Leviticus 11:1-47 One of the more important customs given by God to the Jewish people is the kosher dietary law. Leviticus 11 provides the most detailed account of the principles for kosher laws (kashrut). Some animals, birds. fish and insects are considered acceptable to eat while some are not. There are dietary and health issues, especially in ancient Israel and there are spiritual lessons in this as well. The more important reason for kosher law is summarised by Rabbi Hayim H. Donin:
The terms used in Hebrew to designate the clean and unclean animals are Tahor and Tamai. These are terms that are never used to describe physical cleanliness, but rather a spiritual or moral state of being. The term tamai is used only in relation to moral and religious deficiencies that contaminate the soul and character of man, particularly incest and idol worship, and to characterize the absence of ritual purity. It is also often translated as defilement. The creatures designated as tamai were not only forbidden as food but also for sacrificial purposes. The English words clean and unclean are therefore to be understood as purity and defilement in a spiritual-ritual sense. (to be a Jew 99)
Similarly, Yeshua said, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand this! There is nothing outside a person which by going into him, can make him unclean. Rather, it is the things that come out of a person which make a person unclean!” (Mark 7:14-15)
Since he was a Torah-observant Jew who believed in teaching the truths of the law, Messiah wouldn’t have cancelled God’s word. Rather, he was raising the issue of kosher to a higher level. Yeshua was not primarily addressing the aspect of foods but referring to ritual washings. It is clear that this whole discussion was started by rabbis who were condemning Yeshua’s disciples for not properly washing their hands. The question was not about nonkosher foods. Presumably, the food under discussion was considered biblically kosher. The main question was whether or not this kosher food would be rendered as nonkosher because the disciples did not follow rabbinic practices.
Kefa’s (Peter’s) vision of a large sheet coming down from heaven filled with unclean food was not about food. It’s clearly not making nonkosher food kosher (see Acts 10:9-16). God was expecting this Jewish zealot to open his eyes to Gentiles receiving salvation, as Cornelius, a Gentile centurion was to be now allowed to come into Kefa’s home. Kefa finally understood this as recorded in v.34-35). In other words, Gentiles were kosher for salvation. (CJB p. 142)