In this week's parsha it says in vayikra perek yud aleph pasuk bet
דַּבְּר֛וּ אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר זֹ֤את הַֽחַיָּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תֹּֽאכְל֔וּ מִכָּל־הַבְּהֵמָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ:
“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: These are the creatures that you may eat among all the animals on earth:”
Question: Why did Hashem make a commandment to the jews regarding certain types of animals they cannot eat?
Answer: Rashi says, since the Jews are worthy of being alive, accordingly, Hashem created commandment that would separate them from unholyness and help them live. He did not make any restricting commandments to other nations.
This can be comparable to a doctor who had an incurable patient, therefore he let him eat whatever he wanted but for his patient that had to potential to live, he gave a restricting diet in order to ensure his health.
Israel is the curable patient and all the other nations are incurable
Question: What are other reasons why hashem gave bnei yisroel restrictions on certain animals? Foods? Are there any cases of a grey area?
The Or Hachaim explains that the term חיה implies that nothing evil is in these specific animals. This term is used to distinguish between other domesticated animals which are not associated with the concept of sanctity at all.
ReplyDeleteI feel that this opinion makes sense logically and spiritually that Hashem would rather be specific with what we can and can not eat, as He would want our lives to be enhanced by the foods we eat.
Rashi says that when the Torah says "זאת החיה" it teaches us that the word "חיה" is a way of showing a pure life. Hashem purposely uses "חיה" here instead of "בהמה" to show that Bnei Yisrael are special and since Bnei Yisrael will all spread throughout the world, we still have Kashrut to keep us separated from everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI like this idea because it always will apply and make Bnei Yisrael special and different from everyone else.
Kayla Markovitz
Naphtali Meshel suggests that the separation of the categories of purity and impurity from the categories of prohibited and permitted consumption reflects the separation between reality in nature and religious law. Purity and impurity are states; prohibition and permission are commands.
ReplyDeleteI like this answer because its very simple, Hashem gave us restrictions in order to separate reality and Hashem's laws.
Elianna Ashendorf
source: https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/portion-of-the-week/why-are-some-foods-kosher-while-others-are-not-1.5463071
DeleteRabbi Jonathan Sacks quotes R. Elie Munk who says some key words in the construction of the BHMK are also key words used in the description of creation in Bereishit. The Gemara says regarding the completion of the BHMK that “On that day there was joy before the Holy One blessed be He as on the day when heaven and earth were created.” R. Munk says the first commandment given by G-d to Adam was a dietary law. Adam was free to eat from any tree, but God said if he ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. The dietary restriction laws in this weeks parsha is parallel to the commandment given to Adam. Now after what happened in the times of creation we are marked by laws about what one can and can not eat. I think this idea makes a lot of sense because from the beginning of time we were given a food restriction and since Adam and Chava could not keep that commandment from God, it would make sense then for all time we are restricted and have limitations of what we can eat.
ReplyDeleteThe Rambam says the Hashem acts as a “doctor” and uses Kosher as a “prescription” to ensure health for Bnei Yisroal. Hashem prohibits harmful food “thus ensuring that Jews would be vigorous and fit”
ReplyDeleteI personally don’t love this answer because it (A) seems like Hashem then doesn’t care about the rest of humanity’s health and (B) it is not 100% factual that Hashem prohibited all harmful food. I can tell you from personal experience not all Jews are “vigorous and fit”. Of course, this is an over generalization but I still kept looking for another explanation. The Pasuk reads “you shall sanctify yourself and be holy for I Hashem am holy”. Kashrut is a way of welcoming the holiness of Hashem and Judaism into our lives and a constant reminder or Jewish values and Hashem’s role as master.
Rav Tzadok Hakohen of Lublin writes that we have kashrus to teach us boundaries. There are 4 types of galus that we had and they correspond to the 4 animals that have only one criteria of kashrus. Kashrus refers to relationships between to man and Hashem just like karbanos and mishkan are relationships between man and Hashem which is why it is written here despite the fact that it is repeated in Devarim. Showing that we keep kashrus curbs our indulgence and creates boundaries to overcome what the other nations of galus represent. I like this idea because it teaches us an important lesson in life that we should not give in to indulgences of society and keeping boundaries is good for us.
ReplyDeleteWhat does God care whether a man kills an animal in the proper Jewish way and eats it, or whether he strangles the animal and eats it? And what does God care whether a man eats kosher or non-kosher animals? Rabbi Ronald H. Isaacs says that it’s so you learn that the commandments were given only to refine God’s creatures, as it says, “God’s word is refined. It is a protection to those who trust in Him” (2 Samuel 22:31)
ReplyDeleteWhile I find this opinion interesting and true in some ways, I don’t think that every commandment that Hashem gave us is only just to refine us. I believe that while we don’t know the reason for certain mitzvot, Hashem does have his reasons and expects us to trust him.
Eating is an act of fulfilling Hashem’s will. We are supposed to eat with care. The reason why Hashem gave BY restrictions on animals is because each restriction represents something special. For example the reason why we can only eat animals that chew it’s cud is because the Torah sees this as an allusion for the need to review and reexamine one's actions. The reason for split hooves emphasizes the need for a person to be complete from head to toe. The Torah points out the four non kosher animals because they only have one of the two restrictions. The camel represents pride, the pig - hypocrisy, the shafan - idolatry, and the arnevet - narrowness.
ReplyDeleteI found this idea really interesting because even what we eat represents Hashem.
https://www.aish.com/authors/99316634.html
Eden Schechter
ReplyDeleteChani Benjimanson
While the commandment to follow a kosher diet falls under the category of laws which do not necessarily seem logical, observing them only because G‑d commands us to, there are moral lessons we derive from them:
The birds and many of the mammals we do not eat are predators, while the permitted animals are not. We are commanded not to eat those animals possessive of a cruel nature, so that we should not absorb these qualities into ourselves
The commandment refines the person and instills self-discipline.
Seforno talks about how bnei israel had just sinned with the golden calf and therefore lost their spiritual height that they had reached before he says that if they hadn't sinned like this they would have had direct access to the shechina!! Therefore these dietary laws had to be given now because to give bnei israel another way to spirituality and to distinguish themselves from other nations.
ReplyDeleteI really like this explanation because Hassem has given us these dietary restrictions to enable us to be closer to Hashem and in order for us to learn from our mistakes.
RONIT SHREM
ReplyDeleteRambam:
These dietary laws are given by Hashem because he is looking out for Bnei YIsrael and is constantly trying to ensure our health. He serves as our doctor and does not want us digesting these harmful foods.
I like this idea since the Rambam really makes an effort to put things into perspective and truly makes us believe that Hashem just wants the best for us.