Parshas Shemini - Half and Half: You Are What You Eat

Parshas Shemini

Half and Half: You Are What You Eat

By: Daniel Listhaus

“For I am Hashem your G-d – you are to sanctify yourselves and you shall become holy, for I am holy; and you shall not make your souls impure through any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am Hashem Who brings you up from the land of Egypt to be a G-d unto you; you shall be holy, for I am holy. This is the law of the animal, the bird, every living creature that swarms in the water, and for every creature that creeps on the ground; For distinguishing between the impure and the pure, and between the creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten.”

-Shemini 11:44-47

The second half of this week's parsha provides the basis of the laws of kashrus¹ – defining which animals are tahor and which are not. The Torah describes that as far as land animals are concerned, the way to tell if they are tahor is if they have split hooves and also chew their cud. One sign does not suffice.² When it comes to describing the necessary signs for fish, the Torah seems to be more generous requiring only fins and scales – resulting in a much larger variety of delicacies than we are allowed by land animals. Additionally, there is a leniency by fish, compared to land animals, which is that the Torah does not require fish to be slaughtered in order to render them kosher. The Torah continues by listing the non-kosher birds, which is also not as long as the list of non-tahor land animals. The Torah then goes on to forbid any type of insect that flies³ and continues to forbid any type of insect which creeps on the ground.

The parsha concludes with the summary quoted above – that we must differentiate between that which is pure for us and that which is not. During this summary, the Torah seems to throw in an unnecessary piece of information: “For I am Hashem Who brings you up from the land of Egypt to be a G-d unto you; you shall be holy, for I am holy”⁴. Why is it that Hashem reminds us this at this particular point? Did we need another dose of memory pills to realize that Hashem was bringing us into Eretz Yisroel? Why now is the Torah mentioning us coming out of Mitzrayim?

Rashi⁵ on this passuk is bothered by this and offers two explanations. Rashi's first answer is that the passuk is teaching us that the reason Hashem brought us up from Mitzrayim was solely on the condition that we accept His mitzvos. This explanation is extremely vague and does not seem to address the issue at all. Still, why is it written here? It makes sense to mention it in the parsha of tzitzis, for example, which represents all mitzvos. What purpose, though, does this reminder serve specifically here?

Before we further ponder this first answer of Rashi, let us take a look at the second explanation he offers. Rashi writes that if you notice, the passuk says that, “I am Hashem Who brings you up from Mitzrayim” as opposed to the regular, “I brought you out of Mitzrayim”. The reason for this is, as Rashi brings from tana d'vei R' Yishmael, that it would be worth it for Hashem to take us out of Mitzrayim for this mitzva alone – of not becoming impure through creeping things. Although this explanation is more specific it is still hard to understand. What is so special about this particular mitzva that the merit of keeping this mitzva alone is enough of a reason for Hashem to take us into Eretz Yisroel?

The Kli Yakar⁶ is also bothered by this Rashi so he takes a slightly different angle based on the following observation. There seems to be a positive correlation between the harsher terminology the Torah uses to describe the effect that impure animals have on our souls, and the closer the animal is to the ground. Fish, which live in the water, only require to have fins and scales. They do not even need to be slaughtered. When it comes to birds – which are animals of the air, though they have a deep connection to earth as well, also have few restrictions. However, once the Torah enters the area of land animals, it becomes a new playing field. The strict requirements of an animal needing split hooves and must chew its cud, eliminates most animals. Even with this limitation, however, a proper slaughtering is still necessary before a four-legged animal becomes fit to eat. As we get into the territory of creeping and crawling insects, the borders close completely, allowing almost no insect to be eaten for any reason.

The Kli Yakar takes this observation and explains that the area which creatures live in tell a lot about their purity or impurity. The closer an animal lives to the ground, the more impure it is and the worse the effect will be on one's soul if the creature is consumed. This is why even kosher animals require shechita (to be slaughtered), whereas fish, which come from a pure place – water – do not require shechita.⁷ The Kli Yakar then continues to explain that this is the reason why people do not walk on “all-fours”. The reason we walk on two feet is because although half of us is made of dirt and has a pull towards mundane activities and desires, the other half of us is spiritual and turns upward, seeking a closeness with Hashem.

Perhaps with this Kli Yakar we could understand the Rashi better as well. The ultimate purpose of living is to use the mitzvos to live a life of taharah (purity) and become closer to Hashem through them. However, every person must remember that we are constantly in a struggle between the two parts that make up every human being. Part of us knows we are made of dirt and therefore wants to follow impure desires and lifestyles. The other half of us realizes its potential as a tzelem Elokim and seeks the highest levels of taharah. Our job is to acknowledge these two aspects of man and channel our desires away from things which are detrimental to the neshama and instead focus on things which help us grow spiritually in ways we could become closer to Hashem. This yesod (fundamental idea) is perhaps what the Torah is teaching us by specifically choosing this mitzva to say that for this alone it would be worth bringing us up to Eretz Yisroel. Realizing that man in made of half ruchniyos and half gashmiyos and that we must choose which side we will activate and turn our attention towards with extreme care and concern is of utmost importance for man to live a proper life. This delicate balance, which each person maintains, could be effected at every level. After all, even the type of food we allow into our systems. The world and its effects on man are so intricate and part of the deep secrets of the world we do not understand. However, we must understand this, that Hashem has gave us a Torah to guide us on how to live life properly. The Torah tells us that there is a intrinsic difference between tahor and non-tahor animals. Our job is to realize that not only is it true that 'You are what you eat', but even more, that it is our task to realize what is tahor and what is not in order to make sure that we are constantly feeding the ruchniyos half of us, and not the half which is trapped in gashmiyos.

1Really, it would be more accurate to say the laws of tumah and taharah when it comes to food.

2Such as the camel, which only chews its cud, or a pig which only has split hooves.

3Except for a few flavors of grasshoppers.

4Vayikra 11:45

5Ibid.

6Vayikra 11:45

7The obvious question on this, which the Kli Yakar discusses, is if so that water indeed represents a place of taharah (as a matter of fact, we become tahor in a mikvah of water), then why is it that in order for foods to be susceptible to tumah (impurity), they must be wet from water? The Kli Yakar discusses this in parshas Chukas (19:21) and gives a fascinating answer which answers this as well as offers insight into the way parah aduma works. This all almost made it into this week's d'var Torah, but, due to lack of time, perhaps we will save that discussion for parshas Chukas.