Not Kosher
The best new Porsche for some time now has been the 718 Cayman GT4. Those wonderful engineers in Stuttgart took everything out of the 911 that people didn’t like – that extra 7th gear on the manual transmission, steering wheel buttons, the largely useless back seat, a sunroof, forced induction – and stuffed what was left into the best two-seat sports car chassis out there. Its 4.0-liter flat-six revs to 8100 RPM and generates 414 horsepower. Its 6-speed manual is perfect. It 3,200-lb curb weight is distributed more evenly than the tail-heavy 911. Its tachometer is analog. And it’s a pleasure craft that drives even better than the sum of its parts would suggest.
It’s the best new Porsche because it’s the most Porsche of new Porsches. From a metaphysical sense, it reconciles the opposing strengths of performance and purity, passion and precision. Other Porsches are faster, others are simpler. Some are cheaper, some are more technologically marvelous. Some are built as homologation specials. Others are rear-engined.
The Cayman GT4 is the best new Porsche, even if Porsche fans don’t consider it the most correct. Or the most kosher.
Kosher is a Yiddish word from the Hebrew word kashrut, which means “proper” or “correct.” Living a kosher life was the prevailing logic behind God’s people during the time of Leviticus. Hundreds of ceremonial, cultural, and political laws were established as a hedge around God’s laws related to salvation and morality. Kosher, or correctness, applied to everything: sacrifices, childbirth, crime, celebrations, and business. They viewed blemishes and imperfections as evidence of the sin of humanity, and the path toward God as one that should encounter as little sin as possible. Yet trying to follow all of it is not only overwhelming but impossible.
Then Jesus came, and lived and died in perfect obedience to God’s law. Yet he wasn’t always kosher – he associated with “unclean” people, healed people on the Sabbath, and in general concentrated more efforts toward redeeming people broken by their imperfection than showing them how to be perfect.
Jesus didn’t live a perfectly correct life by humankind’s standards. He lived a perfectly Godly life to show the inadequacy of humankind’s standards. Like a Cayman GT4, Jesus took out all the unnecessary complexity and distractions, and embodied values and strengths that can only be described as correct. Experience Jesus and you’ll experience the heart of God.
Examine the life and teachings of Jesus to see just how much God loves you. He came after you when you were at your most unworthy, and still offers you easy access directly to him. If God’s standards were like most Porsche fanatics, only the select few who have driven 911Rs and 917s and 356 Carrera 2s could be considered worthy, while the rest have no hope. But God’s grace is freely given to you. He sent Jesus. He worked miracles. He recorded his laws in the Bible so you can understand his purity and perfection, have your heart moved by what he values, and understand your total reliance on his perfect grace. You can’t ever be 100% correct. But by God’s grace, you have been made 100% pure.
For such a pure car, the Cayman GT4 has an options list as long as any other Porsche’s. Any color, texture, or material can be fitted just about anywhere in or on the car. You can load it down with comfort and convenience, or opt for carbon-fiber buckets. Or find one with as few options as possible and enjoy the purity of the drive.
