What spells would a JEWISH magi use/learn?
idea:detect kosher!
range-sight
duration-conc
taget-group
intlomentum(herbum/animal)25
basically you can tell if the food is kosher or not by way of magic spell.
tell me what you think of this spell.
IIRC all forms of magic are forbidden by the Torah.
Anything that involves summoning spirits doubly so. And the pagan-with-the-serial-numbers-filed-off aura of Hermetic Magic would be very much against the first (Big Number One!) of the Ten Commandments.
And see p.128 of REALMS OF POWER: THE DIVINE for more.
How would the spell determine if the food was prepared properly and blessed by a rabbi or shochet?
If a observer of Judaism is performing Hermetic magic I think kosher is the least of their worries, considering they have all but tossed out the other strictures of the faith of far greater importance.
Intelligo magic can determine the 'origin, age, and history of something made of animal products', so I have no problem with that part. Besides, you could argue (as I would) that kosher is an intrinsic property of food, not a result of the process: it is either acceptable according to Divine law, or it isn't.
The spell would be Base 4 (learn a specific fact about something made of animal products, the Herbam base is one less at 3), +3 Sight, +1 Conc, +2 Group, +1 requisite, for a total level of 35 if you use these parameters, which are far from optimal (and don't cover drink, by the way).
Oh, and there is no need for Mentem, Intelligo gives you the information all by itself.
An alternative would be to use Personal / Concentration / Smell (or Vision) parameters:
Smell of the kosher food, InAn(He) 20
The magus can tell whether food is kosher or not just by smelling it.
Base 4, Personal, +1 Concentration, +2 Smell, +1 requisite.
Or
See the kosher food, InAn(He) 30
The magus can tell whether food is kosher or not just by looking at it.
Base 4, Personal, +1 Concentration, +4 Smell, +1 requisite.
You could also develop a Taste version, which would be level 10, but that would probably defeat the purpose of the spell. And if you want to cover drink as well, just add an Aquam requisite and a magnitude.
This is very convincing and a smart way to think of it, nice!