Common Info

Kashrut comes unexpectedly or What is “Kosher” and how difficult it is to eat.

If you type the word “kashrut” in the search engine in the Internet you will get the answer like:

Kashrut — is a system of ceremonial principles determining correspondence of something to Halakha, a Jewish Law, requirements. Usually the term “kashrut” is used in the context of the set of religious rules connected to food.

This is something difficult and dry. Code of laws… religious rules…

Nothing is said about the fact the kashrut is one of the first things about which a person hears if he wants to learn about the laws and way of living of his forefathers. Nothing was specified about the fact that Jewish people would not have become the very Jewish people without keeping kashrut. Because this is good tableful which unites people. And Jewish tradition without meals is something unimaginable.

Not for nothing there is a joke about Jewish tables and holidays: They wanted to kill us, but the enemies could not do that. And now let us eat!

I will not now describe the kashrut rules. And here is how you can come to such life – here you are! Kashrut reaches Jewish houses in different ways. Here is one of the stories…

Monday

Today a son came back home from school and said that he intends to eat kosher food as his far and pious forefathers. I had to go to the Internet and find out how far those forefathers were and what they ate.

Life was lived in vain. It turned out that eating kosher food is just conserving your health. Here you find both elements of separate nutrition (meet cannot be combined with milk, and fish – with meet) and super-check of all meet dishes, and pork is all in all denied for eating – (say goodbye to high cholesterol in the old years) and many other effective and wise issues. Hurray! Let’s eat kosher food – we will become thin, healthy and will win everyone. Viva kosher!!!

Tuesday

It is horribly to come to our kitchen. The son is making the process of “absolution”. Stove, refrigerator and all stainless-steel utensils – he cleaned everything to shine (Ho! Scoured! You’d think! I still have shaking hands and a trembling left eye), he boiled pots, and behaved like an arrogant adult man, I was even touched:

--Son! But you cannot boil a five-liter pot – there is no place to do that?

-- It is very easy, mother! Look!

He poured water into it almost more than to the edge, and when it boiled – he put a stone inside. The water boiled over, the stove sizzled.

-- And can you boil laundries at any other time? I want to eat – the Father came to the kitchen. My son and I just exchanged looks and smiled conspiratorially.

Wednesday

He throws out my grandmothers china plates! He shouts that they ate pork on it and he as a Jew cannot even go near them! Just a few days ago this faithful Jew ate pork chops with great appetite. Where does it all come from?!

I took the plates to the country “by stealth”. A lot of other of my cherished things came to the same place. Including the ancient samovar, decoration of my kitchen! What was the fault of the samovar? Plastic utensil was thrown out, the iron-made was boiled, the stove was locked, we will have to ask the rabbi about it. OK! He will stay without pies and puddings, we will see then! It is very good that at least the electric kettle was left…

Thursday

What a nightmare! My son reached the fridge! He was screaming for the whole house. “Where is your Jewish identity”? – the son was pressing. He threw the wurst in the trash, and the cat, happy as never before, was already running down the hall with a garland of sausages around his neck and last one in his teeth. Then the Father caught him. - Who gave wurst to the cat? What are you doing with sausage???

- I gave sausages to the cat. He can eat it, he is non-kosher. A we can not eat sausage – it consists of pork, I checked.

- This is my wurst! And my sausages! And pork I took in with mother’s milk... ate ... consumed ... Ugh, our grave sins!

- OK, I'll ask my grandmother.

-- I bet you will ask! Get the wurst out of the trash, you barbarian!

- I won’t get it out! I will not let you destroy your immortal soul!

- Your deadly butt will die now!

- Beat? Own child! Because of pork?

Then I stepped in and offered to send non-kosher meat to the balcony, and to eat fried potatoes, as there are no questions with it.

Friday, morning

I am going to live to my mother! The war is in our home. Shabbat is around the corner, and we do not cook in the Shabbat and do not switch on the lights. I refuse to eat dry food every week and to sit in the dark. Ah! It's not so! It turned out, the food is cooked in advance, it can be warmed up at the so-called board and the light is just left turned on in the rooms, where necessary, or timer is switched in. What easy and joyful life was earlier! And why wouldn’t they just live, these forefathers? And how did my child get in this? And why did we send him to a Jewish school? And why did I marry a Jew? Such a Georgian run after me! And they have such original cuisine! Oh, I am somewhere in the wrong direction…

Sunday

I tell: My son lighted the candles on Friday evening, told some words over them with emotions (for the first time I saw such spiritual face of my son), he laid the table with my ceremonial tablecloth and started to serve the table. After that he asked us to turn off the TV and to join his meal. This is the word he said: “Meal”! And at some point I caught myself thinking that I am smiling. I am sitting at the laid table with me beloved men, nobody has the phone ringing, nobody is watching TV, it is so easy, quiet, home-style and so cozy.

-- And what, will it be like this every time on Fridays? – Father asked.

-- And on Saturdays as well, -- Son said with full mouth.

I dropped a sigh happily. The son was cooking himself as well, by the way. It is almost edible. No, after all kosher food – it is something wise men invented! By the way, the word “kosher” is translated as “right”.

And then, happy and relaxed, I didn’t know yet what we will face in the future and everything that has happened is just flowers… And berries! But, as people say, this is another story!

Keren Volman