One
of the things that I enjoy about being a parent is that “teachable moments’
occur all the time. As parents, we just need to be aware of them and then take
advantage of the moment. We had such a moment this past Sunday during Purim. While
we were assembling the Mishloach Manot that we were preparing to deliver, our
kids were singing a song from a movie that they had just finished
watching. Everyone was very happy, and
excited and singing loudly when they sang the following lyric. “How bad can I
be? I am doing what comes naturally. How bad can I be? I am just following my
destiny.” I admit the singing was kind of loud, I was tired, and I would have
rather been taking a nap rather than preparing for the 2 hours of driving
around Toronto delivering Mishloach Manot. So when I hear my children screaming
those lyrics I asked them to stop and think about what the words meant. Finally
they were quiet. Then I began asking questions. Is it really OK for us to do
what comes naturally? At first each child thought that doing what comes
naturally is perfectly good. They even suggested that of course doing what comes
naturally is good since it is all part of God’s creation. Now I had my moment.
I asked them if Judaism holds by that line of thinking. I asked them what
happens when you are hungry. “We eat.” If you are observant and you are hungry
what do you do? Do you just eat?” Little lights went off above their heads. We
eat only certain foods. We make a blessing before we eat. We make a blessing
after we eat. Sometimes we even need to think about what we are about to eat
because it may affect what we are able to eat at a later (milk before meat). After
a couple of minutes they realized that the Mitzvot, the commandments, are a
means that we can elevate ourselves above “what comes natural” and infuse it
with Kedushah, with Holiness.
This
week’s Parsha is Shemini. It is comprised of three chapters. The first chapter
tells us how sacrificial offering are supposed to work. While receiving
instructions from Moshe, Aharon, his brother and the High Priest, makes
sacrificial offerings on behalf of the people. Following every instruction down
to the minutest detail, and remaining in the highest state of spiritual purity,
Aharon slaughters the animal, sprinkles the blood, and burns the animal. Once
finished, Moshe and Aharon leave the Mishkan, and come out to bless the people.
V’yeirah Kavod Adonai El Kol Ha’Am-“And
the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people” (Lev 9:23). Obviously we can
see how sacrifices are supposed to work. We see how god’s pleasure is displayed
and the people response to witness such glory. They bow their heads. This
chapter essentially explains God’s response to the sacrifices. When everything
is appropriate and in the proper spirit, God accepts our approach. The second
chapter concentrates much more upon the priests and what happens when things
are not appropriate or not conducted in the proper spirit. Aharon’s eldest sons
die for their inappropriate approach toward God. Moshe reminds Aharon and his
remaining sons that one must be physically and spiritually pure when offering
sacrifices both on their own behalf and on B’nai Yisroel’s behalf. However what
do either of these chapters half to do with Kashrut?
The
discussion of Kashrut is confined to the last chapter of the Parsha, chapter
11. In it we read a list of animals that we are forbidden to eat. Some of which
I probably would not eat even if it was kosher. However the answer to why we
keep kosher is provided “For I am Adoshem
your God-you are to sanctify yourselves and you shall become holy; and you
shall not contaminate yourselves…For I am Adoshem who elevates you from the land of Egypt to be
a God unto; 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 teems on the ground; to distinguish between the impure and the
pure, and between the creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not
be eaten.” Kashrut is merely a physical expression of our purity. God
accepts offerings of all kinds. Priests purify themselves in order to make
offerings acceptable to God. What about the rest of us? What everyday activity
do we engage in which allows us to demonstrate our sense of purity and our own
sense of holiness? We eat! We separate
animals as acceptable for consumption and unacceptable for consumption. We
separate milk from meat. We separate the time from when we eat by the time when
we do not eat with a blessing. We remind ourselves everyday of our own sense of
holiness and our relationship to God through Kashrut.
How
wonderful! Parsha Shemini teaches that we all have a means to approach God.
Priests make sacrifices, and the rest of us eat. By engaging in such physical
activity in a manner that consists of limits to that physical activity, we
remind ourselves of our relationship to God. We are reminded that our natural state of
existence is entirely physical, only when we infuse our existence with
spirituality are we able to embody the sacred. However the object is to be able
to elevate every aspect of our physical existence and infuse it with holiness,
even something as physical as eating. Just like God was able to make things
holy, so too, are we able to make things holy as well.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
Rav Yitz
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