Here's an entry from one of our readers:
Based on my personal experience, Kashrut is one of the markers that truly sets the Jewish people apart from other peoples. While what you eat is, to a certain extent, an expression of one's individuality, it also expresses how one relates to one's community, friends and family. I cannot stress this point enough. The concept of sharing a meal with one's coworkers, relatives and outer community changes when a person begins to observe some of the Mitzvot of Kashrut.
When I began the conversion process, I ate only hekhshered products both inside and outside the home, but after seeing the negative effects my actions were having with my non-Jewish family members as well as the members of my Jewish community who don't keep Kosher, I made the decision to eat unhekhshered hot dairy, meat and fish (from Kosher animals, and with waiting times between them observed as best I can) outside the home while keeping a Kosher kitchen within my home.
To some, it may be hypocrisy and to others it may be sacrilege, but I've found that it allows me to simultaneously maintain a hold on tradition while having the flexibility to honor the people I care about most by partaking of their hospitality.
By DL, Conservative male
Based on my personal experience, Kashrut is one of the markers that truly sets the Jewish people apart from other peoples. While what you eat is, to a certain extent, an expression of one's individuality, it also expresses how one relates to one's community, friends and family. I cannot stress this point enough. The concept of sharing a meal with one's coworkers, relatives and outer community changes when a person begins to observe some of the Mitzvot of Kashrut.
When I began the conversion process, I ate only hekhshered products both inside and outside the home, but after seeing the negative effects my actions were having with my non-Jewish family members as well as the members of my Jewish community who don't keep Kosher, I made the decision to eat unhekhshered hot dairy, meat and fish (from Kosher animals, and with waiting times between them observed as best I can) outside the home while keeping a Kosher kitchen within my home.
To some, it may be hypocrisy and to others it may be sacrilege, but I've found that it allows me to simultaneously maintain a hold on tradition while having the flexibility to honor the people I care about most by partaking of their hospitality.
By DL, Conservative male
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