~
Thoughts on the Parsha ~
Parshas Shemini
Half and Half: You Are What You
Eat
By: Daniel Listhaus
כִּי אֲנִי ה' אֱלֹקיכֶם וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם וִהְיִיתֶם
קְדשִׁים כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אָנִי וְלֹא תְטַמְּאוּ אֶת נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם בְּכָל הַשֶּׁרֶץ
הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ: כִּי אֲנִי ה' הַמַּעֲלֶה
אֶתְכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לִהְיֹת לָכֶם לֵאלֹקים וִהְיִיתֶם קְדשִׁים כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אָנִי:
זֹאת תּוֹרַת
הַבְּהֵמָה וְהָעוֹף וְכֹל נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיָּה הָרֹמֶשֶׂת בַּמָּיִם וּלְכָל נֶפֶשׁ
הַשֹּׁרֶצֶת עַל הָאָרֶץ: לְהַבְדִּיל בֵּין הַטָּמֵא
וּבֵין הַטָּהֹר וּבֵין הַחַיָּה הַנֶּאֱכֶלֶת וּבֵין הַחַיָּה אֲשֶׁר לֹא תֵאָכֵל
“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 kashrus
– defining which animals are tahor (pure) 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.[1]
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 flies[2]
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”.[3]
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?
Rashi[4]
on this passuk (verse) 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
(verse) 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 Yakar[5]
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 terminologies 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
within 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.[6]
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 affected at every level. Even
the type of food we allow into our system has the ability to favor the gashmiyos
part of us and pull us in that direction.
The
world and its effects on man are so intricate and part of the deep secrets of
the world we do not understand. However, the one thing we must understand is
that Hashem 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.
[1] Such as in the case of a camel, which only
chews its cud, or a pig which only has split hooves.
[2] Except for a few flavors of grasshoppers.
[3] Vayikra 11:45
[4] Ibid.
[5] Vayikra 11:45
[6] The 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 – a process of tahara which
simultaneously purifies the one impure and, paradoxically, makes the pure impure.
No comments:
Post a Comment