The Lord gave the Children of Israel a law of health. It could be called a "Word of Wisdom." The Jews call it the correct, proper or fit way of living, the Kashrut, or being kosher. The word kosher is also used as meaning correct. The Kashrut has been modified throughout the ages, yet some basics still remain as was given at Mount Sinai.

In modern this age, there are some Jews who will not eat meat because there are no sacrifices, the meat cannot be prepared in a correct way. Others will only eat meat that is kosher, that is, slaughtered in the way sacrifices were done and only eating the parts of the animal as prescribed in the Law of Moses. It may be very enlightening to know the modern explanation of Kashrut, so it is included for your reference.

"The dietary laws affect a Jew every day of his life and aim to insure that the holiness of the Jewish nation will be preserved through the consumption of food which is fit and proper."

"Fruits and Vegetables: From the point of view of the dietary laws, all fruits and vegetables are permitted. However, there are certain limitations on the drinking of wine, and in Erez Israel there are restrictions applying to agricultural produce, such as the laws of tithes and Sabbatical years. However, the main concern of the dietary laws is which animals, birds and fish are fit to be eaten and how they must be prepared for consumption."

"Animals: The Bible classifies those animals permitted to be eaten as tahor ("pure") and those prohibited as tamei ("unclean"). Animals which are permissible must have two characteristics: they must chew the cud and have cloven hooves. Among these are cattle, sheep, goats and deer. Animals which have only one of the required characteristics are prohibited; for example, the camel and rabbit which chew their cud but do not have cloven hooves, and the pig which has cloven hooves but does not chew the cud. Altogether the Bible enumerates 42 unclean animals which are forbidden."

"Birds: On the basis of the unclean birds mentioned in the Bible, the rabbis of the Talmud compiled a list of 24 birds which are forbidden, among them birds of prey such as the vulture, raven, eagle and hawk. Although the Bible does say which birds are not clean, it does not list the clean birds. The Mishnah, however, states their characteristics: they must have a crop, a gizzard which can be easily peeled off and an extra claw. Among these clean birds are domestic fowl, pigeon and dove. Eggs from unclean birds are regarded as unclean and even the eggs of permitted birds are forbidden if they have been fertilized (usually indicated by the presence of a blood spot)."

"Fish: A fish is considered "clean" if it has fins and scales, which usually indicate a fish found in freshwater areas. Those without fins and scales usually live in the muddy, swampy areas and are considered unclean. In the category of unclean fish which are forbidden are shellfish such as lobster, clams, shrimp and oysters."

"Insects: Nearly all insects are considered unclean and may not be eaten. Some species of locusts are permitted as the Talmud gives a detailed description of them. Nowadays, however not enough is known about them and they are all forbidden. It is therefore important to carefully clean and examine vegetables where insects are apt to hide (such as cabbage, cauliflower and romaine lettuce) in order to be sure that the insects will not be eaten with the vegetable. Although the bee is a forbidden insect, its honey is permitted to be eaten."

"Slaughtering: Dietary laws are more than mere enumerations of which animals, birds and fish may be eaten. Vital to the observance of kashrut are the laws regarding shehitah or ritual slaughter. The many complex and minute regulations about how an animal or bird may be slaughtered make it necessary that a carefully trained and licensed shohet perform the slaughter. It is his duty to carry out a careful examination of the animal after it has been slaughtered to make certain that there is no defect in any of its organs. Any defect that would have led to the animal's death within a year makes the animal considered a terefah,. It is absolutely prohibited for consumption. An animal which has died a natural death or was killed by any other means than shehitah is called a nevelah and is forbidden to be eaten. None of the laws of shehitah apply to fish."

"Forbidden Portions: After an animal has been ritually slaughtered there are certain unclean portions which must be removed before the animal may be prepared for eating. The sciatic nerve and the fatty portions (helev) attached to the stomach and intestines of the animal are among these parts which are forbidden to be eaten."

"Koshering: After the shehitah and the removal of forbidden parts, the animal or bird must go through the process of "koshering." Based on the prohibition of eating blood, the purpose of koshering meat is to drain the meat and draw out the blood before it is cooked. This is accomplished by either soaking and salting the meat, or by broiling it over an open flame. If the salting-soaking process is used, the meat is soaked in clean cold water for 30 minutes, and then drained on a special grooved slanted board so that the blood may flow down. The meat is then sprinkled with salt (preferably coarse salt) which must be left on for one hour, and then it is rinsed in cold water two or three times. All the utensils for the procedure must be kept separately and used exclusively for the purpose of koshering. Such a procedure is not considered effective enough to kosher the liver which is full of blood. Therefore, liver may only be koshered over an open flame."

"Milk and Meat: The koshering process completed, the meat is now ready to be cooked. Here too, there are important dietary laws governing the preparation of meat. The Torah commands: "Thou shalt not cook a kid goat in its mother's milk," a command from which three distinct prohibitions are learned: cooking meat and milk together, eating meat and milk together, and deriving any benefit from their mixture. (Milk includes all diary products such as butter, cheese and cream) In order to insure that these prohibitions would be properly observed, the rabbis ordained that separate cooking utensils, dishes and cutlery be used for dairy and meat respectively. These must be washed separately and stored separately. According to the Talmud, one may not eat milk after meat in the same meal. From this prohibition, various customs about the waiting interval between meat and milk arose in different Jewish communities. The Eastern European Jews observe an interval of six hours between meat and milk, while Western Europeans wait three hours, and the Sephardim and the Dutch one hour. The necessity of a waiting interval between meat and milk is explained by the fact that meat takes longer to digest and has a tendency to become lodged between the teeth. However, owing to the fact that milk products are digested quickly, it is permissible to eat meat directly after dairy, provided the mouth is rinsed thoroughly first. After hard cheese, though, it is customary to wait a longer period, since hard cheese takes longer to digest. Imitation "milk" derived from coconuts and soybeans may be used with meat. Fruit, vegetables, eggs and fish are all "neutral" (parve) foods which may be eaten with milk or meat dishes. However, the rabbis prohibited eating fish and meat together on the grounds that such a combination is unhealthy."

"Mixtures: If meat becomes mixed with dairy or if a forbidden food becomes mixed with a permitted food the ruling is as follows: If the quantity of the forbidden food is 1/60 or more of the mixture, it has "contaminated" the permitted food and the whole mixture is therefore forbidden. If the quantity of forbidden food is less than 1/60, the mixture is permitted provided that the forbidden food was not added intentionally for the purpose of affecting the taste. Many packaged foods sold on the market today contain such forbidden mixtures and therefore are not kasher. Among these are cookies, cakes and bread which contain animal fats. In accordance with the prohibition of forbidden mixtures, the precaution that the milk of an unclean animal should not become mixed with the milk of a clean animal gave rise to the Jewish custom of drinking halav Yisrael, milk obtained and bottled under the supervision of a Jew. This ensures that no forbidden substances will be added to the milk. However, in modern times, since state laws prohibit such mixtures and since "unclean" milk is more expensive than "clean" milk and would probably not be mixed, many authorities permit the use of milk which has not been supervised by Jews. Nevertheless, the very pious still observe the custom of using halav Yisrael.

"Throughout the ages Jews have endangered their lives and even died as martyrs to faithfully observe the dietary laws. During the period of the Greek rule of Erez Israel (second century B.C.E.) many Jews chose to die rather than eat the unclean foods which the Greeks forced upon them. In peril of their lives, Jews carried out the laws of ritual slaughter during the Crusades. The Marranos of the Inquisition, the Cantonists of Czarist Russia, and the inmates of Nazi concentration camps all remained steadfastly faithful to the laws of Kashrut, despite all threats."

"Attempts have been made to explain the dietary laws in various ways. Many thinkers (including Maimonides) have seen the dietary laws as hygienic precautions and have attempted to prove that all forbidden foods are unwholesome. Others have attempted to give the philosophical reasons for Kashrut. One such explanation is that Kashrut hallows the common act of eating and preserves the holiness of the soul through the cleanliness of the foods which the body consumes. However, the observance of Kashrut is not dependent on any explanation since the Torah commands the dietary laws without giving a reason. Therefore, a halakhic Midrash states "Let not a man say, 'I do not like the flesh of swine.' On the contrary, he should say, 'I like it but must not eat it since the Torah has forbidden it.'" (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

It is clear that the biblical account of Daniel shows his humble dedication to the Lord’s principles of proper living. His unswerving obedience to the "Word of Wisdom" or "Kashrut" is an example for many people today who are committed to keeping their health code.

"The trials and triumphs of Daniel are described in the Book of Daniel which is part of the third division of the Hebrew Bible, the Hagiographa. Although the Christian view lists Daniel among the prophets, the Talmud does not consider him a prophet, but rather one of the wisest men of the world."

"Although it is traditionally believed that the Book of Daniel was written by Daniel himself, there are theories which ascribe the authorship of the book to four different authors, in an attempt to explain the wide span of years whish the text covers. The majority of the book is written in Aramaic, which was the accepted language among the Jews during that era."

"Jewish settlements spread throughout the Persian empire. Jews rose to high positions and their communities were rich and powerful. The biblical books of Daniel and Esther give a vivid picture of Jewish life in Persia, and there are many references in the Prophets to Persian power."

"Jewish history is replete with examples of those willing to die for their faith from Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo, who in the Book of Daniel refused to worship an idol and thus endangered their lives, up to the present generation of Soviet Jews who suffer indescribable hardships rather than give up their Jewishness. Under Antiochus Epiphanes, Hellenizers applied violent methods toward the Jews. The Fourth Book of Maccabees is almost entirely a sermon on the meaning and glory of self-sacrifice. Whereas in Christian and Muslim thought martyrdom is chiefly regarded as the act of individuals warranting canonization as saints, in Judaism it remains a task for each and every Jew to fulfill if the appropriate moment should come."

In Jerusalem, at the Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem, a modern art wall sculpture by Holocaust survivor Naphtali Bezem expresses the Jewish idea of martyrdom. As the Jews are shown being led into annihilation chambers, a broken fish represents their spirits. Yet, the fish has wings, as if to say their suffering leads them to heaven. This is a concept also stated in the Book of Mormon.

"And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames. But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day." (Alma 14:10-11)

One of the happiest festivities in Jewish life is Purim, the celebration of Esther’s victory in stand up as a Jewish woman and protecting her people. The holiday of Purim, whose meaning is "lots," was so called because lots were cast by Haman to decide on a day for killing the Jews.

"Purim one of the minor festivals in the Jewish calendar, commemorating the deliverance of the Jews of the Persian empire from extermination, some time during the fifth century B.C.E. The story of Purim is told in the biblical Book of Esther. Haman, chief minister of the Persian King Ahasuerus, plotted to destroy all the Jews of the empire, because of a personal grudge against the Jew Mordecai. After gaining the king's consent, he fixed the date for their destruction by lot (pur), in Persian and Hebrew) for the 13th of Adar. Esther, the King's Jewish wife and stepdaughter of Mordecai, courageously interceded with Ahasuerus, and as a result the king authorized the Jews of his realm to defend themselves from attack on the appointed day. They succeeded in routing their enemies, and the following day the Jews celebrated their victory, calling the day Purim, in allusion to the lots that Haman had drawn. Ever since that day has been marked with festivities and rejoicing. In Shushan, the capital of the Persian empire, fighting continued for a second day and the victory was celebrated on the 15th of Adar. As a result, the tradition subsequently arose that ancient walled cities (such as Jerusalem) observe Purim on the Shushan anniversary. In addition, in memory of the three-day fast undertaken by Queen Esther in preparation for her intercession with the king, the day before --- Adar 13th --- is observed as a fast day."

"The book of Esther offers no exact dating for the events described. Some authorities have identified Ahasuerus with King Xeres I (485 --465 B.C.E.) but many biblical scholars question the historical truth of the story, pointing to marked similarities between it and ancient Babylonian folk tales. However, the festival had unquestionably long been established by the second century C.E., and has throughout subsequent history been celebrated not only as a commemoration of the specific events recorded in the book of Esther, but also of all the major and minor deliverances from disaster experienced by various Jewish communities throughout the world."

"Many laws and customs, as well as a rich folklore, are associated with Purim. The most important ceremony is the reading of the Book of Esther from a specially prepared and handwritten parchment scroll called a megillah. The regulations for the reading, as for the celebration of Purim in general, are discussed in the talmudic tractate Megillah. Both men and women are obliged to hear the megillah, which is read both on the evening of the 13th of Adar and on the morning of Purim day itself. Before the reading, three special blessings are pronounced. During the course of the reading it has become customary to make a din through the sounding of noisemaking objects called gregers in Yiddish, each time the name of Haman is mentioned. This symbolically represents the fulfilment of the biblical commandment to "blot out the memory of Amalek" from whom Haman was traditionally descended. Other customs, made obligatory by Jewish law, include the sending of gifts to friends, usually two kinds of foods (mishloah manot), and the giving of alms to the poor (matanot le-evyonim). An important feature of the Purim celebration is the banquet held during the afternoon of Purim day. This was the one time of the year when great levity and even drunkenness was tolerated by the rabbis. During the Middle Ages the custom developed for groups of young people to go from house to house staging little plays either on the Purim story or on contemporary communal events. This type of playlet was known as a Purim Shpil. Another widespread feature of the Purim celebrations was "dressing up." Children --- and grownups too --- dress themselves up either as the characters of the Purim story or as well-known figures. Often the fancy dress chosen represents an idea or a chapter in Jewish history. This aspect of Purim is still very popular especially in the State of Israel."

"Through the ages, Purim has come to take on the atmosphere of an "upside-down day" when nothing is really what it seems to be." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)