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What do kosher and halal mean, and what are the differences between them?
Linguistically, at least, they’re very similar. Halal is Arabic for “permissible,” and kosher is Hebrew for “fit” or “proper.” Both refer to anything—not just food—that is allowed or correct under Islamic or Jewish religious laws, respectively. The opposite of halal is haram, meaning “forbidden,” and the opposite of kosher is treif, meaning “torn” and referring to the fact that flesh torn from an animal by wild beasts is not kosher.
Kosher and halal rules both prohibit consuming pork or animal blood of any kind. To be kosher or halal, a land animal or bird must be slaughtered by cutting the throat with a single stroke without cutting the spinal cord. All of the animal’s blood must also be drained completely (kosher salt is so named because the large crystals are good for drawing any residual blood out of meat). Both sets of rules also prohibit birds of prey and allow any other kind of bird. To be kosher, a land animal must have cloven hooves and chew cud (sheep, cattle, goats, deer, and bison are essentially the only kosher animals), but anything that’s not a pig or a carnivore can be halal.
Under kosher rules, a permissible fish must have fins and scales, and cannot be a scavenger or bottom-feeder (wild catfish are treif, but some farm-raised ones can be certified kosher, since their diets are controlled). There is some disagreement among halal authorities about fish. All kosher fish are definitely halal, but some interpretations allow the eating of shellfish. Both sets of rules forbid eating frogs and other amphibians.
As for processed foods, kosher and halal certifications (the most common are the Orthodox Union’s U_ inside an _O for kosher and the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America’s M inside a crescent for halal) verify that no substances derived from forbidden animals are contained in the product, and that it wasn’t made using machines that process treif or haram foods. Some kosher authorities allow animal-derived gelatin because it has been changed so much in processing that it is no longer considered meat, but most halal authorities do not.
The biggest difference between the two is that kosher rules forbid the mixing of meat and dairy products. People who keep strict kosher have two sets of dishes and sometimes two refrigerators to keep them separate (kosher products labeled pareve are neither meat nor dairy and can be eaten anytime). Under halal rules, though, cheeseburgers are totally OK. Islam bans alcohol, so products containing even a tiny amount are haram. Judaism is much more booze friendly—all distilled liquor and most beer is kosher, and wine (and all other grape-based foods) can be kosher if made only by Jews.
Many strict halal butchers and restaurants call their food zabihah halal. The word refers to the process of halal slaughter and generally means that special care has been taken to ensure that all the slaughtering rules have been followed. Glatt kosher is the equivalent on the other side. Glatt means “smooth,” and means that the animal’s lungs have been examined for blemishes (diseased animals are treif), but it has come to refer to any strict level of kosher adherence. Zabihah.com provides a directory of halal restaurants and markets around the world, and the Orthodox Union lets you search the thousands of products it certifies as kosher.
Involvement in the Muslim halal slaughter as sacrifice to Allah and the sacrificial killing of animals for kosher meat is too. I will encourage all of my friends to boycott every kosher and halal provider.
The fact that halal and kosher is only considered halal or kosher if done as a sacrifice and performed by only a male Muslim or Jew is against our state and federal hiring laws. This is...+READ
Involvement in the Muslim halal slaughter as sacrifice to Allah and the sacrificial killing of animals for kosher meat is too. I will encourage all of my friends to boycott every kosher and halal provider.
The fact that halal and kosher is only considered halal or kosher if done as a sacrifice and performed by only a male Muslim or Jew is against our state and federal hiring laws. This is discriminatory – sexual discrimination and religious discrimination. How long do you think the rest of the country would get away with breaking the laws as they are. This Muslim practice has no place in our society!!! The Jews practice of kosher slaughter is just as anti-American!!-COLLAPSE
some inaccuracites are here Jason;
"kosher authorities allow animal-derived gelatin because it has been changed so much in processing that it is no longer considered meat" the gelatin itself comes from a kosher slaughtered, inspected and salted animal, or it is not kosher no matter how "processed" it may become.
"and wine (and all other grape-based foods) can be kosher if made only by Jews."...+READ
some inaccuracites are here Jason;
"kosher authorities allow animal-derived gelatin because it has been changed so much in processing that it is no longer considered meat" the gelatin itself comes from a kosher slaughtered, inspected and salted animal, or it is not kosher no matter how "processed" it may become.
"and wine (and all other grape-based foods) can be kosher if made only by Jews." wine must be opened and served by Jews as well (because of it's symbolic use in religious and idolatrous services), while grape jam does not have this requirement.
unfortunately "Glatt kosher" has become meaningless within observant circles, since the term if used far too generically (but you did get the definition right). for example, a restaurant may advertise "Glatt kosher" by having one or more true glatt kosher meat components in it's food, yet it's preparation work is not Rabbinically supervised, and is open on the Sabbath, so the term has become pointless.-COLLAPSE
meowzebub, checking the lungs is just one thing. A sick animal overall cannot be considered kosher. Lungs are checked because they often show disease even if the outward appearance of the animal looks fine.
So other than lung disease, no other checks about the animal's health. Am I to understand that it has nothing to do with how the animal is raised? Any steer can be kosher or halal, if butchered appropriately?
Would seem, my Jewish co-worker who is so smug about how kosher beef is safer, is just talking out HER ass, huh? (Wow, does that mean she's not kosher? lol) Knew something was up when I...+READ
So other than lung disease, no other checks about the animal's health. Am I to understand that it has nothing to do with how the animal is raised? Any steer can be kosher or halal, if butchered appropriately?
Would seem, my Jewish co-worker who is so smug about how kosher beef is safer, is just talking out HER ass, huh? (Wow, does that mean she's not kosher? lol) Knew something was up when I pressed for specifics and she kept talking in circles.-COLLAPSE
There is more information on this at www.halalability.com .
While I'm glad that this got posted as people I'm sure wonder, but was it really necessary to use the term "mystery" to describe these concepts? Thanks so much for reinforcing the "otherness" of kosher and halal (*sarcasm*).
My grandmother ( Irish-Catholic) always told me to by my meat from a Jewish butcher cus she said it was "cleaner, more sanitary." I never really asked WHY she said that, butI am guessing its because it was prepared under kosher rules? This is all very fascinating.
I don't know where he got his catfish information, but catfish are never kosher. There are only 2 charachteristics for kosher fish, and what they eat is not one of them. The 2 things are having fins and scales.
Nope. Common misconception, though! The food I make in my kitchen at home is kosher, and there's nary a rabbi to be seen. (It would be awfully inconvenient to be unable to eat lunch without getting a rabbi to stop by.) It just means that it's been prepared while following a set of rules.
i thought kosher always meant "blessed by a rabbi"?
whoops i didnt see that it was already included above. and then i couldnt figure out how to delete my entry.
signed,
redundancy department of redundancy
To get a bit more specific, the word "zabihah" refers specifically to meat which is halal (as opposed to other foods which arent meat but that are halal).
No catfish can be certified kosher, farm-raised or otherwise, because all catfish lack scales, so Jason is incorrect in that regard. Crlyhead11 is incorrect that gelatin and rennet cannot be kosher. Indeed, kosher marhsmallows are made from kosher gelatin, sourced either from kosher fish or from kosher-slaughtered kosher animals. Wine can be clarified using kosher ingredients. While kosher...+READ
No catfish can be certified kosher, farm-raised or otherwise, because all catfish lack scales, so Jason is incorrect in that regard. Crlyhead11 is incorrect that gelatin and rennet cannot be kosher. Indeed, kosher marhsmallows are made from kosher gelatin, sourced either from kosher fish or from kosher-slaughtered kosher animals. Wine can be clarified using kosher ingredients. While kosher gelatin does exist, the expense associate with using it for wine makes it a poor choice commercially, and it is not done. Isinglass, being derived from specifically sturgeon air-bladder, as sturgeon is a nonkosher fish, is not a kosher ingredient. The requirement of Jews to be the actual producers of the wine has nothing to do with purity, but rather with security. Mevushal (cooking) the wine only allows kashrus in the wine if the wine was kosher before the cooking. Cooking would not make a previously nonkosher wine kosher. Rennet can be kosher either if produced from kosher slaughtered animals or microbially produced. Kosher microbial rennet is far less expensive than animal-derived (typically from the slaughter of veal or young lambs). Kosher animal rennets, though, do exist.-COLLAPSE
The most widely accepted kosher authorities (like U and OU in the US and I'd wager all international authorities) do NOT allow gelatin or rennet; kosher marshmallows and cheese are made from vegetable gelatin and microbial or vegetable rennet, respectively. Locusts, on the other hand, are 100% kosher!
Let me clarify the kosher wine conundrum. Historically, wine could only be kosher in strictly...+READ
The most widely accepted kosher authorities (like U and OU in the US and I'd wager all international authorities) do NOT allow gelatin or rennet; kosher marshmallows and cheese are made from vegetable gelatin and microbial or vegetable rennet, respectively. Locusts, on the other hand, are 100% kosher!
Let me clarify the kosher wine conundrum. Historically, wine could only be kosher in strictly controlled settings. Rules covered the facilities (only kosher products made in the factory), the way wine was filtered (no animal bladders) and clarified (no gelatin), and who handled it to ensure it's purity (not just Jews, but *observant* Jews.) Today wine can be kosher if the ingredients and method are approved, but the other rules are relaxed as long as the wine is boiled ("meshuval.") Good-tasting kosher wines, both meshuval and non-meshuval, are out there and getting noticed thanks to websites like www.kosherwine.com-COLLAPSE