The Torah's Reason For Kosher

In the previous article we established (I hope)
that the only reason for kosher laws is the fact that
the Torah commands them. The Torah, after all, is where
they originated and where they still reside. Now we
attempt to find out what is the Torah's reason for kosher
- why is it in there?

What Torah is To Jews

[Note: Much of this article is derived from the writings
of the 19th century German leader, Rabbi S.R. Hirsch.
If you are interested in reading them, the translated versions of Horeb (see Chapter 68) and his Commentary
on The Torah are recommended.]

All of creation proclaims the existence of its Creator.
When one animal hunts and devours another, it is doing
what it was created to do. When a plant is pollinated
by a bee, or the wind blows rainwater over a rock formation
they all are also doing what they were created to do.
Any object in creation, by its actions and by its very existence,
proclaims that there is a Creator.

• Rocks do so even without a life force.
• Plants do so even without movement.
• Animals do so even without speech.

Man - granted life, freedom of motion and the gift of speech -
should also proclaim his Creator with his whole being. Ideally
with all his actions, speech and behavior, man should be
doing what he was created to do.

Man - Body and Soul

However man consists of both body and soul. These two
opposing parts of the human being are in constant conflict
with each other. The body, man's earthly element, struggles
for supremacy by gratifying only its physical, animalistic needs.
The soul, man's divine element, struggles to break free of the
demands of the animal component that houses it to unite with its Creator.

The Jewish method of proclaiming his Creator is to gratify his
physical desires within the limitations set by the Torah.
This elevates both components - the animal and the spiritual
- to the level of Divine service. Jews do not attempt
to separate the body and soul from each other. Instead,
we control our physical impulses. By free choice we channel
them toward the goals of the spirit.

When animals do as they were created to do, it is not by choice
but by instinct. Man does so of his own free will. This, then,
is the greatest possible affirmation of the Creator. Free will is
the difference between man and animals. The Torah and its mitzvos are
the means by which the Jew controls all of his behavior and directs
his inclinations, desires and abilities toward the service of his Creator.

Controlling Man's Appetites

How does this connect with the reason for kosher?

One of the strongest of all human needs is the one
for food. If the Torah is meant to help us control and
channel our physical impulses, it would need to regulate
our consumption of food. This is the context in which we
seek out the Torah's reason for kosher laws.

Caveat: The reason for kosher is not stated explicitly in the Torah.
Kashrut (kosher observance) is in a class of mitzvos called chukim
(translated as statutes - singular is chok). A chok is a commandment
that does not necessarily make sense by the standards of human logic.

Example: It makes sense that the person who damages someone else's
property should pay for it. That is not a chok, but a mishpat
(a law of justice). It does not make sense that a cow's fat
is forbidden but a deer's is not; a tuna is permitted but an
ostrich is not. Those laws are chukim; we cannot necessarily
make sense of them. Chukim show two things:
1) We keep the Torah even when our imperfect
human intelligence does not understand it.
2) Equally so, even when we do perceive a reason, that is not
why we fulfil a mitzva. We do so to obey the Torah only.

Then, is it OK to try to find out the Torah's reason for kosher?

Yes it is, if knowing why

• strengthens our awareness of the greatness of the Lawgiver.
• helps us appreciate the beauty of the mitzva
• educates and inspires us to perform the mitzva more fully.

A Series of Answers

1) The body connects the soul with the outside world.
Through it's senses it gathers impressions and through
its abilities it reacts. The food used to sustain the body
will affect its senses and abilities. Just as the body
rejects a food which is detestable to it, the soul, through the
prohibitions of the Torah, rejects foods which are detestable to it.

2) Animals which consume one type of food may be wild and
bloodthirsty. Other animals consumers of different foods may
be tame and mild. We can assume that foods affect humans in a
similar way. This may be why, within the reason for kosher,
carnivorous animals and birds are not permitted.

Rabbi Hirsch notes that all permitted foods have this passive
characteristic. Plant life is permitted as are herbivorous
animals and birds.
4) Some of the characteristics common to forbidden species include:

• cruelty
• use of their limbs - claws and talons - for hunting
• little time spent digesting their food
• liveliness and being active

When a human body is sustained by the flesh of these creatures,
it may absorb the same characteristics.

5) The forbidden parts of permitted species include blood and
certain fats. These materials represent two opposites: vitality
and activity versus immobility and inactivity. The gid ha'nasheh
- forbidden sciatic nerve - is symbolic of weakness. Rabbi Hirsch
speculates that the Torah may be suggesting that our bodies should be
influenced in a moderate way. The body should be the passive instrument
of the soul - a tool to pursue the goals of the soul, not an end in
itself. Therefore the body should not be too independent and active.
Neither should it be too sluggish and dull.

6) It's possible that the fundamental concept of free will
is reinforced by the laws of kosher slaughter.

Rabbi Hirsch points out that no animal is
permitted for food if it's death is

• by accident
• by chance
• by nature

• N'veila (death through means other than shechita - kosher slaughter)
• t'reifa (terminally ill or mortally injured
• eivair min ha'chai (a limb from a living animal) and
• bassar min ha'chai (flesh from a living animal

are all forbidden.

Shechita (kosher slaughter) renders the animals flesh
permissible only by direct action action of a properly trained Jew.

All of this indicates that an animal's flesh is forbidden if
its death leaves the impression that there is no free will and
that things happen just by chance. It is permitted, however,
when performed by knowledgeable free-willed activity. The
fundamental facts of creation and the Creator are thus confirmed.

To summarize, quoting Rabbi Hirsch directly:

"[if one eats foods which are tamei (impure, unfit)]...
the animal instinct will be aroused more strongly within you,
and your body becomes more blunted as an instrument of the spirit..."

"your spirit is now faced with a fiercer battle [against the desires
of the body] and is less equipped for the fight...You should not add
to [your body] powers which will give the animal part therein a
preponderance and pull down spirit and heart with it."

I remind readers that
1) the Torah's reason for kosher as recorded here is the subject
of speculation and is not established as fact.
2) Any other motivation for keeping kosher (there are many)
must be deemed a benefit not a 'reason for kosher'.

The following article by Rabbi Mordechai Becher adds
additional perspectives on the Torah's reason for kosher.