There is a lot to the cleanliness laws that Yahweh gives us in the Bible. But there is an aspect many seem to not notice off the bat so consider this an intro to the depth of uncleanliness in our western society. This will be mostly a 'Part 2' to the Dietary Laws Post so please read that first as it also includes the scripture I will be referencing in this post.
We all can see clearly through scripture that we are not to eat unclean animals, that we are not even to touch their carcasses. In our society steering clear of unclean food is a chore and a half, be it marshmallows, frozen fish, yogurt, cheese, gummy candies, gum, even some things that seem safe like beef wieners might have a pork casing! We think that avoiding the carcass of the unclean animals is easy, don't touch anything decaying; but there is more to that.
After all, products that we use every day can actually be unclean. If we are not eat certain animals as unclean why are we using parts of their carcasses in products we absorb and thus go into our body just as effectively as ingestion?
That's right, a lot of our standard products just aren't clean. Things like soap, shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, laundry detergent or fabric softener, cosmetics the list goes on. Many things we come in contact with daily make us unclean without even knowing it. Common products have things like pork fats put into them, cosmetics often have whale fats and carmine, which is a red dye from bugs. That's right, your lipstick probably has bugs in it.
Unlike food, sadly, most products aren't coming with that handy little kosher label. It's up to you to find what is safe and what isn't and that can be very difficult, especially with the way labels are done so that you don't know what those ingredients mean. There are some excellent resources, like Pork in my Soap, which have amazingly in depth lists to show what is safe and what isn't, but finding you exact product can still be rough and the lists aren't completely exhaustive.
Barring the kosher certificate and safe product lists your best bet is to watch for vegan products. Then you know that no animal ingredients are in it, which are going to be unclean (clean animals cost to much to process the same way). But vegan may not be good enough, sadly vegan does not always exclude the use of insects. So even with a vegan product one must watch the ingredients list as well as able. Ingredients like Carmine, used for red coloring, and Shellac, used most often in nail polish, are both bug derived, yet deemed vegan as ingredients.
It isn't easy to keep kashrut, to keep all uncleanliness off and outside of our bodies, but it is a journey that is worth it in obedience to Yahweh. We do know that following Torah is a Blessing, so while it may see difficult at times the rewards will pay off in the end! Fight the good fight, check your ingredients on what you are putting onto your body and not just into it. Be confident that when you think you are clean, you truly are. Because nothing is worse than washing with unclean soap; you may kill many germs, but you've just washed your body in pork fat so how clean are you really? There are so many better options for our bodies than the generic brands want to offer simply because it costs them more. There are many ways even to do so on your own budget! Learning to make many of your own products is one way, or supporting someone else who makes soaps or such which are clean. If you're just wanting what is on the shelf and ready check your health-food store for vegan brands, or find what is trusted and make it work for you! You can do this, it will just be a learning curve as the initial transition from unclean food was.
Unlike food, sadly, most products aren't coming with that handy little kosher label. It's up to you to find what is safe and what isn't and that can be very difficult, especially with the way labels are done so that you don't know what those ingredients mean. There are some excellent resources, like Pork in my Soap, which have amazingly in depth lists to show what is safe and what isn't, but finding you exact product can still be rough and the lists aren't completely exhaustive.
Barring the kosher certificate and safe product lists your best bet is to watch for vegan products. Then you know that no animal ingredients are in it, which are going to be unclean (clean animals cost to much to process the same way). But vegan may not be good enough, sadly vegan does not always exclude the use of insects. So even with a vegan product one must watch the ingredients list as well as able. Ingredients like Carmine, used for red coloring, and Shellac, used most often in nail polish, are both bug derived, yet deemed vegan as ingredients.
It isn't easy to keep kashrut, to keep all uncleanliness off and outside of our bodies, but it is a journey that is worth it in obedience to Yahweh. We do know that following Torah is a Blessing, so while it may see difficult at times the rewards will pay off in the end! Fight the good fight, check your ingredients on what you are putting onto your body and not just into it. Be confident that when you think you are clean, you truly are. Because nothing is worse than washing with unclean soap; you may kill many germs, but you've just washed your body in pork fat so how clean are you really? There are so many better options for our bodies than the generic brands want to offer simply because it costs them more. There are many ways even to do so on your own budget! Learning to make many of your own products is one way, or supporting someone else who makes soaps or such which are clean. If you're just wanting what is on the shelf and ready check your health-food store for vegan brands, or find what is trusted and make it work for you! You can do this, it will just be a learning curve as the initial transition from unclean food was.
