LEV103 The nineteenth-century rabbi, Samson Raphael Hirsch, put forth an interesting theory (Horeb, vol. 2, chap. 68. Trans. from the original German by Dayan Grunfeld (London: Soncino Press, 1962). He believed a person is what he or she eats. Since all the kashrut laws train a Jew to be less violent, he or she will become less violent. How does this work? Hirsch says the least violent food is vegetables. Therefore, all produce from the ground is kosher. The animals that eat vegetables and not other animals will be less violent animals; thus, a person who eats these animals will, in turn, be less violent. Similarly, animals that cannot run far and quickly will be domesticated animals and will be far less violent than wild animals. Therefore, only animals who chew their cud (all are herbivorous) and those who have split hooves that prevent them from running away are kosher. These domestic animals are less violent and thus permitted to be eaten. Although there is no specific formula for birds (the Torah just lists those that are kosher and those that are not [this and following verses], the Mishnah (Chullin 59a) discusses a case for someone who is in the desert and does not have his kosher list with him. How can he know if a bird is kosher? The Talmud answers that although no rule is stated in the Torah on birds as on meat, nonkosher birds attack other birds; if the birds "seize their prey," they are not kosher.... By eating less violent birds, Jews will be less violent. Finally, the fish. According to Hirsch, the kosher fish that have to have both fins and scales give them the means to swim closer to the bottom of the ocean and eat from the ocean’s vegetation, rather than eat other fish. Thus, kosher fish are less violent than non-kosher fish, and eating them will make a person less violent. While one may argue with the theory, one fact seems to be true. Sociologists have shown that during most of history, although Jews have (unfortunately) been involved in many types of crime, they have exhibited conspicuously much less violent crime (rape, murder, armed robbery, and the like) than other sociological groups. It has not been proven whether the reason Jews have been less violent is because they observed kashrut, but it is an interesting fact, in view of Hirsch’s theory. Like all mitzvot, there is no “one” reason or explanation for kashrut, and each person at each stage of life must try to make kashrut and any other mitzvah meaningful for him or her (See chapter on “Mitzvot“). But eating food does have a moral quality for the Jew and keeping kosher properly will lead to holiness.