In this week’s Parasha “Re’ei” (look), Moses is reminding the Jewish people which animals are permissible for a Jew to eat and which are not.
We are allowed to eat mammals that have both an open hoof and chew the cud. Fish have to have both fins and scales and the birds that we can eat are chicken, duck, turkey, etc.. (Birds that are not birds of prey). Insects and reptiles for sure are out of the question.
Kashrut is one of the fundamental tenants of Judaism and we have to understand that eating kosher has many good outcomes health wise, but the true reason we do it is because G-d wants it that way.
You see, H”S created a system in which He wants us to be able to have free will. For this to work He had to create all these animals and tell us from which we can eat. So for example, He created the pork which has an open hoof and no chewing cud. In the outside he would seem kosher but on the inside he is not. This is not a good character trait in which some people look like something good in the outside but in the inside they are not. Rashi says that we should not say “yuck this animal is filthy, on the contrary this animal has a purpose, we should just say It seems delicious, I would love to eat it, but I can’t because it goes against H”S will.” That is it, we should keep it simple.
Also anything you eat becomes the energy you use to be able to function in this world, so by eating kosher you are also elevating the energy of the animal so you can engage in holy work.
From my personal experience as a person who used to eat non kosher I can really attest that eating kosher really changes you to the better. It allows us to be more spiritually attuned and more receptive to understanding Torah and Mitzvahs, apart from allowing us to be really free to choose.
Live a little higher
