The topic was specific animals being repulsive or not—not the methods of killing them. That was no more germane here than different people's taste in dishes, or different eating etiquette in different cultures.
I am surprised that neither R. Slifkin nor any other poster has brought up Marvin Harris, whose hypothesis is that originally many prohibitions - not merely in Judaism - arose for ecological, not religious, reasons and only later were transformed into religious reasons.
How is a cicada "disgusting" but a locust is not? Disgust is in the eye of the beholder - consider the variety of world cuisines.
That's exactly what I'm explaining!
To become holy is the go-to answer for mitzvot that seem illogical. 1 size fits all. But, what does "holy" even mean? I assume it means closer to God, but I do not buy into that goal. What is so great about being "close to God"? I have never found that God particularly wants me to be close. Whether I performed mitzvot or not, I never felt that God was welcoming me in. He seems happier when I keep my distance.
Holiness is defined for us through the Mishkan, the tabernacle. There are different ways to get there: elevation (altar), partnership (showbread), light (Menorah), Intimacy (Ark). Loving G-d AND loving men are both ways to reach for holiness. Kashrut is all about reminding us of these, especially elevation (the most fundamental of the paths to holiness). More here: https://creativejudaism.org/2020/10/12/seeking-holiness/
I do not warm up to a place, the mishkan, a time, Shabbat or YK, or the slaughter of animals as ways to approach God. The concept does not work for me. I do not believe God wants us to burn his creatures to produce a fragrance that he likes. I bug out when I hear people fantasizing about re-instituting sacrifice in the 3rd Temple.
All living things will die, sooner or later. Making our lives (or those of animals) be purpose-driven is to choose to aim for meaning and growth. Eating animals itself promotes life: there are far more pigs and sheep and cows and chickens in the world because we eat them. And the Torah seeks us to promote life as a necessary precondition for lives to mean something. In the case of people, that means choosing to do good. Seeking holiness through the Mishkan includes creativity, partnership with G-d, spreading light and knowledge... there are multiple avenues through which we can seek holiness. Including loving our fellow man.
Aside from fulfilling my responsibilities to my family and to be kind to others, I do not see or need any "higher" purpose to my life. My mortality is simply a fact, not needing further investigation. For sure, serving the Lord is NOT my purpose. I see no evidence that he even wants it. Please do not hit me with the old circular-reasoning "logic" that serving him is intended to improve ourselves--the Bible and Talmud make it clear that mitzvot r intended to serve him. Anyway, I do not see any spiritual elevation or ethics in people who apparently perform many mizvot. Please do not tell me it is the person's fault, not the system's. Any good system must work with real people, not saints. If a diet purports to be great, it is NOT great if the average human cannot stick to it.
Please do not misunderstand me: I do NOT believe G-d wants meticulous observance of mitzvot as the goal for mankind, and I agree with you that merely going through the motions does not bring holiness (though it can reduce the opportunity for less productive things). Mitzvos have a purpose. They are all symbolically linked to those purposes. Doing mitzvos is a gateway to growth, not the purpose in themselves. The text offers explanations for any chok from within the text itself.
I do not need mitzvot to "reduce the opportunity for less productive things." I know how to productively use my time. I do not need hocus pocus inexplicable activities to avoid doing "less productive things."
So why do you think there are responsibilities to your family or to be kind to others? Where does that come from? Hint: every pagan/primitive society in the history of the world has, at one time or another, eaten people. So being kind is in fact counter-natural and counter-intuitive. Where does it come from?
Like most serious Jews, u probably never studied comparative religion. The Bible and Talmud have no idea of anything but their own misconceptions. Trust me, "pagans" know that representational icons have eyes, though they see not, and ears, though they hear not. Like it or not, other cultures r as smart as the Jewish narrative! And I know that 1 day I will die, like most other living things. So what? My life does not rotate around that, and I do not need a fantasy to deal with it.
Unless one starts with certain “givens” such as perhaps that there is a G-D who wishes to communicate with humanity and that there has been / is revelation from G-D to humanity and that the Giving of the Torah is included as an example of such revelation and communication, then it might be very difficult or even pointless to “see or need any ‘higher’ purpose to [] life”
If there is no point to your existence, then you might as well live for hedonistic narcissism, and you are in good company. Most of Western Civilization is in decline for precisely this cause.
great post, keep em coming
Dei, dei, dayenu. Dayenu dayenu.
So the Israelites developed the laws of Kashrus when and where according to this post? What did God do? Ratify whatever was developed? Anything happened at Har Sinai?
No, won’t. Because each survivor had a different experience, some suffered more than others and you have acknowledge the validity of each survivor’s unique personal experience and response to what happened to him or her.
The answer in one word is ignorance. ACJA
Great post.
Shadal in Vayikra 11:1 shares many of your observations.
So how long and where were we practicing Kashrus then before it gets commanded to us in the Torah?
"Not Kosher" is also a colloquial inaccurate term. The Torah refers to these animals as "impure." A goat is also "not kosher" until properly slaughtered and prepared for legal consumption.
Right. Tahor means able to be spiritually uplifted. Animals that cannot be elevated are usually called "not tahor" in the text.
Why does everything need to be scientifically sustainable? Do you have a scientific explanation for Hashem's existence?
Animals that have cloven hooves but so not chew cud are hypocrites. There is a Yiddish expression for someone who is not what is pretends to be - chazir fisl kosher (pigs have kosher feet). I think that the pig is especially hated because during the Hasmonean civil war, Hyrcanos' supporters sent a pig up the wall instead of a kosher sacrifice. This may also be a coded reference to the Romans, as, for the Jews, the pig symbolized Rome. Several legions had a wild boar as their symbol as it symbolized power in Roman culture.
All of that, plus preserving the environment and viability of species.
I do not believe that either are goals of the Torah, or should be goals for mankind. We are here to improve nature, not harmonize with it.
I find this much more persuasive. https://creativejudaism.org/2022/01/16/the-reason-for-kosher-food/
I find it appealing, but appealing and persuasive are not the same thing.