Mission: Impossible?

The purpose of this blog is to achieve the impossible at the Shabbat table.... Please print and share, and forward... 

 

Here's a story for your table, followed by two questions, followed by a current-events gloss, followed by a third question.

While on a road trip twenty years ago, I was invited to guest-teach a Sunday morning class at the Seattle Kollel. 

Filling a large conference table, the participants appeared to come from all walks of Jewish life - old and young, religious and not, etc.

I have no idea how this wonderful, thoughtful eclectic group were recruited. I was not asked to speak on any particular subject, rather: "Whatever you want!"
 

The subject I chose was pearls of wisdom from Rabbi Tatz's modern classic, World Mask.

A question from one of the participants lead me to ask the following question:

What's the beracha on pork?

"Nice try Rabbi, that's a trick question - pork's not kosher so it doesn't get a beracha!"

"Normally you'd be right. But let's say a person were literally starving and the only food available is pork. Suddenly for that person, pork becomes kosher!"

After the class, an older woman approached me.

"Rabbi, I really enjoyed your class. However, one thing bothered me. I am a survivor. After the war, we were starving. We were literally starving and we ate non-kosher meat. But we would never have eaten pork!"

First question for your table: Can you sympathize with her? Why do you think she felt so strongly about pork as opposed to any other non-kosher meat?

Second question for your table: What do you think I replied to her?

Current-events gloss to the story:

Two weeks ago, the Impossible Foods company announced that Impossible Pork will now be available in thousands of grocery stores and restaurants nationwide.

(BTW, they weren't the first to market with this idea.)

The company claims that in a blind taste test of over 200 consumers in Hong Kong, Impossible Pork Made From Plants was preferred to ground pork from pigs (54% preference vs. 46%)

But contrary to what you might have thought, it apparently won't appear in any kosher restaurants soon.

The OU Kosher supervisors concurred with the woman in my class: anything called "pork" should not be certified kosher. 

I assume - but could be wrong - that other kashrut agencies will decline as well?

It turns out that the OU's decision has many supporters but I struggled to find very many detractors.

Even though some see the advent of kosher pork as a harbinger of Moshiach (the Messiah).

For your table: What do you think of the OU's decision? Right or wrong?


Shabbat Shalom

PS ....

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