What is cosher/kosher?

BULLSFAN1

kosher/cosher Definition: conforming to dietary laws; "kosher meat"; "a kosher kitchen" Feb 15 06, 1:18 PM

mementoflash

Kosher dietary observances are followed by practicing members of the Jewish faith. This site gives a very good explanation: http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm Feb 15 06, 1:44 PM

Baloo55th

Prepared according to dietary rules including the method of killing. A feature of Jewish life, especially in Orthodox families. Reformed are less strict. For non-killed products like cheese and mushroom soup, there other rules. The Islamic Halal is a similar business. Once again, there are 'Orthodox' and 'Reformed', but they don't use those labels. I've eaten bacon butties in a Moslem household. And washed them down with beer. And had my pint taken away by a Moslem woman in a pub and substituted with her pint, because she thought mine tasted better! Anyway, Arpy will give us more details about the rules for kosher. Feb 15 06, 1:50 PM

Arpeggionist

The rules involving what constitutes a kosher item of food can be divided into two categories: preparation of meat and preparation of something other than meat. For meat the rules are quite simple. There are two lists in the Torah, one in Leviticus (chapter 11), and one in Deuteronomy (chapter 14). These lists mention the different species of animal that may be eaten by Jews in a kosher home (and in the case of birds, the list includes the species that one may not eat). Now, an animal's being of the right species is not enough. It also has to be killed in a proper fashion, according to a ritual slaughter known in Hebrew as sh'chitah. The animal must have no visible flaws, and must be alive until the very last moment and freshly killed. The animal must not be poached or hunted. The process of killing the animal and putting its meat on the market is known as hasgachah, or supervision. Any item of food labeled kosher will have been through this process. Now, milk is only considered kosher if it comes from one of the kosher species of mammals. Thus giraffe milk is kosher, but not horse milk. Cheeses fall into that same category. And of course, no milk is ever to be mixed with any meat in a kosher Jewish meal or in preparation for such. Fruits also have certain rules, which are more complicated. For fruit rules, there are several things to avoid, such as fruits from young trees (under five years of age), or fruits which have not been properly passed through certain property rituals (tithing was connected directly to fruit), which I am only vaguely familiar with. Also, any fruit or vegetable grown on the Sabbatical year (the sh'mitah, once every seven years) can be problematic. If a non-Jew has had any contact with wine at any stage in its preparation, problems arise there too. I should also point out that on Passover, the rules are stricter still, and keeping a kitchen kosher in preparation for Passover is a challenge. Feb 15 06, 3:02 PM

lbstanlee

The Syfo Beverages web site has a pretty succinct explanation and links to deeper info as well (their product line is Kosher). The page is here: http://syfobeverages.com/products/kosher Mar 25 10, 10:08 AM

ADELAIDE45

Agree prepared in accordance with the dietary laws, including the method of killing. One aspect of Jewish life, particularly in Orthodox families. Reformed is less strict. Well I learned it from http://www.aviglatt.com/ and it's amazing how much info they have and recipes that you may cook. Sep 08 10, 8:59 PM