Eating Kosher is physical but has a spiritual undertone…”
“Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin suggests that the dietary laws are designed as a call to holiness. The ability to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, pure and defiled, the sacred and the profane, is very important in Judaism. Imposing rules on what you can and cannot eat ingrains that kind of self-control. In addition, it elevates the simple act of eating into a religious ritual. The Jewish dinner table is often compared to the Temple altar in rabbinic literature.”
– CMY Kosher 101 Handbook
In Parashas Shemini (Vayiqra 11), Rashi explains that it is the spiritual mission of the Jewish people to attach themselves to the ultimate source of spiritual life.
Consequently, Jews must refrain from consuming any foods that HaShem knows to be an obstacle to the attainment of this lofty goal. Because the Jewish people have the capacity for spiritual life, G-d “prescribed” foods that would be conducive to their spiritual growth. The harm caused by unkosher foods is not physical: rather, they impede the heart from attaining the higher values of the soul.
W H AT I S “ L I V I N G K O S H E R ” ?
“Living Kosher” is the act of taking the things we have learned from the Torah and apply it in our everyday lives. “Living Kosher” is also a term that causes people to see our walk and actions to reflect what we truly believe in rather than what we are saying. For example, if we say that we eat kosher, yet we are seen yelling and cursing at people – it makes us look bad, like a hypocrite.
It would bring up conversations and gossip as to why do you eat kosher if you are not living clean or why attend shul if you are beating on your wife, etc. Therefore, “Living Kosher” means that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing according to the Bible because a change has occurred within us. We get a renewed mind. This new mind comes from our faith in Yeshua to reprimand us, correct us, and give us room enough through His grace and mercy to grow in His Word. That is what “Living Kosher” is about.
Now let us look at the following verse carefully:
”The good person produces good things from the store of good in his heart, while the evil person produces evil things from the store of evil in his heart. For his mouth speaks what overflows from his heart.” – Luke 6:45 (CJB)
Basically, Saul sums up a kosher lifestyle in the following statement that he made to the Galatians:
“For, brothers, you were called to be free. Only do not let that freedom become an excuse for allowing your old nature to have its way. Instead, serve one another in love. 14 For the whole of the Torah is summed up in this one sentence: “Love your neighbor as yourself”; 15 but if you go on snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other! 16 What I am saying is this: run your lives by the Spirit. Then you will not do what your old nature wants. 17 For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not in subjection to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism. 19 And it is perfectly evident what the old nature does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; 20 involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue 21 and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you now as I have warned you before: those who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God! 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 humility, self-control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things. 24 Moreover, those who belong to the Messiah Yeshua have put their old nature to death on the stake, along with its passions and desires. 25 Since it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also be through the Spirit that we order our lives day by day.” – Galatians 5:13-25 (CJB)
Saul gives us good examples of how our lifestyle should add up. He says to run our lives by the Spiritno flesh, no sinful desires. But how do we manage to do this?
I want you to be able to create a Holy environment in your home for yourself and your family, and to be able to create a Holy dwelling for the Ruach HaKodesh within your own bodily temple. Achieving this balance is part of the journey to becoming kosher. To clean everything and throw out the trash from the inside out and then we can say Baruch HaShem, I am clean!
Furthermore, I would like to stress that there is NO POINT in keeping kosher with food if your lifestyle is unkosher, your tongue unclean, your deeds and hearts are sinful. If you are trying to eat kosher for the sake of saying “I’m observant, I am kosher”, sadly you have been deceived.
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me. 9 Their worship of me is useless, because they teach manmade rules as if they were doctrines.”
– Matthew 15: 8-9 (CJB)
Then Yeshua’s disciples were concerned that He offended the people so Yeshua said:
“Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Let them be. They are blind guides. When a blind man guides another blind man, both will fall in a pit.” – Matthew 15:13-14 (CJB)
As you see from the reference that you can dress in all black, try to be as “frum” as you can and walk around saying “Shabbat Shalom”, but if your heart is unclean “you aren’t kosher”, rather you are operating in a blind man’s walk.
Seriously, Messianic Judaism is not about trying so hard to be or look as Jewish as you can or what society deems as “Jewish”. Rather it is about your heart, loving the Torah and wanting to please HaShem as much as you can. Once the heart is koshered, the body will soon follow.
While it is ok to be you and be at your level where you are, we want to encourage spiritual growth. If you are still spiritually where you were last year, you are not growing. Something is stagnant in your spiritual life. It needs to be cut off, so that the rest of you can grow. Our hearts need to line up with the spirit of HaShem. This alignment would cause a chain reaction causing our bodies to line up, to begin to eat clean, talk clean, treat others better, and become better witnesses of the Moshiach.
To sum up “Living Kosher”, we are told by our rabbis and sages that by eating kosher, our spirits are able to be called into holiness. Eating kosher helps us know right from wrong and gives us self-control, so that we are not easily distracted into the old nature. Yeshua spoke often about this as well, telling us that we are to put on the mind of the Messiah daily, so we do not have to sin.
We are to work out our salvation through trembling before HaShem and praying and fasting, eating kosher and following the commandments. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves and practice the fruits of the spirit. All of these are Old Testament concepts. Saul even reminds us again that if we keep sowing in our old nature, we will reap ruin and death. But those who live in the Spirit, reap everlasting life.
“Don’t delude yourselves: no one makes a fool of G-d! A person reaps what he sows. 8 Those who keep sowing in the field of their old nature, in order to meet its demands, will eventually reap ruin; but those who keep sowing in the field of the Spirit will reap from the Spirit everlasting life. 9 So let us not grow weary of doing what is good; for if we don’t give up, we will in due time reap the harvest. 10 Therefore, as the opportunity arises, let us do what is good to everyone, and especially to the family of those who are trustingly faithful.”
– Galatians 6:7-10 (CJB)
Eating kosher begins our transformation into a cleaner spiritual being and that by treating others with love and kindness and living in the spirit gives us a kosher lifestyle worthy of testimony.
The following list contains the keys to living a Kosher lifestyle as taught from various places within the Bible:
- Remove old sinful nature, attitudes, anger, yelling, gossip, sexual immortality, stealing, judging others, being a hypocrite,
- Be modest in speech and lifestyle- not attracting the wrong people or crowds, dressing modest- only for your husband’s eyes or wife’s eyes, not being the only women around all men and vice vs. for men- not rallying yourselves in the company of gossip and women.
- Prayer life: having a powerful power life, seeking HaShem in personal prayer time, learning the siddur prayers and being one with the community by reciting them.
- Family life: husbands love your wives, wives respect husbands, children honor parents, and parents do not provoke your children. Not yelling at each other, hitting and abusing children.
- Follow His Commandments if we love Yeshua.
- Wise men hang with the wise while the foolish will follow the blind, who will lead them astray.
- Kosher: clean spirits are evident by the fruit it bears, dead trees grow no fruit and the master cuts it down. Eating kosher in home, outside of the home, shopping for kosher meat and dairy. Being set apart.
- Being a witness wherever you go, people notice the light shining from within you.
- Our bodies are a temple of the Ruach HaKodesh, we should honor it and take good care of our bodies, not sin sexually, guard our eyes, not lust after what is not ours, work out, eat healthy, and be responsible.
- Admitting when we are wrong and asking HaShem to forgive us, then not doing the same sins again forgiving others
- Trusting in HaShem and having faith. This shows that we truly believe in G-d’s word. We do not worry. Worry is a sin and shows what we do not trust in the L-rd.
- Pray continually for an increase of grace and mercy in our lives so that we can following HaShem’s commandments.
We can live and eat kosher. It is all a part of HaShem’s wonderful ordered steps in our lives. You just need to meet Him halfway to get there. May you be blessed in your journey to a kosher kitchen and lifestyle.
If you have any questions on kosher and living clean both physically and spiritually, email us at office@cmy.on.ca.