(3) Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. (4) These are the beasts which ye may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, (5) the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the antelope, and the mountain-sheep. (6) And every beast that parteth the hoof, and hath the hoof wholly cloven in two, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that ye may eat. (7) Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger, because they chew the cud but part not the hoof, they are unclean unto you; (8) and the swine, because he parteth the hoof but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you; of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch. (9) These ye may eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales may ye eat; (10) and whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat; it is unclean unto you. (11) Of all clean birds ye may eat. (12) But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the great vulture, and the bearded vulture, and the ospray; (13) and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite after its kinds; (14) and every raven after its kinds; (15) and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kinds; (16) the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl; (17) and the pelican, and the carrion-vulture, and the cormorant; (18) and the stork, and the heron after its kinds, and the hoopoe, and the bat. (19) And all winged swarming things are unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten. (20) Of all clean winged things ye may eat. (21) Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself; thou mayest give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk.
מלמד שאין ענין המאכלות האסורות לבריאות הגוף כברמב”ן, שהרי האומות אוכלים ובריאים, אלא כונתם לרפואת הנשמה, כי מגרשים רוח טהרה וקדושה, ומולידים אטימות השכל ואכזריות, וזה דוקא מועיל ”אליהם” לישראל, שהם לחיי העולם הבא, אבל לאומות העולם אין תועלת במצוה זה.
Kli Yakar, Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz, 17th century
The reason for the laws of kashrut is not for physical health benefits, as the Ramban (Nachmanides) explains. We see that non-Jews eat non-kosher foods and are healthy. Rather their purpose is for the well-being of the soul. Non-kosher foods remove the spirit of purity and holiness, and create a blockage in the intelligence, and cause cruelty. This only helps “them,” Israel, for they will live in the world to come. But for non-Jews there is no purpose in this mitzvah.
Rabbi Edward Feld
But the way Conservative Jews keep kosher is not simply a matter of finding leniencies. There is no “Conservative kashrut.” Kashrut is kashrut, at least as it relates to shechita – ritual slaughter. But for Conservative Jews, it is also much more. One of the hallmarks of the Conservative approach to Jewish law is its sensitivity to ethical issues. The recent creation of Magen Tzedek, a certification that kosher meat has been processed in a way that is both halachic and not abusive to the labor force, is an important example. Judaism’s strong opposition to cruelty to animals underlays many aspects of kashrut.
Jo Ann Arnowitz, Executive Director, Jewish Museum of Florida
Food is important to every culture. It crosses all barriers. It helps people relate on every level.