“Does he engage in kosher business practices?”

“He is truly an אדם כשר, a kosher person!”

We use the word ‘kosher’ widely, as a general term in describing whether something or someone is appropriate and upstanding. Yet this exact word 'כשר', kosher, in this exact form appears only once in the entire Torah. When Esther asks for Achashverosh’s intercession in abolishing Haman’s decree, she asks אם... כשר הר לפני המלך (אסתר ח ה), if the proposal seems proper in the King’s opinion.

Although this word is used loosely in many applications in the context of propriety without addressing any detail specifically, there is one facet of Jewish law where this word is used in a very technical and definitive sense.

In the realm of the laws governing ritual purity, in order for a food item to ‘absorb’ טומאה, impurity, through contact with an entity that is defiled, the item must first be ‘wetted’ with intention.

מכל האוכל אשר יאכל אשר יבוא עליו מים יטמא (ויקרא יא לד), Of any food that is edible, upon which water comes, shall become contaminated.

This wetting process by which food becomes susceptible to receive impurity is called הֶכְֹשֶר, hechsher, its ‘preparation’.

There is an entire tractate in Mishna entitled Machshirin, devoted to the intricacies of this law.

So a ‘hechsher’ is not simply a license to eat but rather an identified state of being and preparedness.

Ironically it is water, the vehicle through which purity is conveyed to those contaminated individuals who immerse in it, that enables a food item to become defiled.

On a simple level this ‘wetting’ requirement may merely reflect on the need for the food to first becoming labeled as such, since only after it has been washed intentionally for the purpose of washing it and cleaning it for human consumption, is it ‘worthy’ of contracting impurity. Prior to its preparation we treat it as an ‘unfinished vessel’ that isn’t yet liable to contamination.

But the Ramban reveals there is more going on here. In what seems as a very practical explanation he suggests that the necessity of food to have been wetted before it is capable of absorbing impurity, is simply due to the fact, כי לכלוך השרץ והמטמאים ידבק במאכלים בלחות ולא כן ביבשים, that the dirt of the dead rodent and other contaminants cling to wet fruit and not to dry food.

Is it that simple? Is it being externally wet and thus able to pick up ‘dirt’ more easily, all there is to this requirement of hechsher?

Water is the most vital contributor to life, without it all human, animal and plant life would cease to exist. From water stems all of creation. It is the element that unifies, in a physical sense, all of creation. Its very nature extolls unity. One of the unique characteristics of water is its strong molecular bond that enables water to rise above the rim of a glass and not rupture. This is commonly known as cohesion, reflecting on this quality of water to hold it all together.

The procedure of the immersion of one contaminated with impurity in water, is called tevillah. One fully submerges in total submission to this life force, expressing willingness to aver  absolute obedience to the Creator, the ultimate force behind all oneness, and with that attitude produce a pristine state of tahara, purity.

But that same item that symbolizes the cohesiveness of the universe also can easily attract ‘shmutz’, dirt.

Water has an additional property called adhesion, which is the attraction between water molecules and other molecules. This attraction is sometimes stronger than water’s cohesive force. Adhesion is observed when water ‘climbs’ up slightly on the sides of a glass, where the water appears to be higher on the sides than in the middle.

Our challenge in life is to not allow the pull of external contamination to break the ‘surface tension’ of our sense of purpose and direction in maintaining G-d’s oneness in our allegiance to Him during our physical sojourn in this world.

Perhaps this is the very message in this concept of hechsher, ‘preparation’ for impurity.

As we partake of food, the nourishment that energizes our existence, giving us the strength to ‘conquer’ the world, we must remain vigilant. We wash our fruit with the life force that draws our attention to our central goal of promoting His oneness in all our actions. At the same time we remain purposefully aware of the ‘sticky’ danger of being pulled away from that goal and being drawn into the ‘muck’ of a tempting world that contaminates.

So being כשר, kosher, is not simply about ‘checking the ingredients’ of what we seek to consume. It is rather about maintaining a state of preparedness and mindfulness of our role as representatives of G-d’s ‘cohesive’ presence in the world.

The Minchas Elazar reveals a remarkable idea. We just celebrated the holiday of Purim and the stated goal of eradicating the evil forces of Amalek מתחת השמים (שמות יז יד), from under the heavens. If one takes the letters that are ‘under’ the letters ש-מ-י-ם, one gets the letters ת-נ-כ-נ, which are numerically equivalent to the word כשר, kosher. (520) (שערי יששכר-ימי ששון)

Amalek’s mission is the denial of G-d’s unified involvement in a physical world. The way we defeat them is by remaining ‘prepared’ and ever cognizant of our existence ‘under the heavens’.

One can’t simply keep kosher, one must ‘be’ kosher!

‘Being’ kosher requires constancy since being kosher/prepared only ‘some of the time’ is a contradiction in terms.

There are three words that share the same letters: רְכֹֻש, possessions, ֹשִכֹּר, a drunkard and כָֹּשֵר, prepared. Our ‘possessions’ are the varied opportunities we have in life where we are entrusted to inspire them with G-d’s presence and will. If we remain ‘vigilant’ then we are indeed ‘kosher’, but if we mindlessly wander from pleasure to pleasure we are simply ‘drunk’! (מי מלא)

After reading the portion of Zachor, our obligation to erase the philosophy of Amalek from our lives, we then go on to read the portion of Parah, the command to purify ourselves from the impurity of death. We read this in preparation of Pesach when in the times the Temple stood we would bring the Paschal lamb. We would first have to undergo purification through the ritual of the Red Heifer that removed the impurity we contracted from coming in contact with the dead, thus enabling us to bring and eat the Paschal lamb in purity.

We read this portion prior to the entry of the month of Nissan even though when the Temple stood there was ample time to initiate this ritual after the onset of the month of Nissan. In fact its first initiation during the erecting of the Mishkan was on the second of Nissan.

The Jerusalem Talmud says we read it so early to herald טהרתן של ישראל, the purity of Israel.

Perhaps it is this very notion that is being promoted. In order to enter the realm of adhering to the many halachic details that appear in the month of Nissan one must first pledge allegiance to being a kosher/prepared Jew.

Especially when it comes to the realm of encountering tumah, impurity, which is totally out of our control since someone can unexpectedly die in our presence or a dead rodent can suddenly fall atop our food, we need an extra dose of Syata D’Shmaya, Divine assistance and intervention.

If we remain alert to our responsibilities to G-d, He in turn will be watchful over us and keep us away from taint.

The Minchas Elazar suggests that is why we wish one another א כשר'ע פסח, a kosher Pesach.

We strive that we should attain this level of preparedness that will merit us the special attention from our Father in Heaven in protecting us from even stumbling over a morsel of leaven.

If we put ourselves to this task, he adds, we will merit the bounty of blessings G-d so desires to bestow upon us, as indicated in King David’s exultant joy when he expressed, שש אנכי על אמרתך כמוצא שלל רב (תהלים קיט קסב), Rejoice I do over Your word, like one who finds abundant spoils.

The first letters in this joyous discovery of abundant spoils, כמוצא שלל רב spell out כָֹּשֵר, kosher!

To those who are vigilantly ‘kosher’, go the spoils!

באהבה,

צבי טייכמאן