|
If we keep kosher, we should do so because it is a mitzvah, a distinctly Jewish act that helps us live our lives with an awareness of God and helps bring us closer to the One who provides all that we eat. Lessons for Today
The Eternal spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them: Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the animals that are upon the earth. (Leviticus 11:1-2)
|
Sforno explains:
These are the living things which you may eat. Behold, after Israel removed their spiritual crowns which they had attained at the time of the giving of the Torah, and through which they were deemed worthy that the Divine Presence dwell in their midst without the need for any intermediary, as it says, In every place where I cause My Name to be mentioned I will come to you and bless you (Exodus 20:21), and which shall be in the future (end of days), as it says, And I will set my Mishkan among you, and My soul shall not abhor you (Exodus 26:11), God, the Blessed One, afterward refused to have the Divine Presence dwell among them at all, as it says, For I will not go up in the midst of you (Exodus 33:3). Moses, our teacher, however, achieved through his prayer some amelioration that the Divine Presence would abide among them through the medium of the Mishkan (Sanctuary), its furnishings, attendants, (servants) and sacrifices, and they merited and attained (the level of) And the glory of the Eternal appeared unto all the people (Exodus 9:23) and the fire descending from heaven (Exodus 9:24). Therefore, God considered the need to remedy their temperament that it be predisposed to be illuminated with the light of everlasting life. This was to be done through the regulation of food and the laws regarding the reproductive system.
|
|
In his commentary on Parashat Shemini, Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut reviews some of the moral explanations of great Sages for the existence of the laws of Kashrut. He notes:
"...many efforts have been made to supply a reason for these enactments. The earliest attempt we possess at a moralizing explanation is that of Philo of Alexandria. The dietary laws, he states, are intended to teach us to control our bodily appetites. Moses did not demand Spartan self-denial; but, to discourage excessive self-indulgence, he forbade pork, the most delicious of all meats. He further prohibited the eating of carnivorous beasts and birds, in order to teach us gentleness and kindness. Philo finds a symbolic meaning in the permission to eat of animals that chew the cud and have divided hoofs: people grow in wisdom only if they repeat and chew over what they have studied and if they learn to divide and distinguish various concepts.
More than a thousand years after Philo, Maimonides proposed a similar view. All the commandments aim at human perfection, he declared, and the dietary laws are intended to inculcate self-control. But to this he added another consideration: the idea that these regulations are also health laws. Such a view had also been propounded a little earlier by the French Bible commentator, Rabbi Samuel ben Meir (Rashbam), citing the opinions of 'famous physicians'. Maimonides developed the subject quite fully, with the assurance of an experienced and successful physician. All the forbidden foods, he asserts, are unwholesome."
From Plaut, ed., The Torah - A Modern Commentary, (New Jersey: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981), p.809-810.
|
Sforno draws from a lot of different textual passages to try and present the sequence of events that led to God establishing the dietary laws for the Children of Israel. He suggests that God's original intent was to dwell amongst the Israelites directly, without any medium (the Mishkan) or intermediary (the priesthood). But, after the incident of the Golden Calf at Sinai, God withdrew from Israel in anger, and refused to be manifest among the people. But Moses intervened, and it was through his merit and the conviction of his prayers that God agreed to a compromise: God would dwell among the people within the Tabernacle, as a symbol and reminder of the Divine presence.
So what has this to do with dietary laws? God's presence, even within the Mishkan, still represents holiness, and if the people are to approach God, and if they desire God's continued presence among them, then they must adhere to certain regulations and live a lifestyle that nurtures the potential for holiness. As in noted in Sforno's commentary, "Our Sages teach us that the laws enumerated in this portion of the Torah and those which follow serve to refine and purify the collective soul and character of Israel, thereby preparing them to receive the Shechinah (Divine Presence)." It is the laws of Kashrut and the laws of Niddah ("Family Purity" - laws related to menstruation and sexual relations between a husband and wife) that are identified as the commandments which specifically relate to ritual purity, and therefore sanctify the people, help bring them to the highest level of holiness, and ultimately bring them closer to God.
Lessons for Today
Keeping Kosher has always been one of the most identifiable features of living a day-to-day Jewish life. It is something that binds the Jewish people together throughout the world and throughout history, and it is the cornerstone that defines the Jewish home. It provides a Jewish way to provide for our most basic human needs, while at the same time elevating the most routine habits to an act of holiness. Whenever we put something into our mouths, if we keep kosher, it becomes a spiritual act.
Yet, as Plaut demonstrates, for so fundamental a Jewish act, throughout Jewish history we have felt the need to rationalize Kashrut. Even Sages as monumental as Maimonides felt the need to find a good reason for keeping kosher beyond the simple fulfilment of a mitzvah. We consider that it is a healthier way to eat, it is a more humane way to slaughter animals, it fosters self-discipline, it helps bind Jews together, and it keeps us distinct from the other peoples. Kashrut has even been identified by some as the secret to Jewish survival.
Yet, in the end, as Sforno argues convincingly, the essence of Kashrut is that it is a purely spiritual act. We can prove no more. We don't keep kosher because it is healthier or more humane (although this very well may be true). We don't keep our kitchens kosher so that all Jews may come and eat. If we keep kosher, we should do so because it is a mitzvah, a distinctly Jewish act that helps us live our lives with an awareness of God and helps bring us closer to the One who provides all that we eat. Kashrut, Niddah and all other personal mitzvot exist specifically to bring an element of holiness into the most basic and human of our needs. It separates us from the animals, who act purely on their urges, and it separates us from the other peoples, also children of God, but who maintain different types of relationships with the Creator. Kashrut helps us acknowledge our basic humanity, but also demonstrates a desire to try and elevate ourselves above our most basic urges. It helps us replace our spiritual crowns.
|
