The Dietary Laws in the Old Testament and in Judaism

Abstract

Three main poles of Jewish dietary laws are prohibitions of (1) ingestion of blood, (2) cooking meat with dairy goods, and (3) eating the meat of “unclean” animals. Exact reasons or causes of the individual prohibitions have been variously argued and debated, but they are perhaps ultimately subject to interpretation. It seems more important to note the fact that the systematization of Jewish dietary laws occurred in the era of the Babylonian Exile, when Jewish people had lost both their kingdom and their land. At that time, they were forced to live in the midst of entirely different peoples, cultures, and religions. They were confronted with the danger of national dispersion and extinction. To keep their national identity, Jews in Babylon had to separate themselves from surrounding cultural environment. For that purpose, laws about one of the most fundamental elements of human life, that is, everyday food, must have been very helpful for them. Eating different foods in different ways was an effective means of avoiding ethnic and cultural assimilation and absorption, and of continuing to be a different and distinctive people.