the Kosher Omnivore's Dilemma

I'm not a big fan of Jewish values. As a Jewish educator I have noticed that the term "Jewish Values" is usually code for "Jewish Light". I am skeptical of any type of Jewish institution that prides themselves on the Jewish values it instills within its members. I am much more impressed with institutions that teach Hebrew, Mitzvot, ritual, real concrete subjects. A good teacher will naturally bring out the value embedded within the subject matter that they are teaching. It is virtually impossible to teach about Tu B'Shevat for instance without teaching about the positive value of caring for the environment. But it is Tu B'shevat that we are teaching about here! The value is dependant upon the concept and not the other way around.

Which is why it is particularly ironic that I am considering giving up Kashurt based on Jewish values. Truly, it seems to me that the Kashrut industry has completely lost touch with the value supporting the notion of Kashrut. The shoresh of the word kuf, shin, resh means connection. In the ideal sense of the word keeping kosher should provide a connection between the eater and what is being eaten. Nourishment is not to be taken for granted and keeping Kosher should ensure that we are eating with the highest sense of moral awareness that humans are capable of. For some of us that means becoming a vegetarian. For others it means following the laws of kashrut with the hope that the animals we are eating have been raised and slaughtered humanely. We separate our meat and milk to remind ourselves that life and death are two separate entities. A kid should not be boiled in its mothers milk, what we eat has history, has life, like us, has a mother.

These are the values of Kashrut. Unfortunately the reality is frighteningly different. Kosher meat in the country is raised no more humanely than the regular industrial meat slated for the local Safeway or McDonalds. The life, food, and death of the "kosher" animal are equally appalling as the conditions that we read about in books like "Diet for a New America" or "The Omnivore's Dilemma". Shame on the rabbis who job it is to ensure that our meat is Kosher to look past the concept of the value behind the law.

So, now what? For me it is easy to be a vegetarian. I don't crave meat, I love vegetables and it is absolutely no sacrifice whatsoever. My family though is a different story. All three of them love meat! I cannot ask them to become vegetarians. The meat I buy for them (and usually cook) is Kosher meat. I get it at the local Trader Joe's, cook it using the "meat pots" and serve it on the "meat dishes".

But, while I hate to say it, my Jewish values are causing me to rethink the meat consumption that goes on in my family. Wouldn't it be better to buy only meat from animals that I knew were raised under the best possible conditions? Grass fed, free range, organic cows and chickens from local farms? I would still cook them using the meat pots and pans and serve them using the meat dishes. I would not serve meat and milk together. I would not buy shell fish or pork. I would no longer keep Kosher. It would be because of Jewish values.