eh...maybe, but I don't think so. What I was referring to is that if I were to guess the mindset of how an observant Jew viewed his/her relationship with the Bi

eh...maybe, but I don't think so. What I was referring to is that if I were to guess the mindset of how an observant Jew viewed his/her relationship with the Big Guy in 2016, I think that it is very different than the mindset of those from when these laws were created. Because society has evolved. For example, when their religious text says that God loves the smell of the burnt offerings that they made, I think that long ago the people making those offerings probably thought that to be literally true. Now, not so much. Similarly, the purpose and function of the dietary laws had (I'm guessing) a very different character in the minds of those who adhered to them way back then (and those who created them way back then) than it does in the minds of modern adherents. If that is true, then in that case it does make sense to wonder why they have had such tenacity in the face of those old reasons being brushed aside by most who still follow the rules. The reasons for doing it have in a large sense changed. Such reasons as those cited elsewhere in this thread (as a community-enhancing exercise, for example) would probably not resonate with the people who first defined the laws. But I don't care if others want to follow these restrictions, as long as they're not imposed on those who don't want to. And of course you shouldn't expect others to see any value in them unless you do give reasons that resonate with those people.