Tuesday, December 03, 2002

Is it kosher to sell 'kosher' oysters?
No, of course not.
But this gives me a reason to bring up a favorite debate topic of mine. The kosher Baco. There are some products that approximate bacon but aren’t. And they are kosher. I find this distressing. There is something wrong with wanting to experience what is forbidden while keeping to the letter of the law. Am I applying a Christian concept of sin to kosher law? I don’t know. All I know is that when my husband was expecting a phone call from a rabbi, an editor of a Jewish homemaking magazine, I was begged not to engage him in the kosher Baco debate.

For anyone interested in kosher food, the liberties some food sellers take with the term kosher, and just food in general, I must recommend Habeas Codfish: Reflections on Food and the Law by Barry M. Levenson. The author of this meaty collection of essays about legal cases involving food is not only an attorney but also Chief Mustard Officer of Wisconsin's Mount Horeb Mustard Museum.
He is also, as far as anyone knows, the only lawyer to argue a case in front of the United States Supreme Court with a jar of mustard in his pocket. This is a great book.

Perhaps, someday, we will be able to schedule a field trip to Mount Horeb to the Mustard Museum.

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