I’ll admit, I’ve never once thought about how regular meat became kosher meat. I knew it was Jewish in nature (obviously), but I had never really investigated what the word or idea meant. And if I’m being really honest, I thought it might have been a style of meat, like wagyu or Angus.
My apologies to any Jewish readers for my ignorance.
According to everything I could find, the word “kosher” literally means “according to the Laws.” That makes sense, considering we’re dealing with a group of people (Israelites) who are told in very exact detail how to conduct themselves.
Kosher meat, then, is regular meat that has been prepared according to the way God has instructed.
It can’t be just any meat though; kosher meat begins with finding clean animals. That list is given in passages like Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, and involves animals that chew the cud and have split hooves. The qualities for birds are less defined, but God does specify 24 unclean animals in Deuteronomy 14 to avoid.
From there, the meat must then be prepared in the right way. Per Deuteronomy 12:19-27, the emphasis here is on making sure there is no blood in the animal once it’s been slaughtered. For, as is said here and elsewhere, “the life is in the blood.”
So how are you supposed to slaughter an animal to get all the blood out?
Normally, it involves slitting the throat with a blade that has been adequately sharpened and with a motion that is sufficiently quick. Even though God has given these animals to mankind to be eaten, He is still concerned with inflicting pain on the animals themselves. A quick, efficient death is preferred.
This method has the effect of draining blood from the animal as fully as possible, but the process still takes time. Modern kosher practices involve soaking the meat for half an hour, leaving it out to dry, salting it, and then washing it again. The whole procedure can take a few hours, but is thorough enough to ensure no blood remains inside the animal.
Moses’ choice of words in this passage is interesting. Instead of commanding the people not to “drink” the blood, he uses “eat” in Deuteronomy 12:23. Evidently, the concern was not that people would drink it outright, as in a religious ceremony, but eating it as a delicacy, such as blood pudding.
Once you’ve chosen the right meat and allowed all the blood to fully drain, only then is the meat considered kosher. The “life” is fully gone.