A couple of years ago shortly before Passover one of my professors invited our entire class to his home for dinner.  He was a former Swiss diplomat and wanted to feed us a European style dinner.  I told him I would love to attend but could only eat fish and vegetarian food.  While everyone else ate a beef dish, I had a delicious piece of salmon.
      Then he and his wife brought out a delicious chocolate dessert. Having not eaten meat, I could enjoy the rich milk chocolate (remember they were Swiss, from a land known for its wonderful chocolate.) One of my classmates became upset. He was Catholic, had taken a vow to give up chocolate for Lent, and so had to do without. He asked if he could bring some home for after Lent.
      The evening made me realize; even Christians have dietary laws. They are not as strict as ours. And I know that I was not as strict as a truly Orthodox Jew, who would not eat anything prepared in a non-kosher home. Such a Jew would heat up a kosher tv dinner with plastic cutlery. A Reform Jew on the other hand would probably ignore the dietary laws; but more and more Reform Jews are at least observing Biblical kashrut - no pork or shellfish.
      If a Moslem had been invited, he or she would also have a limitation on eating meat. He would have to eat Halal, meat slaughtered according to Islamic law. Many Moslems, if Halal meat is not available, will buy kosher meat. Religious Moslems also will avoid alcohol. But it is the Moslem religion that has one of the strictest dietary regimens of all. For the entire month of Ramadan there is no food or drink from sunrise to sunset. I can fast for twenty-four hours on Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av, but I cannot imagine fasting during daylight for thirty days in a row.
      Eastern religions also have their own dietary laws. Most practice vegetarianism. If one believes in reincarnation and that a human soul may be reborn into an animal, then one would avoid eating animal meat. It is almost a kind of cannibalism. Besides, it is probably a healthier diet; Adam and Eve in the Garden were supposed to be vegetarians. (They were given only one dietary law, and they broke it.)
      Why am I mentioning all these laws of different faiths?  Because a large part of this week's portion focuses on dietary laws. What animals can the people Israel eat? What birds? What fish? What insects? (Certain grasshoppers are actually kosher, although I will admit I have never eaten them.) Part of holiness is a limitation on the eating of certain foods.
      Also every religious faith, in some way or other, puts a limit on eating. Not every food is proper to eat. There are times when certain foods may not be eaten. Catholics for many years would not eat meat on Fridays, and many still follow this for Lent. When I visited Utah I worried whether I would find a cup of coffee. Mormons do not use caffeine. And of course we Jews have fairly strict dietary laws; different Jews find different levels of observance of these laws.
      Why should religion care what we eat? Christianity, reacting to Judaism, did try to remove dietary laws. So the New Testament teaches, "It is not what enters a man's mouth that defiles a man, but what proceeds out of the mouth that defiles the man." (Matthew 15:11) And yet as we have seen, even Christianity has its own dietary laws. And of course Christianity, like Judaism, teaches the importance of blessings before eating. The act of eating is not simply physical but spiritual.
      Part of what religion tries to accomplish is to get humans to rise up above the animal within. This begins by controlling our appetite. Because we want it does not mean we ought to have it. Such discipline is true for all of life. But it begins with food. Holiness starts when we can look at a type of food and tell ourselves, "no."