Source
Vayikra 11:45-47 - Holiness Through Diet
For I the LORD am He who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God: you shall be holy, for I am holy.
These are the instructions concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in water, and all creatures that swarm on earth,
for distinguishing between the unclean and the clean, between the living things that may be eaten and the living things that may not be eaten.
כִּ֣י ׀ אֲנִ֣י ה’ הַֽמַּעֲלֶ֤ה אֶתְכֶם֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לִהְיֹ֥ת לָכֶ֖ם לֵא-לֹהִ֑ים וִהְיִיתֶ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים כִּ֥י קָד֖וֹשׁ אָֽנִי׃
זֹ֣את תּוֹרַ֤ת הַבְּהֵמָה֙ וְהָע֔וֹף וְכֹל֙ נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּ֔ה הָרֹמֶ֖שֶׂת בַּמָּ֑יִם וּלְכׇל־נֶ֖פֶשׁ הַשֹּׁרֶ֥צֶת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַטָּמֵ֖א וּבֵ֣ין הַטָּהֹ֑ר וּבֵ֤ין הַֽחַיָּה֙ הַֽנֶּאֱכֶ֔לֶת וּבֵין֙ הַֽחַיָּ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר לֹ֥א תֵאָכֵֽל׃
Read more
Foundations for Planning
Essential Questions
- How do values and tradition impact my Jewish practice?
- How do family traditions play an important role in our lives?
- How do Jewish practices reflect Jewish values?
- How do Jewish rituals and practices enrich the way I experience my life and the world?
- Why/how might Jewish practices be meaningful for me even if I don’t define myself as “religious”?
- How does being Jewish affect what I do in my daily/weekly life?
Content Questions Related to the Essential Questions
- Do you think we can know the true meaning behind the mitzvot?
- Why do people keep mitzvot?
- What are the possible reasons behind the mitzva of keeping kosher?
- Why do people keep kosher?
- Why do you keep/not keep kosher?
Background for Teacher
Summary of the Basic Laws of Kashrut Overarching themes related to Biblical Kashrut laws: Vayikra 11:45-47 gives some context to the very many biblical sources and laws of kashrut. It makes a clear connection between holiness and the laws of kashrut, connecting God’s holiness...
Read more
Summary of the Basic Laws of Kashrut
Overarching themes related to Biblical Kashrut laws: Vayikra 11:45-47 gives some context to the very many biblical sources and laws of kashrut. It makes a clear connection between holiness and the laws of kashrut, connecting God’s holiness with human holiness and framing the laws of kashrut within the context of holiness. This is the closest the Torah gets to explaining the why of kashrut (rather than the how). In future lessons in this block different approaches to this will be explored. For now, this overarching (yet abstract) value is the motivation provided to us by the Torah.
The first table provides the sources for many of the rules, both biblical and rabbinic. The Oral Torah expanded the laws of kashrut in many ways. As seen in the second table, many of the laws in place today are not found in the Torah; they exist in the oral tradition recorded in the Talmud.
The second table presents a summary of the laws of keeping kosher.
Note that the identity of some of the animals mentioned by the biblical text is debated by scholars. For this reason, the laws of kashrut do not fully rely on the biblical text, but rather follow guidelines hallowed by tradition as to which species are kosher and which are not.
If you plan to use the incomplete tables in the “Suggested Activities” section as a research activity for the class, then you should not provide the complete tables to your students, but rather use them as a resource for yourself.
Optional Hooks 
In-Depth Discussion 
Suggested Activities - The following videos could be used as a trigger to this lesson, which explores the basic rules of how to keep kosher:
- A very brief summary of what the laws of kosher look like (this summarizes many of the laws found in the tables. If you are planning to use the tables as a research activity (see “Suggested Activities” you may feel this gives too much away for the hook video)
- Non-Observant Jews Try Going Kosher For A Week
- The Late Late Show with James Cordon “Take a Break: Kosher Butcher” (funny, less content)
Use any one (or all three) of these videos to start your students thinking about what they know about the laws of keeping kosher. Before, or after watching them, draw a list of all the laws they know on the board. Ask your students if they know where these laws are found. Tell them they will be looking at the original sources for the laws of keeping kosher in this class.
- Here are a few suggestions for techniques that could help focus your students while watching the videos in order to help them extract the information:
- 3-2-1 – Gauge students’ understanding and interest in a topic by asking them to write down takeaways, questions, and something they enjoyed about a text
- Close Viewing Protocol: Teach your students to become critical viewers of film with this four-step procedure.
- Rapid-Fire Writing – Help students unpack their responses to a text or video using this structured protocol that requires alternating between thinking and writing.
- S-I-T: Surprising, Interesting, Troubling: Use this quick way for students to demonstrate their engagement with a text, image, or video by having them identify what they find surprising, interesting, and troubling.
- Think, Pair, Share: Facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first share their ideas in writing and with a partner.
Click here to view our consolidated list of suggested interactive pedagogies for classroom discussion.
- You could use the following tables for your students to research the laws of keeping kosher in traditional Jewish sources (if you do then the complete tables above are a resource for you and not to be provided to the students, or only provided at the end for them to compare with their own tables). Divide the sources among your students and ask them to complete the first table by looking at the source that is hyperlinked and then summarizing it in the right hand column (the completed table is found above). As a class together, each group can present their findings and then as a whole class complete the second table together.
- Here are a few suggestions for techniques that could be used to facilitate text analysis and discussion when looking at the texts in this activity with your students:
- 3-2-1 – Gauge students’ understanding and interest in a topic by asking them to write down takeaways, questions, and something they enjoyed about a text
- Annotating and Paraphrasing Sources – Teach students to carefully read material by having them underline key words, write margin notes, and summarize main ideas.
- Close Reading Protocol – Ensure students’ reading comprehension by emphasizing a purposeful reading and rereading of a text.
- Read Aloud – Encourage class participation and develop students’ active listening skills by reading aloud text excerpts.
- Here are a few suggestions for techniques that could be used to facilitate text analysis and discussion when looking at the texts in this activity with your students:
- You could conclude the lesson by asking your students to discuss the content related essential questions found above, especially asking them to consider what the reason behind the laws of kashrut are, and why people keep them. This discussion will lead into the other blocks found in this house.
