Mosaic Dietary Laws Introduction The Mosaic dietary laws, the laws imposed by the directives of Moses on the Israelites, extended from earlier restrictions that had been placed on the eating habits of the human race. The Old Testament is full of directives regarding food consumption and God’s law, and even Genesis addresses limitations imposed on certain types of food consumption. Primarily, the restrictions placed on the consumption of certain types of meat, a limitation that continues in rules for maintaining a Jewish kosher home, relates directly to what is viewed as the rules for the holy people of God. The people of God, then, are expected to recognize that “God is to be obeyed, concluding that circumcision and the prescriptions of Mosaic law are still obligatory” (1). In understanding the Mosaic dietary laws maintained in the books of the Old Testament, it is necessary to consider the early restrictions placed on certain types of food consumption, the restrictions outlined by Moses for the people of God, and the implications of these eating restrictions both then and in the modern era. What must be recognized is that “To this day, these rules—with variations, but always guided by Mosaic laws—are followed by many orthodox Jews” (2). Jewish religious practices, then, are based not only in their ancestral ordinances, but in the specificity of Mosaic law in terms of dietary limitations and circumcision (3). Relating the significance, then, of early restrictions and their application to Mosaic law, as well as an understanding of the role of Moses, are elements important in understanding Mosaic dietary laws. Early Restrictions Early restrictions prior to the initiation of Mosaic dietary laws related directly to the belief that the human race originally consumed just vegetable products, and that it was not until the Flood and the prescriptions relative to Noah’s animal ownership that individuals were pushed to consume animal flesh (Genesis 9:3-4). Initially, it was recognized that animal slaughter was an unclean process, and further, from a historical perspective, it can be argued that the consumption of some animals was just unsafe. The lack of refrigeration and the prevalence of bacterial infection in the flesh of animals determined a lack of safety and the people of this region often saw illness related to meat consumption as ... ... middle of paper ... .... Paperback, New York. Green, J. (1999). Jesus and Moses: The Parallel Sayings. New York. Green, Peter. (1996). Hellenistic History and Culture. Paperback: New York. Grimm, V. (1996). From Feasting to Fasting, the Evolution of a Sin: Attributes to Food in Late Antinquity. New York. Kretzmann, N. et al (1989). The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy : From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100-1600. Paperback: New York. Leviton, Richard et al (2000). Outposts of the Spirit. Paperback: New York. Lobban, Richard, Jr. (1994, February). Pigs and Their Prohibition. International Journal of Middle East Studies 25(1), 57. Martin, R. (1996). Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 40, 2 Corinthians. New York. McAuliffe, J. et al (2003). With Reverence for the Word: Medieval Scriptural Exegesis in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. New York. Metzger, B. (1997). The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance. New York. Reilly, Kevin. (1999). Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader: To 1550. Paperback: New York. Wittmayer, Salo (2000). Social and religious history of the Jews. Volume 5. New York.
We as people have always searched for a code of morals and conduct. It is what has held empires, nations, and families from falling into chaos. This is what the code of Hammurabi and the law of Moses instituted in maintaining order. Both laws have a strong foundation and way of promoting justice that rivals many systems today in regards to effectiveness. Many of the laws given were later used in future governments. There are many similarities and differences between these documents, and this analysis will share some of the those. These two documents provide rich resources and were made for two specific peoples because of women’s rights found in the code, the consequences of actions when violating code, and the vision of the laws created.
Oxtoby, Willard Gurdon. "Jewish Traditions." World religions: western traditions. 1996. Reprint. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2011. 127-157. Print.
Fellner, Judith B. & Co. In the Jewish Tradition: A Year of Food and Festivals. The. New York: Michael Friedman Publishing Group. 1995. The 'Se Raphael, Chaim. Festival Days: A Jewish History.
Jewry law was, like German medieval law in general, of a disintegrated nature (Kisch 1935: 69). It also frequently overlapped and contradicted itself, thanks to the wide range of sources from which it derived (Cohen 1994:31). Medieval Jewry law has been described as a ‘law of privilege made up of occasional favours and restrictions of various kinds without re...
Bell, Rachel. "Historical Perspective." All about Cannibalism: The Ancient Taboo in Modern Times. Crime Library, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
1985. “An Interpretation of Sacrifice in Leviticus” in Anthropological Approaches to the Old Testament. Ed., Bernhard Lane.
Christopher McCandless, a young American who was found dead in summer of 1992 in wild land in Alaska, wrote in his diary about his moral struggle regarding killing a moose for survival. According to Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Chris had to abandon most of the meat since he lacked the knowledge of how to dismantle and preserve it (166-168). Not only did he have a moral dilemma to kill a moose, but also had a deep regret that a life he had taken was wasted because of his own fault. He then started recognizing what he ate as a precious gift from the nature and called it “Holy Food” (Krakauer 168). Exploring relationships between human beings and other animals arouses many difficult questions: Which animals are humans allowed to eat and which ones are not? To which extent can humans govern other animals? For what purposes and on which principles can we kill other animals? Above all, what does it mean for humans to eat other animals? The answer may lie in its context. Since meat-eating has been included and remained in almost every food culture in the world throughout history and is more likely to increase in the future due to the mass production of meat, there is a very small chance for vegetarianism to become a mainstream food choice and it will remain that way.
Robinson, B. A. (2008, March 30). Books of the Hebrew Scripture . Retrieved May 7, 2011, from Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_otb3.htm
In the history of humanity, humans have consumed plenty of things, from plants to human flesh. It is all about survival. However as societies became more complex and states began to form, several changes in the diet were created, mostly by religious principles. However there are underlying causes for these dietary restrictions besides the religious aspect. Both Marvin Harris and Mary Douglas propose some of the underlying causes for the dietary restrictions in the old texts. Harris proposes several reasons for the dietary restrictions in the Leviticus, including moral, ethical and functional, while Douglas presents the cost benefit and a historical reasons for dietary restrictions in several religious text.
In the first chapter, it tells what we should do before the food is served, when one is eating and when the meal is over. Ingredients of food must be halal and good (al-tayyib). Halal means that food should not have been gained through anything contrary to canonical law, nor through some evil inclination, nor deceit relating to debt. Regarding to al-tayyib food, God has ordered the eating of that which is good, this being the lawful and also put the prohibition of wrongful eating. He said in surah al-nisa verse 29 : “ O you who believe, squander not your wealth among yourselves in vanity ”. Furthermore, good food is important to give us energy and health.
Carson, D, & Moo, D. (2005) An introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible: With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, New Revised Standard Version. Michael D. Coogan, editor. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
As time went on, these changed, but a permanent diet was put in place when Moses appeared. Originally, meat eating was prohibited, but according to Soler, “Meat eating, then, will be tolerated by Moses, but with two restrictions. The [taboo] against blood will be reinforced, and certain animals will be forbidden”. With the coming of Moses, the distinction of “clean” and “unclean” food comes, with clean food being what can be consumed. Animals were categorized by their habitat, either land, water, or air, and then deemed safe to eat or not if they met additional requirements. One such requirement was, “Everything in the waters that has fins and scales…you may eat”. This passage in the Hebrew Bible excludes animals like mollusks, shellfish, and eels from the diet. Though these rules may seem like torture to pork-lovers, it’s truly interesting to see a society deciding what is and isn’t ok to do and the justification of their choices.
Inglis, John. “Islamic Medieval Philosophy.” ASI 111. Sears Recital Hall, University of Dayton. 15 October 2002.
“Throughout the Sabbath controversy one discovers in what particular the Pharisees opposed Jesus. Moreover, this confrontation reveals a large chasm between Jesus’ understanding of the law and the Pharisaic understanding.”7 “For instance, the Damascus Document XI, 16-17a forbids the saving of a life on the Sabbath day.”8 “The rabbis considered any use of medicine except in the case of life- and- death situations to be work and thus it was forbidden on the Sabbath.”9