What can Jews eat and not eat?

Answer 1

Kosher means food prepared in accordance to the laws in Leviticus.

So for animals:
Only those that chew the cud AND have cloven hooves
For fish:
Must have scales and fins
For birds:
Specific species of fowl and a few other named species.
Fruit and vegetable:
All are kosher, though certain grafted fruits are questionable and not deemed kosher by all authorities.
For insects:
Two specific species of locust- but these are no longer identifiable so all insects are unkosher.

How is kosher meat prepared:
1) The animal must have no external defects (such as broken bones, open wounds, markings from disease)
2) With a special knife (very sharp, straight edge with no imperfections, the jugular, carotid and larynx are cut in one, swift cut. the animal looses consciousness almost instantaneously and feels no pain. If the cut is done incorrectly and the animal suffers, it is NOT kosher.
3) The carcass is examined for specific internal defects which render it unkosher (diseased internal organs which would have led to its death- such as the lungs containing too much liquid)
4) The carcass is hung up and salted to extract the maximum blood (the blood CAN touch the floor- it was only the blood of specific sacrificial animals in the temple that could not touch the floor!)
5) Unless the shochet (ritual slaughterer) is a specialist and able to remove the anopheles vein from the hind quarters, the hind quarters are removed and are not kosher.

Practicalities of Kashrut:
Kosher fish require no special preparation.

Fruit is generally not a problem, but can be problematic when cut in a non-kosher kitchen (raw, uncut fruit is always kosher.) Raw fruit can be made unkosher by putting unkosher sauces etc on it, or by sprinkling lemon juice on it (lemons/chillis and some other strong fruits are considered "hot" and putting them on other fruit gives the same effect as cooking them.) Cooking them will always render them unkosher.

Leafy vegetables (lettuce etc) are problematic since they are often infested with small insects. They must be soaked and checked to make sure that they are clean. Vegetables where the leaves are not undone before eating (such as brussel sprouts) or cannot be undone (such as broccoli) are very problematic- we generally only eat those when we know their is no possibility of infestation (such as from frozen vegetables and from hydroponic sources). Other vegetables are generally ok (with the exception of strawberries- which have the leaf and a bit of the flesh cut off (since those areas are generally infested), and then cut in half to make sure their is no internal infestation). Yes, preparing a salad can be a pain!

On top of that- we have to cook meat and milk in separate pots (and if we are having something like vegetables which are neither meat or milk (Parev) we cook them in a third set so they do not become meat or milk), and we eat meat and milk off separate crockery, with separate cutlery. You can eat meat after milk (with a minimal waiting time), but milk after meal we have to wait much longer (depends on community- anything from 1 hout to 6 hours).

Why kosher?
The kashrut laws are NOT based on health issues. Kashrut is one of those laws which are referred to as a "chok" (chukot in the plural in hebrew). the defining characteristic of chukot is that they are not rational and nit subject to being completely understood. never the less, Rabbis across the millenia have tried to at least offer some explanations.

When it comes to kashrut- the most accepted explanation is that it helps to enhance our overall spirituality. Judaism sees our mission on earth as being one of learning, of spiritual growth. It is the time for our souls to grow and increase in their holiness since only in this world is there enough free will to make the challenge meaningful. So what has this to do with kashrut? Think of it this way: the bodies our souls are housed within are the same as any other animals bodies with the same physical needs. This means we need to find some way to change fulfilling those physical needs from the purely animalistic to the holy in order to uplift our bodies to the level of out soul. So sleeping is made holy through saying specific prayers before going to sleep and as we wake up, sex through marriage- and eating through kashrut.

Answer 2

The main rules are: No pork; No shellfish; No mixing of milk products with meat products. Look up "Kosher" in Wikipedia for more details. They are also careful about the plates they use -- having different sets for dairy and meat.

Orthodox Jews keep Kosher. Some Conservative Jews keep Kosher (usually lwss carefully than the Orthodox) -- and some don't. Most other Jews (religious and nonreligious) don't keep Kosher and eat anything they want.

Answer 3

Generally, no pork, no shellfish, and no mixing of dairy and meat. That covers a lot of it, but go to the link below for a lot more info.

Answer 4

You can find laws of Kosher on the internet on various sites.