From: utzoo!decvax!cwruecmp!ccc
Newsgroups: net.singles
Title: kosher
Article-I.D.: cwruecmp.379
Posted: Thu Jan  6 15:18:26 1983
Received: Fri Jan  7 04:57:34 1983


A previous contributor was really ignorant about keeping kosher.
First, if you are talking about land animals (say mammals), they must
have a cloven hoof and chew their cud in order to be kosher.  This
excludes such animals as pigs, rabbits, etc.  Humans are not even
mentioned because
	a)  Murder is forbidden
	b)  doing anything 'permanent' to a human body, dead or alive,
		such as tattoes, cremation, (some say even pierced ears) is
		strictly forbidden since man is made in God's image and
		the human body is considered sacred.  Also, even though
the Bible says "You may eat only ...", I believe the only animal
specifically mentioned as forbidden is the pig.  Almost all modern
Jewish laws of kashrut (the noun referring to the kosher laws) are to be
found in Leviticus and again in Deuteronomy.

Killing of animals such as cows is must be done with a very sharp blade
(not flint -- you really are ignorant and should keep your mouth (hands)
closed if you don't want to encourage antisemitism) that must be
sharpened and checked before each kill.  The animal must be killed in
one stroke in order to be kosher.  It is true that prayers are said as
part of the killing of the animal, but at no time later other than the
prayer for the meal.  The animal must be checked for disease and other
unacceptable blemishes.  The blood must be drained because it is not
kosher, and blood vessels must be removed as much as possible because
they contain blood.  If the meat is not going to be broiled, salt is
applied to soak up additional blood.  Any salt can be used for this
purpose, not blessed salt.

I hope that this limited and abbreviated explanation of one aspect
of kashrut has corrected the misconceptions caused by the previous
communcation.  Any further questions can be referred to me.

				Thank you,
				David Kushner