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April 9, 1999/23 Nisan 5759, Vol. 51, No. 28
Kosher teaches humane acts
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Shmini/Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47
The words and concepts of the laws of kashrut (keeping kosher) have become part of the English language, both as a description of rigorous rules relating to food, and as a synonym for legitimacy.
"Is it kosher?" a non-Jewish real estate magnate might ask an assistant who outlines a land deal that sounds too good to be true.
Shmini, this week's Torah portion, introduces us to the laws of kashrut. "These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the land animals: any animal that has true hoofs, with clefts through the hoofs, and that chews the cud" (Leviticus 11:2-3). The text also specifies that only fish with fins and scales may be consumed.
Laws setting forth the method of slaughtering an animal stress that the death be as quick and painless as possible. We are taught the process of salting and soaking meat to remove as much blood as possible. Further, we are prohibited from eating meat and milk together. The laws of keeping kosher carry a message of moral ambiguity about consuming meat and a compassion that dictates limiting our meat intake.
Eating also is important in determining Jewish identity. The laws of kashrut bound Jews together as an ethnic community during an exile in lands all over the globe for nearly 2,000 years. It truly may be said that even more than the Jews kept kosher, the laws of kashrut kept the Jews - kept us from assimilation.
The Torah portion of Shmini immediately follows the festival of Passover (except in leap years, when the calendar shifts). Passover - and specifically the seder - commands two exercises: "And you shall explain to your (children)" (Exodus 13:8) of the Egyptian servitude and exodus; and "you shall eat unleavened bread" (Exodus 12:18).
According to the Pri Tzadik - who emerges from the Kabbalistic and Hassidic traditions - this emphasis on eating, with blessings over the eating of matzo and bitter herbs (and in temple times, the paschal lamb), is a redress for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, whose cardinal sin was eating a forbidden fruit.
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it' " (Genesis 2:16-17).
Food in the Bible represents physical pleasure, serving even as a metaphor for sexual enjoyment. In commanding Adam, God defines the human being as one who may enjoy the physical aspects of this world but who also must limit consumption. We human beings are endowed with sanctity, then given the challenge of sanctifying every aspect of the world around us. We may glory in our physical natures as well as in the manifold aspects of nature surrounding us, and we must also uplift, ennoble and sanctify ourselves and our world.
Tragically, Adam and Eve failed the first test. Humanity's exile, human kind's original slavery, effectively began when Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden. From that point forward, acquiring food would no longer be simple: "Thorns and thistles shall (the ground) sprout for you. But your food shall be the grasses of the field; by the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat" (Genesis 3:18-19). The acquisition and preparation of food would require great effort and hardship.
When Israel emerged as a nation, the first festival its people commemorated was Passover. During Passover, we celebrate and sanctify special foods as an act of loving-kindness by sharing with those who are hungry, as a symbol of transforming ancient memory into personal family experience, and as an important element in a drama of communicating Torah and praising God. The act of eating becomes a mitzvah, a repair for the primordial act of eating that brought dearth to humanity.
This perspective offers insight into how the laws of kashrut set forth in Shmini continue the lesson of the Passover seder by teaching us how to sanctify the physical world through our attitude toward food. Kashrut is our way of saying "no" to the serpent forever waiting in the wings.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the leader of the community of Efrat, Israel.
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