{"id":18858,"date":"2010-05-11T16:37:05","date_gmt":"2010-05-12T00:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=18858"},"modified":"2010-05-11T16:40:48","modified_gmt":"2010-05-12T00:40:48","slug":"what-does-kosher-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=18858","title":{"rendered":"What Does Kosher Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m staying with some non-Jewish friends at Loma Linda University this weekend. I’m going to be on a panel Sabbath afternoon<\/a> talking with three Christians and a Jew about a new book<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My friends have never hosted an Orthodox Jew for the Sabbath before.<\/p>\n

I found myself asked, “What does kosher<\/a> mean?” And I stumbled. “I think it means ‘fit’ or ‘appropriate’,” I said. “Food fit for a Jew. I’m a vegetarian and that makes keeping kosher much easier.”<\/p>\n

And then I found myself explaining “kosher grape juice<\/a>.” I said that about 2,000 years ago, the rabbis decided that Jews should only drink grape juice and wine grown by Jews. I didn’t explain but I think this is obvious, that it was part of the rabbinic fence to minimize socializing with non-Jews.<\/p>\n

If you can’t drink with them, you are less likely to sleep with them.<\/p>\n

I am a man of exquisite sensibilities, the most delicate of temperaments, so I did not spell this out.<\/p>\n

Last time I was at Loma Linda, I got the most severe case of yellow fever<\/a>. It took me many months to burn it out of my system. Damn Seventh-Day Adventist girls, they are so fine. If only I could’ve believed that stuff about Jesus coming soon, I’d be married now.<\/p>\n

Many times married.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m staying with some non-Jewish friends at Loma Linda University this weekend. I’m going to be on a panel Sabbath afternoon talking with three Christians and a Jew about a new book. My friends have never hosted an Orthodox Jew … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,21],"tags":[7829,5375,11167,950,22152,7632],"class_list":["post-18858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventist","category-personal","tag-grape-juice","tag-jewish-friends","tag-loma-linda-university","tag-orthodox-jew","tag-what-does-kosher-mean","tag-yellow-fever"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t