What makes things Kosher?

Question

I mean, like kosher dill pickles, what make them kosher? They are the best!!!

Answer 1

Kashrut or Kashruth, Kashrus (Hebrew: כַּשְרוּת, kašrûṯ) or "keeping kosher" (Hebrew: כָּשֵר, kāšēr) is the name of the Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed kosher in English, from the Hebrew term kashér, meaning "fit" (in this context, fit for consumption by Jews according to traditional Jewish law).

Food not in accord with Jewish law is termed treif, trafe (Yiddish: טרייף from טְרֵפָה ṭərēp̄āh) ("torn"); the Hebrew term refers to animals (from a kosher species such as cattle or sheep) which had been either incorrectly slaughtered or mortally wounded by wild beasts and therefore were not fit for human consumption. Among Sephardim, it typically only refers to meat that is not kosher. Sometimes, non-kosher food in general may be dismissed with the colloquial term chazir-treif, which literally means "as unfit as pork", the pig having become perhaps the most notable symbol of the non-kosher animal.
Many of the basic laws of kashrut are in the Torah's Book of Leviticus, with their details set down in the oral law (the Mishnah and the Talmud) and codified by the Shulchan Arukh and later rabbinical authorities. Many varied reasons have been offered for these laws, ranging from philosophical and ritualistic, to practical and hygienic; see below for examples and explanations.

The word kosher has been borrowed by many languages, including English. In its strictest meaning it means "fit", but as in Yiddish it also generally means legitimate, acceptable, permissible, genuine or authentic in a broader sense.

Answer 2

First of all, it has to be an approved meat. Foods like pork and shellfish can never be made kosher.

But even the foods which are "approved" have to be killed in a specific manner. So, for example, all the following can be kosher meats: beef, chicken, fish, lamb. Besides fish, the technique for koshering involves severing the jugular vein in a very quick and precise manner, and then the blood must be drained completely out. A series of salting must be done, to soak up any excess blood.

This comes from the Bible which states that one is not to eat blood. So the blood is drained.

In the case of fish, it does not have to be killed that way, as it dies when it is taken out of the water. And the thing about not eating blood does not apply to fish.

Furthermore, once a meat is killed in the proper kosher way, one can not mix meat with milk. This comes from the Bible where it says "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk."

So meat and milk are never served at the same meal by observant Jewish people.

Now, the word kosher technically means "fit." So the word has come to be used by the general public and it has taken on a more general meaning. That's the case with "Kosher dill pickles." The word "Kosher" there does not mean "Kosher" in the Jewish religious sense. The pickles may very well be kosher, but that has to be decided by a rabbi who oversees the processing of food products.

Answer 3

There are specific ways that food is prepared that makes it kosher. It has to be made on particular surfaces and made with tools that haven't touched other types of food. It is all overseen by a Rabbi. You can look for specifics in Exodus or Leviticus in the Bible or Torah.

Answer 4

Foods can't be made from certain things such as pigs. Animals have to be killed in a certain fashion. Rabbis have to oversee the operation much like food inspectors.

Answer 5

A rabbi prays over it and every thing is cut with a different blade. I guess it's much cleaner that way.

Answer 6

all that "Hockatta, Hockatta" in the back room.