"Frogleg" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 18 Oct 2003 13:35:27 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" >
> wrote:
>
> >"Sylvia" > wrote in message >
> >> OTOH, basic mayo just contains egg, lemon juice, salt, and oil, and I
> >> don't remember whether egg is meat, dairy, or pareve (can be eaten with
> >> either milk or meat).
> >
> >From the Kosher Food FAQ:
> >
> >PAREVE (neutral) Food:
> >
> >Fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits and grains may be eaten with either milk
or
> >meat dishes.
>
> Interesting. Do you know of any reference (web site) that explains the
> reasons behind kosher food directives? I've always thought they must
> be based on ritualizing good sanitary practices, and boiling a kid in
> its mother's milk seems kind of mean, but if you can eat milk and
> meat, but only on separate dishes, what purpose (other than ritual)
> does that serve?

You cannot eat milk and meat at the same time even on separate dishes. In
fact there is some delay that must pass between eating one and eating the
other - I think it is on the order of 10 hours but am not sure. The separate
dishes rule is to ensure that one does not contaminate the other.

I think it is a mistake to look for logical reasons behind the kosher
dietary laws. When the laws were first created it may be that this was part
of the motivation, but you can be sure that the people 3000 (or whatever)
years ago did not have anything remotely like our modern, scientifically
based ideas of food health. For example, it has been suggested that pigs
were forbidden because of the danger of trichinosis - but other mammals that
do not carry trichinosis were also forbidden. It's an interesting subject
but, like many aspects of religion, one that does not lend itself to logic.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.