Let there be PINK!

No I'm not talking about my favorite Victoria's Secret Brand, I'm talking about the rubbery, dry, white piece of meat your mama made for fear the family would get sick unless it was cooked to the consistency of a shoe. Your grandmother may roll over in her grave, but pork can be pink now when cooked. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday announced it had changed a decades-old guideline and now says that pork, and all whole meat cuts, only have to get to 145 degrees internally, not the 160 the agency had previously suggested. Once the pork chop or roast reaches 145 degrees as read by an instant-read thermometer, it needs to sit for three minutes to reach a safe internal temperature, the USDA guidelines recommend. When the internal temperature hits 145, the external temperature will be higher. External heat kills bacteria on the surface of the meat. The interior of a muscle cut such as pork chops or steak is safe because bacteria can't reach it. That's why ground meat has to reach a higher temperature, because the grinding mixes any bacteria on the surface throughout the meat. Poultry has a higher temperature because salmonella is more prevalent in poultry. But how do we get over this fear we have about pork, and where did it come from?

 

I know the bible scared us Jews away from eating pork. "And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be cloven footed, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you". "Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch, they are unclean to you." [Leviticus 11:7-8] According to Jewish law, pork is one of a number of foods forbidden from consumption by Jews. These foods are known as "non-kosher" foods. In order for a meat to be kosher, it must first come from a kosher animal. A kosher animal must be a ruminant and have split hooves, therefore cows, sheep, goats and deer are all kosher, whereas camels and pigs (having each only one sign of kashrut) are not kosher.The pig is the only common livestock animal that has split hooves but which is not a ruminant - its external aspect makes it appear kosher, while it is not.

But WHY is it unclean?

Was God the lawgiver in the book of Leviticus? I am inclined to conclude that the laws outlined in Leviticus were priestly decrees, and had little or no divine influence. My conclusion draws from two primary lines of reasoning.

First, God would have no use for arbitrary rules. The prohibition on pork (and other foods) has no apparent basis in rational thinking (people, including many Reform Jews, eat pig all the time without consequence), so why would God feel the need to ban something that is clearly not harmful? The reason would be purely arbitrary. If God was to ban something, one would think there must be some punishment for doing so or at least an intrinsically negative quality to the act or its outcome. Compare this to several of the crimes forbidden in the Ten Commandments, which are seen as essentially and universally wrong under almost every moral code. Why the harm from theft, adultery and murder is easy to illustrate, what good can come of avoiding pork? Does one's diet make them more spiritual than another?

Second, if God is omniscient (all-knowing), his guidelines would have been delivered in a flawless manner. While the pork ban is written clearly enough, in the same section the dietary laws speak of four-legged insects (Leviticus 11:20) and rabbits that chew the cud (Leviticus 11:6), both of which do not occur in real life. (Actually, some biologists, including Leonard Brand, have argued that rabbits do chew the cud or at least perform a function that is analogous to the cud-chewing in cows. This issue is not really contingent on the primary thesis of this article, however, and will not be debated here.) While priests might believably be ignorant of biology, an all-knowing Creator would seemingly be familiar with the most basic features of His designs. Such glaring errors open the door for doubt, and we may suspect at least some – if not all – of the rules have no divine backing whatsoever.

Between the question of God's authorship, and the scientific proof that pork has none of the stigmas once thought to exist, there seems to be no valid reason for anyone to abstain from pork (other than their own unfounded beliefs or fears). While this is in no way meant undermine the core of the Jewish religion, we must wonder why they would hold on to outdated and cumbersome dietary laws if the chief reason for doing so is distinction from Gentiles. Judaism is an officially established and recognized world religion, notwithstanding what lurks behind pantry doors. So I inquire, why abstain? Indulge!