K = Kashrut

You know that K you sometimes see on food products? You may be aware that it is a sign that the food is kosher. But the K doesn’t stand for kosher, it stands for kashrut, the laws governing what is and is not kosher.

Most of us probably have a pretty good understanding of certain aspects of the laws of kashrut–that certain kinds of meat (notably pork) are not kosher, that milk and meat produts cannot be served together, that kosher meat must come from animals killed in a particular way, that more than one set of dishes is used, etc.

Those who have read the Bible all the way through have read the Old Testament treatment of what is and is not kosher, but the modern laws of kashrut have been elaborated and applied in new ways compared to the OT laws they are based on. E.g., the rule against serving milk and meat products together is an elaboration of the OT law against boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk (Ex. 23:19; Ex. 34:26; Deut. 14:21). To make sure nobody does that, milk and meat can’t be served together, which is why you can’t get a cheeseburger at McDonalds in Jerusalem (it also poses problems for pizza and having cheese and meatballs with pasta).

(FYI, if you ever go to Israel, don’t bother eating the westernized food they try to serve tourists. It’s lousy–particularly that stuff they serve in “self-service restaurants” . . . {Cough!} cafeterias. Eat the native food instead.)

Most of us probably have never read a detailed overview of the laws of kashrut, but Wikipedia has an excellent article on them that’s worth checking out.

Here is another good article from a Jewish source.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

2 thoughts on “K = Kashrut”

  1. I noticed in todays reading that Abraham served the angelic guests both meat and dairy at the same meal – I have often wondered what the talmud scholars made of that incident.

  2. Alicia: You are quite right! Hadn’t noticed that before, but for those who want to see the reference, it’s here.
    If I can find my copy of Rashi or one of my other Jewish commentaries on Genesis, I may be able to look that up.
    Otherwise it occurs to me off the top of my head that Jewish commentators could point out that the Law of Moses (containing the not boiling a kid in its mothers’s milk prohibition) had not yet been given in Abraham’s day.

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