In case you didn't notice, I'm currently reading through Exodus, and there are some things that just seem random. I know they're not, but they really seem like it.
In Exodus 23, God is talking about the importance of truthfulness and of justice. Then He's talking about the three high feasts of the Jewish feasts.
Then He says, "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." - Exodus 23:19b.
It doesn't even seem connected to the first half of the verse.
The note on it in my Bible says, "this command, repeated in 34:26 and Dt 14:21, is difficult to understand. It may originate from a taboo that forbade killing the young that were still nursing from the mother, or that forbade the mixing of life and death: the slaughtered young goat with the milk that had nourished its life. The Jewish dietary custom of keeping meat and dairy products separate is based on this command."
So, I still don't know exactly why it's in Exodus 23, but at least I know why devout Jews don't eat cheeseburgers.

I'm praying for you!

:)