KASHRUT. Its objective. Laid out.
With boundaries.
Defined spaces.
Places you enter.
Or dont.
If you define the spaces and places your own way, you do not enter. Do not get to the sanctification.
On its face, sanctification is restrictive.
Limiting.
Dismissive of human struggle, human initiative, human achievement.
On its face, sanctification is narrow.
Insular.
Forbidding.
Actually, the opposite is true.
Within the boundary is the expansiveness.
And the individuality.
Within the boundary is the liberation.
The closeness to G-d.
G-d?
Yes, the process and the purpose of sanctification is to come close to G-d.
To stretch beyond the human boundaries.
To see, to sense, to reach beyond the limitations of cells and organ systems, of species and ratiocination.
G-d is limitless. But the way to G-d the sanctification is delimited.
Bound.
Given.
Revealed.
G-d is infinite, but His Presence fits into the defined, limited, and quite small dimensions of the Tabernacle in Exodus.
A paradox?
Actually, the ultimate paradox.
The limitless G-d becomes available in the limited space.
And the limited time.
And the limited ritual.
In place, exactly defined.
In time, exactly defined.
In ritual, exactly defined.
In these defined, objective spaces and times and practices: sanctification.
Step in, if you want it.
Move from where you are to the defined space, to the boundaries of the Land of Israel; or to the defined times, such as the Sabbath day; or to the defined rituals, such as kashrut, and there you find sanctification.
There you find G-d.
THESE ARE not the reasons I keep kosher:
Trichinosis.
Remember the old saw about the taboo on pig due to the pre-modern prevalence of trichinosis in that species? Ancient Jewish sages were smart enough to figure this out and so they banned pig - now, with improved public health, an outmoded approach.
Three problems here.
1. It never happened. No rabbi ever banned pig for health reasons.
2. The laws of kashrut were not devised by rabbis. Their authority is revelation, in the Torah. Pig is banned in Leviticus.
3. There is no health problem thats prevented by keeping kosher.
One can keep kosher and be a glutton. Obesity is not absent from the kosher-observant community. Nor is heart disease nor any other disease.
Tradition.
Some keep kosher to nourish the link with their ancestors or, perhaps, a beloved grandparent.
Two problems here.
1. This beautiful sentiment will not likely prevent a person from violating kashrut when it becomes very inconvenient.
Like getting stuck in an airport for 24 hours with no available food except apples and bananas.
Like getting stuck in the former Soviet Union where observance of kashrut could mean prison.
Like getting invited to a business meeting in the finest gourmet restaurant.
2. Paradoxically, to observe kashrut in order to nourish the link to the previous generation is to transmit this commitment to the next generation only rarely.
I KEEP kosher because its one more example of the objective boundary the Divine gift.
The Torah, from G-d, establishes these boundaries, these gateways to sanctification.
Step into these frameworks and you step into a relationship with G-d.
Each boundary provides the opportunity for an deep spiritual connection.
Step out of these frameworks and a hole opens up.
Rabbi Israel Salanter observed:
From the point of view of human logic, the rational laws of the Torah are superior. Do not kill, for example. From the point of view of human spirituality, the arational laws of the Torah are superior. Kashrut, for example.
Ritual law not given to rational explanation connects one to the Divine in a way that rational laws in the Torah never can.
Rationality is human.
Spirituality transcends the human.
Kashrut is one of the frameworks that enable Jews to transcend their human limitations.
This is so deeply embedded in the soul of the observant Jew that while a 24-hour, apple-and-banana stint in the airport may leave one frustrated and hungry, the thought of buying a non-kosher steak or ham sandwich there never crosses the mind.
The idea of stepping out of the spiritual framework, going beyond the boundary, is simply unthinkable.
The Divine gift of kashrut is too great to sacrifice.
The sanctification is too palpable to give up.
If ones life is at stake, the preservation of human life takes precedence under the criteria of the same Torah that prescribes kashrut inconvenience, however, is another story.
For convenience, one does not sacrifice ones spiritual connection.
Thats why I keep kosher to reach beyond the limitations of my body and mind.
To find that connection.
To find G-d.
Daily.
Copyright © 2015 by the Intermountain Jewish News
