Parshat Shemini – 5780
Rabbi Shaanan Gelman
Don’t Lose Your Sensitivity
For the past month we have been obsessing over food –
specifically, Chametz – cleaning up our homes, avoiding foods, mixtures and
medications containing chametz, kitniyot and for some gebrokhts.
There is a cathartic release which ought to take place the
moment Pesach is over – I call it the Chametz binge. We rush to the store to purchase bread,
pizza, donuts, cereals and other necessities and desires as if we have never
before encountered such a prized commodity.
The feeling we get is “at last, Pesach is over, no more scrutiny or preoccupation
with what we consume.
Therefore, I find it somewhat ironic that the first parsha we
read this year, immediately after Pesach, just as we are restoring our kitchens
and utensils back to normal, is Parshat Shemini, a sidra whose major
fixation is Kashrut – what we may put in our mouths and what we must refrain
from consuming.
In fact, the Sefer HaChinuch enumerates a total of
thirteen mitzvot dedicated to the Jewish dietary laws.
The question you may be wondering, especially after Pesach is
why all of the fuss about kashrut? Does
God really care that much about our culinary preferences?
I want to share a beautiful idea quoted by Rabbi Benjamin
Yudin ("Rabbi Benjamin Yudin on the Parsha").
The Chinuch in Parshat Mishpatim (in the context of not
eating meat of a treifa) provides a profound insight into the commandment
to keep kosher:
At the root of this commandment
lies the basic notion that the body is the instrument of the soul. With the body, the spirit carries out its
activity, without the body it is unable to do so. The spirit thereby
comes into the shadow of the body only for the benefit of the spirit and not
for its harm. For God never does
harm. Rather, He does only good for
all of His creations. Thus, we find
that the body at the command of the spirit is to be compared to a pair of
tongs in the hand of the blacksmith or any other toolmaker. With the tongs,
the craftsman can produce a tool fit for its intended purpose. Now, in truth, if the tongs are strong and
properly shaped in such a manner that one is able to grasp tools in them, the
craftsman can make tools efficiently.
If the tongs are not good, the tools will never come out properly
shaped and fit.
Similarly, if there is loss or damage
of any kind in and to the body, some function of intelligence will be
nullified corresponding to that defect. For this reason, our complete and
perfect Torah has removed us far from anything which causes such defect. It
is in this vein, according to the plain meaning, we can say that we were
given a ban by the Torah against all forbidden foods. If there are among any
of these foods those whose harm is known and understood neither by us nor by
the wise men of medicine, do not wonder about them. The faithful, trustworthy
physician, who adored us about them, is wiser than both you and them. How
foolish and hasty would anyone the who thought that nothing is harmful or
useful, except as He understands it.
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ספר החינוך
פרשת אם כסף מצוה עג
משרשי מצוה זו,
לפי שהגוף כלי לנפש ובו תעשה פעולתה, וזולתו לא תשלם מלאכתה לעולם, ועל כן באה
בצילו ולא לרעתה, באמת כי האל לא יריע אבל ייטיב לכל, נמצא כי הגוף בין ידיה כמו
הצבת ביד הנפח אשר עמו יוציא כלי למעשהו, ובאמת כי בהיות הצבת חזק ומכוון לאחוז
בו הכלים יעשם האומן טובים, ואם לא יהיה הצבת טוב לא יבואו לעולם הכלים מכוונים
ונאים, וכמו כן בהיות בגוף שום הפסד מאי זה ענין שיהיה תתבטל פעולת השכל כפי
אותו הפסד, ועל כן הרחיקתנו תורתנו השלמה מכל דבר הגורם בו הפסד. ועל הדרך הזה
לפי הפשט נאמר שבא לנו האיסור בתורה בכל מאכלות האסורות, ואם יש מהם שאין נודע
לנו ולא לחכמי הרפואה נזקן, אל תתמה עליהן, כי הרופא הנאמן שהזהירנו בהן חכם
יותר ממך ומהם, וכמה נסכל ונבהל מי שחשב שאין לדברים נזק או תועלת אלא במה שהשיג
הוא, ויש לך לדעת כי לתועלתנו לא נתגלה סיבתן ונזקן, פן יקומו אנשים מחזיקים
עצמן כחכמים גדולים ויתחכמו לומר נזק פלוני שאמרה התורה שיש בדבר פלוני איננו כי
אם במקום פלוני שטבעו כן או באיש פלוני שטבעו כן וכן, ופן יתפתה לדבריהם אחד מן
הפתאים. על כן לא נתגלה טעמן להועיל לנו מן המכשול הזה.
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In other words, according to the Sefer
haChinuch, the laws of kashrut provide a means of protecting the soul which
rests within the body – a person cannot execute his or her intended spiritual
objective without kashrut.
The Gemara notes that when we consider
the negative effect that non-kosher foods have upon our bodies the phrase used
is
ויקרא פרק יא פסוק מג
אַל־תְּשַׁקְּצוּ֙ אֶת־נַפְשֹׁ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם בְּכָל־הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ
הַשֹּׁרֵ֑ץ וְלֹ֤א תִֽטַּמְּאוּ֙ בָּהֶ֔ם וְנִטְמֵתֶ֖ם בָּֽם:
“You shall become defiled through
them”
But we have a קרי וכתיב on this phrase – a tradition regarding the way in which it is
written and pronounced – it is pronounced as if it had an "א" in the word – וְנִטְמֵאתֶ֖ם, but the word is writte chaser, without the "א" which would be pronounced וּנְטַמְתֶ֖ם – conveying an entirely different meaning – “and you will become dull
hearted”.
To quote
Rabbi Yudin – “this means that you will lose your sensitivity to a higher
quality and perspective of life. The physical
of eating affects our spiritual sensitivities.”
One of the
dangers we face in this precarious time is the possibility of dulling our
spiritual sensitivities – with so many bedieved’s, less than ideal,
halachic constructs being created, we run the risk of becoming numb to the value
that halacha and religious standards play in our lives.
Have we considered
what happens to us when the restrictions are dialed back? Once weve become accustomed to online
Judaism, davening be’yechidus…compromises made out of a sense of medical emergency
or mere inability to do better?
What happens
when we can tovel our dishes? Do we
forget about that detail? Do we dismiss
minyan as a luxury then?
In Bergen
Belsen[1] in 1944, in
advance of Pesach, as the Jews were forced to eat Chametz on Pesach there was a
special prayer distributed by the Rabbis – before you ate chametz, have
the following kavana:
"Father in heaven, it is revealed before You that our will is to do Your will, and to celebrate Passover by eating matzah [unleavened bread] and by abstaining from eating chametz. Alas, our hearts are filled with anguish, for our servitude prevents us [from fulfilling these commandments], and we find ourselves in mortal danger. We are ready and willing to fulfill Your commandment to “live by them” (Leviticus 18:5) – and not to die by them – and also to obey the warning, “Take heed to yourself and guard yourselves well.” Therefore, we beseech You to grant us life, sustain us and speedily redeem us, that we may observe Your commandments, do Your Will and serve You wholeheartedly. Amen."
Whoever
composed that special prayer understood the risk we run when forced into less
than optimal circumstances – they appreciated that our actions impact our soul
and our ability to take on the intended shape that Hashem has designed for us.
This
is a bizarre period of bedieved.
Let
us hope that we remember that the mandate of "וחי בהם" is not just about survival
mode – its also a spiritual mandate – we must remain alive ברוחניות while we maintain our bodies as
well.
The laws of kashrut immediately after Pesach are the
reminder to us in this generation that the way in which we care for our bodies
may change from season to season, and even year to year – but we must do what
we can to keep true to the form of tzelem elokim, so we can continue to
be true servants to the Almighty.
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