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