Difference between revisions of "Kosher"
(New page: '''''Kashrut''''' or '''''kashruth''''', or "'''kosher'''" is the name of the Jewish dietary laws. Food in accordance with ''halakha'' (Jewish law) is termed '''kosher''' i...) |
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The word ''[[kosher]]'' has been borrowed by many languages, including English. In its strictest meaning it means "fit", but as in Yiddish it also generally means, authentic, acceptable, permissible, genuine or legitimate in a broader sense. | The word ''[[kosher]]'' has been borrowed by many languages, including English. In its strictest meaning it means "fit", but as in Yiddish it also generally means, authentic, acceptable, permissible, genuine or legitimate in a broader sense. | ||
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Revision as of 22:15, May 21, 2007
Kashrut or kashruth, or "kosher" is the name of the Jewish dietary laws. Food in accordance with halakha (Jewish law) is termed kosher in English, from the Hebrew term kashér, meaning fit for consumption by Jews according to traditional Jewish law.
Food that is not in accordance with Jewish law is termed trafe; the Hebrew word refers to animals (from a kosher species such as cattle or sheep) which had been either incorrectly slaughtered or mortally wounded by wild animals and therefore were not fit for Jewish consumption. Among Sephardim, it typically only refers to meat that is not kosher.
Many of the basic laws of kashrut are in the Torah's Book of Leviticus, with their details set down in the oral law (the Mishnah and the Talmud) and codified by the Shulchan Aruch and later rabbinical authorities. Numerous reasons have been offered for these laws, ranging from philosophical and ritualistic, to practical and hygienic.
The word kosher has been borrowed by many languages, including English. In its strictest meaning it means "fit", but as in Yiddish it also generally means, authentic, acceptable, permissible, genuine or legitimate in a broader sense.