Why would an Orthodox Jew refuse a cheeseburger if offered one - assuming all parts of the burger were themselves Kosher?

Answer 1

I am an Orthodox Jew myself and would love to answer this question. The answer is simply because it is stated in Scripture that a Jew is forbidden to eat meat (burger) and milk (cheese) together, regardless if the meat and milk are Kosher or not.

This law exceeds even farther, as follows: If a Jew is cooking Kosher meat in a pot, and more than 1/60 of a drop of milk flies into it, the meat is forbidden to be eaten from.

Hope this information was useful!

P.S. If you're wondering how old I am, I'm only 13!

Answer 2

Another contributor posted an earlier answer to this question. His answer was:

"Probably". To say that's not an answer, and that if it were it would not convey

the true scope of the issue, is the understatement of the month, and doesn't

even approach the matter of whether that contributor had any idea of what he

was talking about. The following is offered as a better answer to the question.

Where do we start ? Let's try to take it one step at a time:

-- An Orthodox Jew who follows the dietary laws won't eat meat at all, unless he

knows personally where it came from and how it's been handled and prepared.

Having someone tell him "Don't worry, it's kosher." just doesn't do it.

-- A cheese substitute that's kosher may still contain dairy products, and therefore

couldn't be eaten along with meat.

-- An Orthodox Jew is aware of the possibility of behavior that may display an

inaccurate impression that could harm the reputation of Judaism or of Jews in

general. He will avoid doing anything in public which, while permissible in

Jewish law, would appear to an onlooker as if the Jew is doing something

prohibited in Jewish law. A kosher faux-cheeseburger is a perfect example.

• When I posted the question originally, I was hoping for an answer along these lines, because that in my opinion is the heart of this matter: "do not let the freedom of your knowledge inadvertently wound your younger less knowledgeable brother".

-- There's a good chance that an Orthodox Jew, having never been introduced

to cheeseburgers, has never acquired the taste, finds even the kosher ones

repugnant, and honestly and truly doesn't want the cheeseburger.

In consideration of just these few points, there's no doubt that he would refuse it.

Or, as another contributor put it, "probably".