{"id":44954,"date":"2018-12-01T20:50:06","date_gmt":"2018-12-01T18:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=44954"},"modified":"2022-06-26T07:07:48","modified_gmt":"2022-06-26T04:07:48","slug":"the-unspoken-truths-about-the-dietary-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-unspoken-truths-about-the-dietary-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unspoken Truths About The Dietary Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[391,751,416,440],"acf":{"old_id":"44954","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":44687,"related_cahpter":"101","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"If only meat is sanctified, then sanctified eating was only for the privileged","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For years I found traditional and modern critical commentaries on the dietary laws (which would form the basis for keeping kosher) in Leviticus 11 rather uninspiring. Thinkers have provided a plethora of theories to answer the basic question: what is the rationale behind the food restrictions? So far, no single theory has gained enough traction to emerge as the most likely answer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, I have found myself asking a different kind of question about the dietary laws. Given that our ancestors lived on a diet based primarily of grains, dairy and fruits, why doesn\u2019t Leviticus 11 address these day-to-day foods? Instead of referring to Leviticus 11 as \u201cthe dietary laws,\u201d why don\u2019t we refer to this chapter as\u201d the carnivore\u2019s guide?\u201d After all, the chapter is not really about the foods that Israelites regularly ate!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Studies have shown that the average farm had a few goats and\/or sheep. Cows were too expensive to maintain due to the amount of food and water they required. Meat eating may have been restricted to special festive holidays. So who ate meat on a more regular basis? Perhaps the priests, but most certainly only the wealthy elite. And when would they have eaten meat? During sacred festivals. In fact, a rabbinic text teaches that only those men who studied Torah were worthy of eating meat, while the commoner was best off with a vegetarian diet (Pesachim 49b).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By referring to Leviticus 11 as the chapter about dietary laws or the first stages of keeping kosher, we raise up the practice of the wealthy elite, while rendering the real diets and the preparation of day-to-day food invisible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scholars have noted that in antiquity, women were in charge of transforming raw grains into edible breads and cereals. In fact, women devoted several hours every day to prepare grains to feed their families.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When we think about our ancestors\u2019 eating practices only through the lens of the biblical dietary laws, we are liable to forget who prepared the food and what people really ate. If meat eating, which only the wealthy could enjoy on a regular basis, is the only kind of eating that is associated with the sacred, then the people were largely left out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>image: designelements\/shutterstock<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":44985,"id":44985,"title":"shutterstock_689475808","filename":"shutterstock_689475808.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_689475808.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-unspoken-truths-about-the-dietary-laws\/shutterstock_689475808\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"shutterstock_689475808","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":44954,"date":"2018-12-01 21:16:18","modified":"2019-03-03 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