This week’s parsha, like much of Leviticus, deals with boundaries: what is pure or impure for a priest; whom a cohen can marry; which animals are fit for sacrifice and which are not.
We have a religious tradition that is very concerned with boundaries. Every culture and group has them. Boundaries are one of the ways we define ourselves. Boundaries give us clarity about our values. The system of priestly holiness expresses our culture’s values around life and death. Our laws of kashrut also define the boundaries of our community and teach us to respect the food we eat. Boundaries are important, because they define who or what is inside or outside. But boundaries can also get out of hand.
A few months ago, the Los Angeles Jewish Journal ran a story[1] about a growing trend in the orthodox community toward greater strictness when it comes to insects in lettuce and other fruits and vegetables. As you probably know, bugs are not kosher.[2] Until just a decade ago or so, for most of us who keep kosher that has meant that we keep an eye out for little critters while we rinse our vegetables. But what has happened in recent years is that orthodox rabbis and kosher supervision agencies have become increasingly concerned with insects that are sometimes so small that they can only be seen under a black light using a magnifying glass. For example, there is a lettuce grower in California that distributes romaine lettuce that it guarantees to be bug free. It is grown in greenhouses using large quantities of pesticides and carefully inspected throughout the growing process. Continue reading Parashat Emor 5772: Kosher Conversations →
