Weekly Sidra: Vayera (And he appeared)
Torah Portion: Bereshit / Genesis 18:1-22:24
Haftorah: Melachim Bet / Kings II 4:1-4:23

Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quick, three seahs of choice flour! Knead and make cakes!" 7 Then Abraham ran to the herd, took a calf, tender and choice, and gave it to a servant-boy, who hastened to prepare it. 8 He took curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them; and he waited on them under the tree as they ate. (Bereshit 18: 6-8)

The text above from this week’s reading seems to be problematic in relation to the prohibition from eating meat with milk. “Do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.” See Exodus 23:19b; Exodus 34:26b.

So why then did Abraham have meat (a calf) and milk set before them?  According to the verse in Bereshit “he took the curds and calf and set these before them and waited as they ate.

It would appear that Boiling a kid in its mother’s milk was a pagan fertility practice of the locals, so the Israelites were forbidden to practice it.  The prohibition of eating meat and milk together came about at a later time.

So was the meat and milk in Genesis eaten separately or together?  I am not entirely sure, but here is the point.

As a Messianic Jew I can be of two minds.

• Because it is not clear in the Genesis passage I can technically eat a cheeseburger
• Because Jewish dietary laws forbid mixing meat and milk I should follow that custom

Here is why I choose option two.

Shaul in Korintim Alef (I Corinthians 10:28 states But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake.

 In Chapter 8 of the same letter he states that

• An idol has no real existence (verse fourth)
• Some who eat meat sacrificed to idols have a weak conscience (verse seventh)
• We should not be a stumbling block to others (verse eight)

The reality is that if I eat a cheeseburger in the Jewish community I risk becoming a stumbling block to one of my Jewish bretheren and I damage my testimony in the process.

I would much rather skip the cheeseburger if it means harmony than eat it and cause division.  That is my choice.  What would you do? 

The choice is up to you.