Thanksgiving dinner is a big deal, even if as my wife points out, it’s pretty much like any Shabbat in our home – many people gathered around too much food, having a good time. Given the number of mouths to feed, whether every week or every year, we can all use a few shortcuts to make the whole thing easier, no? Well, here is one that explains why kosher birds are actually advantageous even if you don’t keep kosher.
The core issue in Kashering (making kosher) any animal is removing as much blood as possible before consumption. This goes back to the covenant with Noah in Genesis 9:4, “You must not eat any flesh with its life blood in it”. According to rabbinic tradition, that demands not only a specific method of slaughter, but also the salting and subsequent salting of the meat, before cooking. In other words, all kosher meat is brined before preparation! How’s that for convenient?
In case you are wondering, brining is the process by which the meat is soaked salted water, creating a more flavorful and juicy product at the end of cooking. It’s healthier than basting with oil or other fats like butter (the latter would not be kosher, by the way), and actually far more effective at obtaining the desired juicy bird.
So whether you keep kosher or not, if you want to cook like a foodie, but have no interest in the extra steps or work involved, buy a kosher turkey and consider yourself a few step ahead of the game. And in the case of poultry, it’s also healthier.
I don’t make such claims casually, and do not believe that the reason for the kosher laws is rooted in physical health. In the case of poultry however, kosher is healthier at least as far as salmonella and other bacteria are concerned.
Unlike “regular” birds, which are soaked in hot water prior to plucking (it makes them easier to pluck because the hot water loosens the skin), kosher birds must be cold-soaked. Using hot water would run afoul (sorry, I couldn’t resist) of the prohibition against cooking before the aforementioned salting/soaking/brining process which happens after the birds are plucked. Hot-soaking the birds essentially allows them to rest in what becomes a bacteria soup, which is why regular foul must be cooked to the point of dryness in order to assure that it is bacteria free.
So for a healthier, easier (albeit pricier) Thanksgiving, consider a kosher turkey. Or, just consider this a bit of insider information on some of the lesser-known benefits of eating kosher. Either way, Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
posted November 23, 2009 at 11:38 pm
shalom from http://www.living-inspired.com
Dear Rabbi Brad, finally a post on which I agree 100% with you. I even smiled at the bold “not” when you mentioned the reason for Kosher laws. Well I can only wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving!
Eytan
Get your daily spiritual click at http://www.living-inspired.com
posted November 25, 2009 at 5:00 am
Happy Thanksgiving! But wouldn’t your meal be even more “kosher” if you invited the lonely or the unfortunate to whom you owe nothing to join you?
posted November 25, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Great idea Robert, though there really is no such thing as “more kosher”. But you are spot on about the spiritual and ethical importance of sharing what we have with others, especially those with less and those in need. In fact, the invitation you suggest is how we begin the Passover Seder. So thanks for drawing on one holiday to deepen our understanding of another!
posted November 26, 2009 at 6:32 am
Its wonderful to know how we Jews celebrate the MASSACRE OF NATIVE AMERICANS aka THANKSGIVING. Yet, we do not like anyone to celebrate with festivities the HOLOCAUST. Why are we so mean, insensitive, and hateful to the Native-Americans. What did they do to us?
posted November 26, 2009 at 6:36 am
Rabbi Brad, you being a leader is part of the problem. We Jews are behaving as Nazis toward the Native-Americans. Just, like the HOLOCAUST is a mourning day for us, THANKSGIVING is a mourning day for them.
posted November 26, 2009 at 11:30 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_Mourning_(United_States_protest)
National Day of Mourning (United States protest)
The United American Indians of New England (UAINE) organized their protest to bring publicity to the continued misrepresentation of Native American and colonial experience. They believed that people needed to be educated about what happened when the Pilgrims arrived in North America.
A century ago heavy immigration brought millions of southern and eastern Europeans to the United States. Educators and civic groups thought it necessary to assimilate the new citizens. The new arrivals were taught to view the Pilgrims as models for their own families. The tale of the “First Thanksgiving” was an essential element of this curriculum. The story of the Native Americans’ and Pilgrims’ sharing a meal of turkey became part of United States tradition. The story tells of the mutually beneficial relationship between these groups.
UAINE, by contrast, says that the Pilgrims did not find a new and empty land. Every inch of land they claimed was Indian land. They also say that the Pilgrims immigrated as part of a commercial venture and that they introduced sexism, racism, anti-lesbian and gay bigotry, jails, and the class system.[1]
Governor John Winthrop proclaimed the first official “Day of Thanksgiving” in 1637 to celebrate the return of men that had gone to Mystic, Connecticut to fight against the Pequot, an action that resulted in the deaths of more than 700 Pequot men, women, children, and men (what their people called massacre). In 1863, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln authorized that the fourth Thursday of November be set aside to give thanks and praise for the nation’s blessings. Thanksgiving became part of American culture.
UAINE believes that Native American and colonial experience continue to be misrepresented. It asks why the “First Thanksgiving” was not celebrated or related back to the first colony at Jamestown. (It is because northern culture was more influential at the time, thus celebrating the accomplishments of New England, rather than the South.) According to UAINE, the circumstances at Jamestown were too terrible to be used as a national myth. The settlers turned to cannibalism to survive. The UAINE used the National Day of Mourning to educate people about the history of the Wampanoag people. UAINE representatives say the only true element of the Thanksgiving story is that the pilgrims would not have survived their first years in New England without the aid of the Wampanoag. But they believe that in return, they received not friendship but genocide, theft of their lands, and repression that continues today.