Through the ages, rabbis have suggested various explanations for the Hebrew Bible’s detailed dietary restrictions, while others have cited them as archetypes of laws that are beyond explanation. Detractors, meanwhile, have taken these rules as evidence of the Bible’s irrationality. But, argues Natan Slifkin, the fact that Scripture doesn’t provide an explicit rationale for these commandments is an invitation for the believer to search one out rather than simply falling back on “God said so.”
Yes, we are obligated to keep kosher because God said so, but God said so for a reason! For centuries, rabbis have been suggesting various rational explanations for the laws of kashrut. . . . And while we might not be able to determine all of the reasons with certainty, we can certainly suggest several rational possibilities.
There may even be layers of reasons—one reason for having a dietary code in the first place (learning and practicing control, or maintaining a distinct Jewish identity), and then a secondary layer of reasons determining which animals would be permitted and which would be forbidden (which could be due to the cultural circumstances at the time of the giving of the Torah, as some medieval rabbis imply). And then there can be a third layer of reasons as to why people should keep kosher today, [such as] connecting to Torah, to the Jewish nation, to three-thousand years of tradition.
Read more on Rationalist Judaism: http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2020/01/why-we-keep-kosher.html