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Kosher: Jewish vs. Biblical
by Avram Yehoshua


To abstain from all unclean animals (food), is Torah (the first five books of the Bible: Genesis through Deuteronomy). To 'keep kosher' the Jewish way, is both Torah and rabbinic. There is a big difference. God requires that we eat only clean meat (Torah: Lev. 11 and Deut. 14), and so do the Rabbis. But the Rabbis go further. Keeping kosher means that one doesn't eat any dairy products with meat. The Rabbis say that one cannot have cheese with clean meat, or even use a plate for meat, that once had cheese on it.

The separation of dairy and meat, with the rabbinic injunction that it's sin if one violates it, is based on the Scripture about not boiling a kid in its mother's milk. The rabbinic view is that one should not eat meat and dairy together thereby avoiding the possibility of breaking the Commandment.1 Of course, God never says in this Commandment that one can't eat meat and dairy together, but this is how the Rabbis have interpreted it.

Exodus Chapter 23
19 The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of YHWH thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.

Exodus Chapter 34
26 The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of YHWH thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.'

Deuteronomy Chapter 14
21 Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself; thou mayest give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people unto YHWH thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.

This rabbinic rule came about through a perverse interpretation of Exodus 23:19 (the same verse being repeated in Ex. 34:26 and Deut. 14:21). The proper understanding of this verse deals with the ancient Egyptian and Canaanite idolatrous fertility rite.2 The liquid (milk), was sprinkled over the fields by the pagans, after the fall harvest, 'to ensure' a bountiful harvest from their god or goddess, for next year. Exodus 23:19 reads:

'The first of the first fruits of your Land you must bring into the House of Yahveh your God. You must not boil a kid in his mother's milk.'

From Manners and Customs of the Bible

As this injunction is put in connection with sacrifices and festivals, it seems to have referred to some idolatrous practices of the heathen. Cudworth says, on the authority of an ancient Karaite Comment on the Pentateuch, that it was an ancient heathen custom to boil a kid in the dam's milk, and then besprinkle with it all the trees, fields, gardens, and orchards. This was done at the close of their harvests for the purpose of making trees and fields more fruitful the following year. It will be noticed that the injunction of the text is given in connection with the feast of harvest.


From this last sentence the Rabbis have constructed a veritable Mt. Everest of rabbinical regulations relating to the separation of meat and dairy and also the separation of dishes, silverware, pots, pans; sinks for washing the dishes in, and even separate refrigerators for keeping dairy and meat products. One can not place meat on a dairy dish (or vice versa), or the dish (pot, pan, etc.), becomes contaminated.3 Interesting to realize is that none of these meat or dairy products are prohibited, or sin in and of themselves (for the meat eaten by religious Jews would be clean according to Lev. 11, and all dairy products are naturally clean), but to eat the two at the same meal is sin, according to the Rabbis. In this they sin against both Yahveh, and the Jewish people who follow their rabbinic, perverse practice.

The first two passages of the kid in it's mother milk comes right on the heels of the Feast of Tabernacles (Ex. 23:16; 34:22). The Feast of Tabernacles is the end time or autumn harvest feast of God. It comes in October. And in the third passage where the kid is mentioned, immediately after that is the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut. 14:22ff).

Exodus Chapter 23
16 and the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labours, which thou sowest in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labours out of the field.

Exodus Chapter 34
22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, even of the first-fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year.

Deuteronomy Chapter 14
22 Thou shalt surely tithe all the increase of thy seed, that which is brought forth in the field year by year.

The Lord was declaring to His People Israel, that after the harvest season was over, when the pagan peoples around them would practice idolatry and witchcraft 'to insure a good harvest' for themselves for the next year, they were not to imitate the pagans. Israel was to trust Yahveh for next year's bountiful harvest.

We cannot find one Scripture where God commands that we abstain from eating dairy and meat together. Not one. The Rabbis have perverted the Scriptures when they declare that it is sin to eat meat and dairy together. A perversion that takes away from the Commandments of God by misinterpreting and falsifying them. The Rabbis have set up a false standard of sin. If a Jew eats cheese and meat together, they are sinning, according to the Rabbis. This rabbinic 'commandment' is confused with holiness. Many Jews think that they are good Jews, or holy, or worthy of Heaven, because they don't eat meat with dairy products. It is Man perverting the Word of God to his own destruction.

Biblically though, there is no problem with eating meat and dairy together. We see that the Lord Himself, and two angels did it, although the Rabbis try and get around this by saying that they waited 18 minutes after they ate the dairy, to eat the meat. (Eighteen minutes being only one school of rabbinic thought on how long one must wait after eating dairy, to eat meat. To eat dairy, after one has eaten meat, one must wait upwards of four to six hours. A great nutritional health practice for sure4 but hardly sin if one does not adhere to it.) There is another rabbinic school of thought that would make light of God and two angels eating meat and dairy together. They say that it was done before Torah was given on Mt. Sinai to Israel. But this too is a shallow reply to the Scriptures as nothing in all of Scripture shows us that eating meat and dairy together is sin.

The Scripture relates that Father Abraham gave Yahveh and His two angels (Gen. 18:22; 19:1), both dairy and meat to eat at the same time and that they ate it. In Genesis 18:8 we read:

'And he (Abraham) took butter (cream), and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.'

In effort to discover the origin of this rabbinical rule, I found a assertion from Nahmanides also known as Ramban -- a man who had great influence on the history of the rabbinical Jewish beliefs -- very concerning.
Wikipedia: Nahmanides
"His exposition, intermingled with aggadic and mystical interpretations, is based upon careful philology and original study of the Bible. As in his preceding works, he vehemently attacks the Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle, and frequently criticizes Maimonides' Biblical interpretations. Thus he cites Maimonides' interpretation of Gen. 18:8, asserting that it is contrary to the evident meaning of the Biblical words and that it is sinful even to hear it."
No Ramban, this verse is not sinful. A verse that does not agree with your beliefs means your beliefs need corrected, not the Torah. The Torah is not sinful...


Genesis Chapter 18
8 And he took curd, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
...
20 And YHWH said: 'Verily, the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and, verily, their sin is exceeding grievous.
21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.'
22 And the men turned from thence, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham stood yet before YHWH.

Genesis Chapter 19
1 And the two angels came to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he fell down on his face to the earth;
2 and he said: 'Behold now, my lords, turn aside, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way.' And they said: 'Nay; but we will abide in the broad place all night.'

The Lord Himself5 and the two angels ate both the dairy and the meat at the same time. How can it be sin for us? The Rabbis have erred greatly, causing many millions of Jews to order their lives around this false standard. They have sinned against God and His Word by 'adding to' the Scriptures (Deut. 12:31).

'Whatever I command you, you must be careful to do. You must not add to, nor take away from it' (Deut. 12:32).

Deuteronomy Chapter 4
1 And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes and unto the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which YHWH, the God of your fathers, giveth you.
2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of YHWH your God which I command you.

Deuteronomy Chapter 13
1 All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Joshua Chapter 8
34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that walked among them.

Of course, keeping kosher biblically should see the proper slaughter of the animal, with the subsequent draining of blood), as well as the prohibition not to eat any of the fat. Both the blood and the fat, as nutritionist point out to us, carry and are repositories for, toxins (poisons), respectively. That's why Yahveh commands us not to eat either of them:

'It is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you must not eat any fat or any blood' (Lev. 3:17; see also, Lev. 7:23, 26; 19:26; Deut. 15:23, etc.).

The fat referred to in Lev 3 & 7 is Chelev - the choicest fats used in making offerings to YHWH. These fats are not to be eaten, the fat of the innards and the fat of the tail. Both Rabbinical and Karaites agree the fat around the meat is acceptable for eating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelev
Digestive system fats
There are many fats around the digestive organs such as the stomach and intestines, and one must be highly educated and trained in order to identify them.

Chelev is defined in Leviticus Chapter 3:3-5. Interestingly enough, the chelev on the stomach is used in making rennet for cheese. How this cheese became kosher is beyond me. Now, they make vegetarian cheeses made without animal rennet -- some are even kosher. An interesting theory is found here: Reflecting on Judaism: Ultra-Orthodox


Leviticus Chapter 3
3 And he shall present of the sacrifice of peace-offerings an offering made by fire unto YHWH: the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
4 and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the lobe above the liver, which he shall take away hard by the kidneys.
5 And Aaron's sons shall make it smoke on the altar upon the burnt-offering, which is upon the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto YHWH.
...
17 It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that ye shall eat neither fat nor blood.

Leviticus Chapter 7
23 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: Ye shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep, or goat.
24 And the fat of that which dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of beasts, may be used for any other service; but ye shall in no wise eat of it.
25 For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men present an offering made by fire unto YHWH, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people.
26 And ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.

Leviticus Chapter 19
26 Ye shall not eat with the blood; neither shall ye practise divination nor soothsaying.

Deuteronomy Chapter 15
23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it out upon the ground as water.

For those of you who are Jewish, you might remember your grandmother's chicken schmultz (fat from the chicken that was used to cook meat and other things in, instead of using butter). How this was able to find a home in Judaism is beyond me.

From the Scriptures themselves, we have proven that it isn't a sin to eat dairy and meat together, if one so chooses. From ancient archeological findings (#2 in the notes section), boiling a kid in its mother's milk was a pagan fertility practice that Yahveh didn't want His people Israel to copy, not a dietary regulation. No Scripture tells us not to eat meat with dairy. None. But the Rabbis, not realizing the proper interpretation of boiling a kid in its mother's milk, set out and have built an incredible labyrinth of rules concerning the prohibition against eating meat and dairy together (different dishes, etc.). And now, it is considered sin in Judaism if one eats meat and dairy at the same table. And the ironic thing about all this is that neither the dairy, nor the meat that a Jew would eat, are 'unclean', or sin.

Some regulations are difficult if not impossible to follow such as allowing a specific amount of flavor? How does a reasonable person measure flavor? The regulation of imparting flavor and the amount of flavor acceptable are both unrelated to Torah...

www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5763

If a drop of milk fell onto a piece of meat in a boiling pot and the entire piece lay outside the broth, e.g., on top of another piece which partially protruded from the broth (Tosafot, Hameiri), and one neither stirred nor covered the pot so that the drop of milk affected this piece alone, and there was enough milk to impart its flavor to that piece - i.e., the piece of meat did not exceed sixty fold the drop of milk that had fallen into it, it - that piece of meat - is forbidden - i.e., the other pieces in the pot and its other contents do not combine to annul the flavor of the milk, since it penetrated only into the piece of meat onto which it fell, as explained above; hence if one removed that piece from the pot before it could absorb the milk and pass it on to the others, that piece is forbidden, but the rest of the pot is permitted (Hameiri).


Deuteronomy Chapter 30
9 And YHWH thy God will make thee over-abundant in all the work of thy hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good; for YHWH will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers;
10 if thou shalt hearken to the voice of YHWH thy God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law; if thou turn unto YHWH thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.
11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off.

Also, from Genesis, we see that Yahveh and two of His angels ate meat and dairy at the same meal. If this was true for them, and it is, how can it be sin for us?

Endnotes

1. Of course, the possibility exists that you can eat the kid and the milk at different times. Carrying this to all meat and dairy possibilities (when the Scripture only speaks of the kid), chickens which do not give milk, still cannot be eaten together with dairy products. No where in the Scripture does it ever mention the eating of milk and meat together. This is a perverse understanding by the Rabbis.

Giving credit where credit is due, Rabbinical Jews openly admit this is not a rule from the Torah. And therefore, openly admit to adding to the Torah...

www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5763

If one places fowl and cheese on the table at which he eats (see mishnah 1), he does not transgress a prohibition - i.e., he does not risk transgressing a Torah prohibition (Gemara), since even their joint consumption does not infringe a Torah law but only a Rabbinic law, since mixing fowl meat with milk is only a Rabbinic restriction. If, however, one places on the table beef with cheese, he does risk the transgression of a Torah law, as explained in mishnah 1. However, the halakhah follows Bet Hillel's rule that fowl meat may also not be placed on the table together with cheese, as explained (above 8:1).


2. Rev. James M. Freeman, Manners and Customs of the Bible (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1972; originally written about 1874), p. 73, number 133, says this 'injunction is put in connection with sacrifices and festivals,' the seething of a kid in his mother's milk was an 'idolatrous practice' done, 'for the purpose of making trees and fields more fruitful the following year.' This is seen, 'on the authority of an ancient Karaite comment on the Pentateuch', 'the trees, fields, gardens and orchards' would be sprinkled with that milk.'

From Manners and Customs of the Bible

As this injunction is put in connection with sacrifices and festivals, it seems to have referred to some idolatrous practices of the heathen. Cudworth says, on the authority of an ancient Karaite Comment on the Pentateuch, that it was an ancient heathen custom to boil a kid in the dam's milk, and then besprinkle with it all the trees, fields, gardens, and orchards. This was done at the close of their harvests for the purpose of making trees and fields more fruitful the following year. It will be noticed that the injunction of the text is given in connection with the feast of harvest.
Thomson says, that the Arabs "select a young kid, fat and tender, dress it carefully, and then stew it in milk, generally sour, mixed with onions and hot spices such as they relish. They call it Lebn immu -- kid, 'in his mother's milk.' The Jews, however, will not eat it."--The Land and the Book, vol. i, 135.

Charles F. Pfeiffer, Old Testament, Everett F. Harrison, New Testament, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1977), p. 73, states that, in 'the Ugarit literature discovered in 1930, it was learned that boiling a kid in its mother's milk was a Canaanite practice used in connection with fertility rites (Birth of the Gods, 1:14).'

R. L. Harris, Editor; Gleason Archer, Jr. and Bruce Waltke, Associate Editors, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), p. 285, also tells us that, 'Since a Ugaritic text (UT 16: Text no. 52:14) specifies, 'They cook a kid in milk', 'the biblical injunction may have been directed against a Canaanite fertility rite.'

3. The exception to this rule is if the dish is glass. Glass being non porous, the Rabbis allow for this as long as it has been thoroughly washed. But this exception is not followed in practice.

4. Nutritional science tells us that the eating of dairy and meat products together can retard digestion.

5. From the following Scripture we can see that it was actually God (and two angels), that Abraham fed the dairy and the meat to. Gen. 18:10: 'He said, 'I will surely return to you at this time next year and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.' 'And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.'

Genesis Chapter 18
10) And He said: 'I will certainly return unto thee when the season cometh round; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.' And Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.

Gen. 18:13-15: 'And Yahveh said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?' 'Is anything too difficult for Yahveh? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.' 'Sarah denied it however, saying, 'I did not laugh' for she was afraid.' 'And He said, 'No, but you did laugh.'

Genesis Chapter 18
13 And YHWH said unto Abraham: 'Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying: Shall I of a surety bear a child, who am old?
14 Is any thing too hard for YHWH. At the set time I will return unto thee, when the season cometh round, and Sarah shall have a son.'
15 Then Sarah denied, saying: 'I laughed not'; for she was afraid. And He said: 'Nay; but thou didst laugh.'

Gen. 18:17-20: 'Yahveh said, 'Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahveh by doing righteousness and justice, so that Yahveh may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him. And Yahveh said, 'The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.'

Genesis Chapter 18
17 And YHWH said: 'Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am doing;
18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of YHWH, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that YHWH may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him.'
20 And YHWH said: 'Verily, the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and, verily, their sin is exceeding grievous.

Gen. 18:22: 'Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before Yahveh. Abraham came near and said, 'Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?'
Gen. 18:26: 'So Yahveh said, 'If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.' It was Yahveh, the God of Israel, who ate the meal that Father Abraham gave Him and the angels.

Genesis Chapter 18
22 And the men turned from thence, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham stood yet before YHWH.
23 And Abraham drew near, and said: 'Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep away and not forgive the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
25 That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from Thee; shall not the judge of all the earth do justly?'
26 And YHWH said: 'If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will forgive all the place for their sake.'