Partially Kosher?

The purpose of this blog is to add some kosher talk to the Shabbat table. Please share.

Thank you for all of the feedback to last week's question about AI art.

This week, let's go back to NI (natural intelligence)....

First question for your table: Were you ever in a conversation with someone and you were certain that they were 100% wrong or perhaps even lacking intelligence, but then you realized that you were talking past each other, proverbial apples and oranges?

I witnessed something akin to that this week.

In the innocence of my youth, I had always understood that the term "kosher" applied to food: that this item of food is fit to eat according to the rules of the Torah.

But at some point I started hearing - or noticing - people applying the term to people, as in: "Are you kosher?" - meaning, Do you keep kosher?

Strictly speaking, no I am not kosher - cannibalism is not allowed per the rules of the Torah.

So why does this come up now?

Because earlier this week, I watched an online conversation unfold that was the epitome of apples and oranges and I'm pretty sure reflects these two different ways of using the term "kosher." Please tell me what you think.
Here's an abridged version:

Reuven: What are your thoughts on being kosher? Is it either kosher or not, or is there levels? For instance, some people say they are kosher just at home, or are kosher but eat non kosher meat/not kosher restaurants, or are kosher but don’t separate silverware, dishes, have two dishwashers?

Shimon: Keeping some degree of Kosher is definitely better than none at all, but from a Torah standpoint, either you observe all the laws of Kashrut or you don’t, there isn’t a grey area.

Yehuda: Disagree with this 100%. Nothing in Judaism is "all or nothing". Every single act or mitzvah stands on its own. Let's say someone decides to give up eating milk and meat together because it isn't kosher. That's his only kosher observance, yet that's a very meaningful act, it's a mitzvah, it's a bona fide action of keeping kosher. Kosher means restricting what you eat based on the wisdom of the Torah. Any and every act of self-restriction in this way is a meaningful act of keeping kosher. So for instance, let's say that someone decides to stop eating shellfish, or pork - and that's it... that's a mitzvah in itself. Or if someone says, from now on, my Friday night is going to be kosher - wow, that's a very meaningful mitzvah of keeping kosher, even though it isn't the most strict all of the time.

Shimon: You're conflating halacha with observance. Kosher is not an act by a person, it is a status of a thing. Something is or isn't kosher. Halachically speaking, it's a mitzvah for him to eat things that are kosher, and a cheit for him to eat things that are not kosher, just as it is for every Jew.

Yehuda: I don't think I'm conflating anything. Of course I'm talking about observance, that's what this entire discussion is about. Reuven was not asking about hypothetically "partially kosher" food; yes, Food X is either kosher or not. But Person X can keep kosher at infinite degrees of stringency, and each one is meaningful.

Two questions for your table: What are they arguing about? Who's right?

Shabbat Shalom 


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