Keeping Kosher: A Diet for the Soul, Newly Revised

by Samuel H. Dresner, Seymour Siegel

Newly revised guide based on A Guide to Observance by Seymour Siegel. An essay on the meaning of the dietary laws for our lives, followed by a practical guide to the observance of kashrut.

Genres: Judaism, Jewish

82 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1980

Reviews

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is a good and effective book on kashrut, there are some problematic comments in it. There are sort of reactionary statements about abortion and the discussion on Jewish particularism states that Jews are a "necessarily nationalistic people," a statement I think misrepresents Jewish peoplehood and capitulates to nationalism. The book actually reads even more traditional than most Conservative tracts, but that simply could be from its intention on setting up the halakhic requirements in as accurate way as possible. What does elevate the book a bit is its opening explanation of kashrut as the way by which we create a sacred space: something becomes sacred because it is not profane, and the surrounding world is neither good nor evil it simply needs to be made sacred through ritual work. Kosher eating is that ritual work applied to food.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short publication (just over 100 pg) is split into two separate essays. The first, regarding the Jewish dietary laws and their meaning for our time, is overall useful, but severely dated to the point of being offensive in places. The references to all rabbis being men, and women being the primary folks who deal with food laws in the home, and God as Male, and yes, the actual phrasing 'darkest Africa' are all things severely in need of edits. The most recent edition of this that I could find is from the early 1980s. The philosophy is sound, but the delivery needs updating immediately if we want this message to continue to be seen as relevant to all people. The second essay regarding observance is quite practical. It's a distillation of Klein for mass consumption (pardon the pun), and includes a list of acceptable/non-acceptable commonly eaten fish among other things. The second section is good as is and is readable enough that it might be turned into a pamphlet and made available at JCCs and the like. Overall good, while at the same time being a reminder that change is sometimes painfully slow.

[Mark Sutcliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a concise what is all things kashrut book. This certainly fits the bill. It is broken into two section: why and how. My only complaint about the book is the why section. A feel like a lot of the information that should be in the how is in the why, which to me personally, was frustrating since I wanted a concise how. That however is minor. This is a great reference for anyone looking to understand how (and why) to be kosher

[Ben Breslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

two great essays followed by some not-Mateo Levin sanctioned takes on kashrut

[Ran · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, high-level overview of Kashrut!