In article ,
om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy... _facility.org says...
On Thu, 13 May 2004 20:25:54 GMT, Doug...
wrote:

I have to say that, from a dietary standpoint, I am quite glad I've
never been in a position to have to try and keep kosher. (I was going
to say "I'm glad I'm not Jewish," but I have eaten and enjoyed quite a
few traditional Jewish foods. I just like a lot of things that kosher
rules prohibit.)

...Keep in mind, tho, that about 90% of the kosher regs came about in
an attempt to curtail food poisoning and other maladies associated
with improper food preparation. The primary motivation for the banning
of the consumption of pork products stemmed from the fact that if you
don't cook pork correctly, back then you pretty much guaranteed
yourself a case of parasitical trichinosis, if not botulism or other
diseases associated with eating swine and/or poultry products that
weren't cleaned properly before and during prep & cooking. The
additional fact that in a desert condition cleaning water is far less
important than drinking water, and therefore far less available, is an
additional factor.

Oh, yeah -- no question. Now, that's not to say that Judaic scholars
over the past 4,000 years or so haven't spent ages and ages coming up
with complex and subtle spiritual justifications for the kosher laws.
But, to my reading of some of it, that's all they are -- justifications.
The real reason was, indeed, to prevent the kinds of "maladies" that
befell other middle eastern tribes of the time. (A really nasty mold or
outbreak of trichinosis could literally decimate a tribe... and the
kosher laws were one reason why the Jews tended to outlast a lot of
their contemporaries.)

I will point out, though, that many of the other Arabic tribes of the
time adopted similar (if not so complex) rules, especially in regards
the eating of pigs. Recall that pigs are very close to humans
genetically, so more of the diseases that thrive in pigs can also infect
people. It's only with a relatively modern understanding of the kinds
of foodborne illnesses that can be spread via pigs, poultry and seafood
can we eat such things in relative safety. And not courting some of the
epidemics we've witnessed in history.

...On the bad side, if
God/Yahweh/Jehovah/Roddenberry had any real compassion, he'd restore
that third stone tablet that Moses clumsily dropped on the way down
Mount Sinai and make sure that one of the Lost Commandments said "Thou
Shalt Not Use Corn Syrup To Produce Carbonated Soft Drinks!"

From your mouth to God's ear!

Doug