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[[File:Cymes.jpg|thumb|Tzimmes, a traditional Jewish dessert made of carrots (and possibly other root vegetables) and raisins (and other dried fruits), sweetened with honey or sugar and seasoned with cinnamon. In Polish the word ''"``cymes"'' is still used to mean anything that's exceptionally good, even if few modern Poles have actually sampled actual tzimmes.<br>{{small|The picture comes from [https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/recipes/stovetop-tzimmes/ Tori Avey's] cooking blog.}}]]

This is the second part of my attempt at explaining Jewish dietary law. In [[Of This Ye Shall Not Eat for It Is an Abomination|my previous post]] I focused on the restrictions kosher rules place on animal-based products. Today, we’ll take a&nbsp;closer look at plants, as well as some holiday fare.<ref>The title of this post is a paraphrase of the Biblical passage, "``Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart"; {{Cyt

| oryg = <poem><p dir={{"}}rtl{{" }} style="text-align: right; font-style: normal;">וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־נֹ֖חַ וְאֶת־בָּנָ֑יו וַיֹּ֧אמֶר לָהֶ֛ם פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֖וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

Not to make things too easy for the vegetarians, though, there are also some limitations regarding plant-based foods. One is quite obvious: as we know, all "``creeping things" are unkosher, therefore all fruits and vegetables that are infested with maggots aren’t kosher either.

But that’s not all. In the times when the Temple of Jerusalem still stood, Jews were obligated to pay various kinds of taxes and tithes to the priests. These included the "``first fruits", or produce from the first harvest of a&nbsp;given crop in a&nbsp;given period. For example, Jews couldn’t consume any cereals that had grown in the early spring until some of the grain was brought to the Temple for the feast of Passover.

| oryg = <poem><p dir={{"}}rtl{{" }} style="text-align: right; font-style: normal;"> כִּֽי־תָבֹ֣אוּ אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֲנִי֙ נֹתֵ֣ן לָכֶ֔ם וּקְצַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־קְצִירָ֑הּ וַהֲבֵאתֶ֥ם אֶת־עֹ֛מֶר רֵאשִׁ֥ית קְצִירְכֶ֖ם אֶל־הַכֹּהֵֽן׃

| oryg = <poem><p dir={{"}}rtl{{" }} style="text-align: right; font-style: normal;">וְכִי־תָבֹ֣אוּ אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ וּנְטַעְתֶּם֙ כָּל־עֵ֣ץ מַאֲכָ֔ל וַעֲרַלְתֶּ֥ם עָרְלָת֖וֹ אֶת־פִּרְי֑וֹ שָׁלֹ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֗ים יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֛ם עֲרֵלִ֖ים לֹ֥א יֵאָכֵֽל׃

The Temple is now long gone, but the rules which command you to wait until you can eat certain grains or fruits are still in effect. There is, however, a&nbsp;loophole for the Jews living in the diaspora. Note that both of the passages above begin with the qualification, "``when ye shall come into the land which I give unto you". One way of reading it is simply that God gave Jews their law while they were wandering in a&nbsp;desert, so agricultural regulations would only become relevant once they entered the fertile promised land, that is, modern-day Israel. But another interpretation is that even today these commandments are in force exclusively in Israel, so the Jews living in other countries need not worry about them (as long as they don’t eat any produce imported from Israel).

This rule was introduced by rabbis mostly to limit the occasions for Jews to drink together with Gentiles. Why? Imagine a&nbsp;Jewish man drinking wine with a&nbsp;Gentile woman. It could lead to some unforeseen consequences, including starting a&nbsp;mixed family. And who would then cook the Jew his kosher meals? Or – even worse – the Jew could convert to his wife’s faith and who would then make pilgrimages to the Temple of Jerusalem as mandated by the Scripture, which adds that one should never come to Temple empty-handed?<ref>"``Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty {{...}}" {{Cyt

| oryg = <poem><p dir={{"}}rtl{{" }} style="text-align: right; font-style: normal;">כִּֽי־מִגֶּ֤פֶן סְדֹם֙ גַּפְנָ֔ם וּמִשַּׁדְמֹ֖ת עֲמֹרָ֑ה עֲנָבֵ֙מוֹ֙ עִנְּבֵי־ר֔וֹשׁ אַשְׁכְּלֹ֥ת מְרֹרֹ֖ת לָֽמוֹ׃

There is a&nbsp;way, though, to protect wine from getting "``spoiled" through contact with Gentiles. Ancient rabbis were convinced (hard to tell why) that boiled wine was unfit for being offered as a&nbsp;sacrifice. Which means that if you heat up some wine to a&nbsp;high enough temperature, then it can be consumed by Jews without the need to worry that it was, say, poured by a&nbsp;Gentile waiter who may have secretly consecrated it to his heathen godhead. Thus, flash pasteurization may protect wine from spoilage by both microbes and idolaters.

}}</ref> You might think it’s nice to have at least one day off from work per week. But leave it to the Jews to interpret "``rest" as an occasion to find multiple creative ways of making their own lives even more complicated.

| oryg = <poem><p dir={{"}}rtl{{" }} style="text-align: right; font-style: normal;">ה֚וּא אֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבֶּ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה שַׁבָּת֧וֹן שַׁבַּת־קֹ֛דֶשׁ לַֽיהוָ֖ה מָחָ֑ר אֵ֣ת אֲשֶׁר־תֹּאפ֞וּ אֵפ֗וּ וְאֵ֤ת אֲשֶֽׁר־תְּבַשְּׁלוּ֙ בַּשֵּׁ֔לוּ וְאֵת֙ כָּל־הָ֣עֹדֵ֔ף הַנִּ֧יחוּ לָכֶ֛ם לְמִשְׁמֶ֖רֶת עַד־הַבֹּֽקֶר׃

To dispel any possible doubts as to what counts as "``work", rabbis devised a&nbsp;list of 39 activities – mostly various agricultural chores, construction duties, as well as tasks related to textile production and leather working – which are proscribed for Jews on Sabbath. And so, on that day, Jews are not allowed to engage in:

The prohibition against baking includes all kinds of cooking, or thermal treatment of food, that is, boiling, frying, roasting, stewing, grilling, microwaving, etc. And yet, enjoying a&nbsp;hot meal is considered an essential part of celebrating Sabbath. How does it all square? Well, the trick is to prepare a&nbsp;hot meal on Friday and then keep it warm until serving it during Sabbath. The key here is to make sure that the dishes are fully cooked before Friday sunset; all you can do afterwards is to maintain their constant temperature. Once Sabbath starts, stirring is not allowed as it’s part of the cooking process. So is adding any new ingredients, unless they are already cooked as well (rabbis assume that something which is already fully cooked cannot be cooked even more). Even such simple tasks as brewing coffee or tea counts as "``cooking" (it is allowed, though, to add hot water to a&nbsp;coffee or tea essence which has been brewed in advance).

There is some truth to that, as most holidays in Judaism do in fact commemorate the Jewish nation narrowly escaping some predicament posed by foreign powers: the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans and so forth. However, many of these holidays have their roots even further in the past. Proto-Jews used to celebrate the cycle of seasons and the associated changes in nature, especially those that mattered to their agricultural or pastoral ways of life. The farmers and the herders had always had their differences, as shown, for example, in the Biblical story of Cain, a&nbsp;"``tiller of the ground", who murdered his brother Abel, a&nbsp;"``keeper of sheep".<ref>{{Cyt

| oryg = <poem><p dir={{"}}rtl{{" }} style="text-align: right; font-style: normal;">שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים תֹּאכַ֣ל מַצֹּ֑ת וּבַיּוֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י חַ֖ג לַיהוָֽה׃

For the purpose of this prohibition, "``leaven" is defined as flour or any other cereal product which was in contact with water for longer than 18 minutes. Naturally, if you store grains or flour at home, you run the risk of your stock getting damp. That’s why you’re not allowed to keep any cereal products (other than matzah) in your home during Passover. As part of spring cleaning in Jewish households, all corners are thoroughly searched for all particles of flour, groats, malt, bread, rolls, hallah, [[Holey Breads#Bagels|bagels]], cookies, pasta and so forth. The same applies to all liquid, especially fermented, cereal products, like beer, vodka or whisky. You must also make sure there are no bread-crumb-covered fish fingers at the bottom of the freezer, no ketchup containing grain-alcohol vinegar left in the fridge and no Maggi seasoning (whose main ingredient is hydrolysed wheat protein) standing around in the cupboard. Even some kinds of medicine may be unkosher of Passover, if they contain ingredients of cereal origin. Everything that is leavened or potentially leavenable must be taken outside and disposed of by burning.

Just like dairy and meat, unkosher-for-Passover products can "``stain" other foodstuffs as well as all vessels, tools and surfaces they come into contact with. Which is why all worktops, kitchen appliances, sinks and ovens must be thoroughly cleaned before Passover, to make sure they’re not contaminated by anything leavened. Smaller pieces of kitchen equipment, like dishes and utensils, which are used year-round are hidden away in cupboards, while special Passover sets are taken out. Do you remember what I wrote about a&nbsp;Jewish kitchen having three sets of vessels and utensils? Well, it wasn’t entirely true. You actually need six:

As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, there are special organizations whose job is to certify foodstuffs, restaurants, hotels, etc., as kosher. They employ rabbis who carefully inspect the scales on fish, check the lungs of ritually slaughtered cows for any lesions, verify that a&nbsp;food-processing plant sells all of its "``leaven" before Passover or that a&nbsp;restaurant uses separate vessels and utensils for dairy and meat. If everything checks out, then they issue an appropriate kosher certificate.

There are Jews whose lips will never touch anything they aren’t 100% sure to be kosher. On the other hand, there are many Jews who consider the kosher dietary laws ancient superstition and break them with full premeditation. Jewish delicatessens in the United States often sell a&nbsp;snack called Reuben sandwich composed of corned beef, Emmentaler cheese and sauerkraut grilled between slices of wheat-and-rye bread. While obviously unkosher (meat and cheese together), it is nonetheless part of Jewish culinary culture. In Kazimierz, the former Jewish quarter of Cracow, you will find many restaurants serving dishes which may look and taste just like traditional kosher delicacies, such as Jewish caviar, cholent or geflite fish. But as long as these establishments use ingredients with no kosher certification, cook with the same equipment for both meat and dairy and don’t sell their "``leaven" before Passover, then they may be "``kosher style", but certainly not kosher. Again, there are Jews who will never patronize such places, but there are plenty of those who wouldn’t mind.