24
the question is more cultural than religious. The notion of mayo and white bread plays to the stereotype of the WASPish cuisine as opposed to the traditional eastern-european influenced foods which would have one expect traditional deli fare of pastrami on rye with mustard and maybe a pickle. the issue of dietary law is not at play here.
18
The Rambam writes (Hilchos Machalos Asuros 2:3):
האדם--אף על פי שנאמר בו "ויהי האדם, לנפש חיה" (בראשית ב,ז), אינו בכלל
מיני חיה בעלת פרסה; לפיכך אינו בלא תעשה. והאוכל מבשר האדם או מחלבו,
בין מן החי בין מן המת--אינו לוקה. אבל אסור הוא בעשה, שהרי מנה הכתוב
שבעת מיני חיה ואמר בהן "זאת החיה אשר תאכלו" (ויקרא יא,ב)--הא כל שהוא
חוץ מהן, לא תאכלו; ולאו ...
15
To get Kosher meat takes three main steps: choosing the right animal, killing it in the proper way, and removing non-kosher parts from it. (This is all an oversimplification, of course.)
Choosing the right animal
Kosher land mammals are those who chew their cud and have split hooves. Kosher birds are those that aren't one of the ones listed as not kosher ...
14
No. A kosher animal must be specifically slaughtered and prepared according to Jewish laws in order for its meat to be kosher.
These laws are very specific, governing the knife used, the method and stroke of the knife, the method for soaking/salting properly, and checking the innards for defects which would render the animal unkosher. If any of these laws ...
answered Sep 27 '12 at 15:40
Hod - Monica's Army
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14
No.
In theory (see Yore Dea chapters 3, 6, 7), it's possible to kill an animal with a really sharp arrow or thrown knife and render it kosher, but not practically.
13
No. Pigs are singled out by the Torah (Leviticus 11:7) as one of the unkosher animals that have a single kosher sign (they have split hooves but don't chew their cud), and as such, are Biblically prohibited. A Biblical prohibition cannot be overturned (Rambam's Laws of Foundations of the Torah 9:1).
(According to some,) the kashrut laws were not instated ...
13
Here is an answer from The Star-K.
Similarly fish gelatin in order to be considered kosher must be produced from kosher species of fish. The use of fish gelatin with meat foods poses an interesting question. As we have mentioned the Shulchan Aruch (Yore Deah:116) prohibits cooking meat and fish together because of health concerns. When dealing with possible ...
13
Any Jew, not necessarily a kohen or levi, can slaughter an animal, with few exceptions (Chullin 1:1):
הַכֹּל שׁוֹחֲטִין וּשְׁחִיטָתָן כְּשֵׁרָה, חוּץ מֵחֵרֵשׁ, שׁוֹטֶה, וְקָטָן, שֶׁמָּא יְקַלְקְלוּ בִשְׁחִיטָתָן
Anyone [may] slaughter - and his slaughter is valid - except for a deaf-mute, a shoteh [a person who exhibits signs demonstrating a lack of ability ...
11
There is an Agadic opinion brought in Or Hachaim in parshas Shmini 11:7 that after the arrival of Moshiach, the pig will begin to chew its cud, and will at that point be Kosher.* Until that day, the Torah clearly gave two signs which we base our dietary laws upon which cannot be ignored.
Whether or not Rabbis throughout the ages have tried to make keeping ...
10
Although the Torah says not to cook "in the milk of the mother", this is a common example, since the mother's milk is at hand. In actuality any meat is forbidden with any milk. (Tur Yore De'a 87, Shulchan Aruch YD 87:2)
10
Shulchan Aruch (OC 476:2) writes that those who have the custom not to eat roasted meat on the Seder nights refrain from eating any type of meat that requires slaughtering, including chicken. Although the Korban Pesach could not be offered from such meat, we are still concerned people may come to permit other types of roast. However fish meat is ...
10
Rasash Pesachim 53a writes that if a community's custom is not to eat roasted meat on the evening of 15 Iyar for the same reason it is not eaten on the night of Pesach, then they should not eat it. He writes that even in a community which doesn't have this custom, eating a full roasted lamb in the manner of the Korban Pesach would remain prohibited as that ...
10
See OU.org that broiling is an alternative method for Koshering meat.
The Torah forbids the consumption of the blood of an animal. The two
accepted methods of extracting blood from meat, a process referred to
as “koshering”, are either salting or broiling.
10
First of all, meat can be eaten raw (unsalted, unroasted, un-anything, straight from the carcass) after just rinsing it (YD 67:2).
Regarding salting, a non-trivial number of rabbinic authorities (even current ones) have allowed using sugar to 'salt' meat when salt was not an option (for availability or medical reasons). See this article for a sampling of ...
9
Here's a clear explanation of the Heter side:
The Arugot Habosem (Rabbi Aryeh Lebush Bolchiver, author of Shem Aryeh, Russia, published 1870; kuntras ha'tshuvot in the back, siman 16) very neatly presents the quandary: Birds require a tradition to be kosher and turkey (indik) is a bird that comes from America, a place that was not discovered until the ...
9
See this article in Hebrew for more detail.
The overall concept is based on Chulin 37b:
(יחזקאל ד) ואומר אהה ה' אלהים הנה נפשי לא מטומאה ונבלה וטרפה לא אכלתי מנעורי ועד עתה ולא בא בפי בשר פגול הנה נפשי לא מטומאה שלא הרהרתי ביום לבא לידי טומאה בלילה ונבלה וטרפה לא אכלתי מנעורי שלא אכלתי בשר כוס כוס מעולם ולא בא בפי בשר פגול שלא אכלתי מבהמה שהורה בה חכם
...
9
No, pigs will not be kosher food, not even when pigs learn to fly -- well, at least not until the Messiah comes or science finds a way to change the pig from a pig into something else a bit different.
The Torah prohibits animals that can be eaten based on physical characteristics. Leviticus 11:1-32. A kosher animal among mammals must have a cloven hoof ...
8
We do have a masorah on turkey. That is:
Bechorot 7a declares that kosher and non-kosher species cannot cross-breed. Thus, if two species can hybridize, and one is known to be kosher it is proof positive that the other is kosher as well. This is cited (Rambam, Ma'achalot Assurot 1:13) as an halachikally valid means of distinguishing between kosher and non-...
8
The Rambam explicitly forbids this (MT Hilchot Ma'achalot Assurot 6:11-12)
When meat is salted, it should be salted only in a perforated utensil,
using only salt that is as heavy as coarse sand, since the salt that
is as fine as flour becomes absorbed in the meat and fails to extract
the blood. Also, one must shake off the salt before rinsing the ...
7
The Midrash Agadah (attributed to Rabbi Mosheh HaDarshan), also quoted by Torah Temimah (note 66), answers that the reason why Adam wasn't allowed to eat meat was because before he sinned, everyone (including animals) was supposed to live forever. Therefore, he wasn't permitted to remove a life from the world. After his sin, it was determined that everyone (...
7
My answer will address both vegan and vegetarianism.
The Bible is fairly clear that God's ideal diet for all of creation was vegetarianism. And that at some point He allowed the consumption of meat, under various caveats, and usually with disapproving tones. Some people erroneously try and say that mankind was given dominion over the animals, and therefore ...
7
Rabbi Daniel Friedman, in an article entitle Pareve Meat (pp. 93-105), wrote a halachic analysis of this topic for the RJJ Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society some years ago (Number LIII from Pesach 5767, Spring 2007). His analysis points to 3 possible conclusions:
Not Kosher
Kosher - Meat
Kosher - Pareve
Each of these successive conclusions ...
7
Shepherds move herds. They help raise animals (which provide milk and wool, especially the sheep). There is nothing in the job description of a shepherd that requires killing animals.
7
The Talmud addresses this issue in Bava Kamma 41a:
ת"ר ממשמע שנאמר (שמות כא, כח) סקל יסקל השור איני יודע שנבילה היא ונבילה אסורה באכילה מה ת"ל לא יאכל את בשרו מגיד לך הכתוב שאם שחטו לאחר שנגמר דינו אסור באכילה
From the fact that it says "the bull shall be stoned" do I not know that it is neveilah (unslaughtered), and neveilah is ...
7
The Birkei Yosef 551/6 brings those that permit it to be eaten.
However, the Magen Avraham 551/26, Prei Megadim 551/26, Derech Hachaim 9, Mishneh Berurah 551/56 and the Aruch Hashulchan 551/24, write that it may not be eaten.
I don't know about the minhag of the Sefradim.
7
R. Pinchas Zavichi quotes a source for this custom. He begins by quoting R. Yissachar Dov Rokeach who proved that the post-Shabbat meal must have been dairy in the times of Israel's wanderings in the wilderness, because based on various legal rules there would have been no meat available for consumption on Saturday night. R. Zavichi then goes on to quote ...
6
Kudos to both answers above; just one more point: after the ainmal is slaughtered by a Jew according to Jewish law, the meat is then inspected, soaked, and salted; then it can be packaged in a reasonably tamper-proof container and shipped off and sold at any general supermarket. So you don't have to go to a "kosher butcher shop" per se.
6
Hod's answer above is correct. However, to address your point about "a prayer":
One must recite a b'rachah upon slaughtering an animal, which is the typical practice when performing mitzvos (Rambam, Hil. B'rachos 11:15). However, as usual with birkas hamitzvos, the absence of this blessing does not render the slaughtering unfit (Bi'ur HaGra, YD 1:31).
...
6
Ralbag in his commentary to Genesis 1:29 explains that nothing changed, and man was in fact allowed to eat meat all along. He quotes the Talmudic statement that there was in fact a change, and says that this exposition of some of the Sages is "an utter falsehood from which it is fitting for every man of intelligence to flee". He argues that it is a ...
6
Contrary to what many frum Jews believe, it is not required to eat meat on Shabbos and Yom Tov. So as far as the dietary aspect of veganism goes, it is permissible.
But many interpret veganism to mean that one does not wear clothes made from animals.
There is probably no problem with a Jewish woman being completely vegan in this sense (though there's the ...
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