Thursday, December 23, 2004

Kashrus

The neshoma can be likened to a gasoline-powered automobile. If one fills up the gas tank with diesel fuel the automobile will be damaged and will cease to run.

Kosher food is the fuel specifically intended for the neshoma. While kosher food helps the neshoma stay healthy and receptive to ruchnius, food that is not kosher dulls the neshoma's sensitivity and ability to perceive Hashem in this world.

The different grades of gasoline can be likened to the different gradations of kashrus. At the gas station there are choices between regular, super, and supreme. Similarly, there are different levels of kosher food. With dairy products there are those labeled OU-D and then there is a "higher grade" of Cholov Yisroel. Many people, including myself, just fill up with the "regular" and make sure to stay away from the diesel.

Kashrus is an area for continual improvement. No matter what level you keep now, there are always still levels above you to aspire to.

6 Comments:

At December 23, 2004 at 3:43:00 PM EST, Blogger Anshel's Wife said...

We keep cholov yisroel mainly because the rest of our community does. And it gets tricky for people to eat by you if you don't keep the same level of kashrus as they do. We were told by a certain rabbi that it would be best for our children to keep cholov yisroel, also. My husband doesn't agree with the reasoning behind it, but he goes along with it. His biggest problem is that he can't find cy condensed milk. My problem is that we never get cy ice cream!

But when my son sees that someone is eating something OU-D and he starts to say something negative about it, we tell him that it's just as kosher as anything he eats. We just don't eat OU-D, but it doesn't make it any less kosher. Hard concept for a kid. And even harder concept for adults.

 
At December 23, 2004 at 3:44:00 PM EST, Blogger Anshel's Wife said...

And thank you again and again for having such a wonderful site. Too many sites out there that I should be staying away from.

 
At December 24, 2004 at 1:18:00 PM EST, Blogger TRW said...

Ditto on Yetta's second post. And the masha is awesome!

 
At December 26, 2004 at 1:18:00 AM EST, Blogger TRW said...

...Oops-mashaL

 
At December 29, 2004 at 7:47:00 PM EST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm new here, but this probably one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Is this blog a satire?

 
At December 30, 2004 at 7:05:00 AM EST, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

No.

 

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