Shalom.
This week we are reading the third portion in sefer Vayikra, the book of Leviticus…parashat
Shemini, beginning in chapter 9.
And parashat Shemini literally has only two features – the death of Nadav and Avihu,
the sons of Aaron who brought an unsolicited offering to Hashem on the first day of Nisan,
on the day of the finale of the dedication of the Tabernacle, and, the rules of Kasruth,
Hashem’s dietary laws.
Now many times it occurs - such as this year – that the first Torah reading after Passover,
the first Shabbat after Pesach, falls out to be parashat Shimini.
And of course, chronologically, the reading of Shimini should have fallen out before Passover,
since the portion opens up with ‘And it was on the eighth day, ‘ which is referring
to Rosh Chodesh, the first day of Nisan, the conclusion of the week long dedication ceremony
of the desert Tabernacle.
And now we are already approaching the end of the month of Nisan.
But: As we have learned, the Torah is beyond time, and is not in chronological order, and
beyond the limitations of mere chronological order.
So it must have a different significance, the fact that we encounter parashat Shemini
right after Pesach.
So open up your hearts in the deepest way.
You realize of course, that Pesach is characterized by eating-related commandments.
The Passover offering, and matza.
These are major components of the festival.
And think about the fact that these mitzvoth – the idea that Hashem is going to have
something to say about our diet…that have to do with what we take in, internally, as
it were, following Hashem’s command on an internal level – these mitzvoth were commanded
while the Israelites were yet in the spiritual darkness and constriction of Egypt.
And – interestingly – these food related commandments are a precursor to, they preceded,
the rules of kashruth that we learn about in this week’s Torah portion.
And what is this all about, these laws regarding animals, that some are kosher, and some are
not, some are permissible for consumption and some are forbidden?
Some are clean, and the unclean, they contaminate?
And why do we keep kosher anyway?
So the old saying goes, ‘you are what you eat.’
Hey you know I did some research on where that phrase comes from.
Here’s what I gleaned from the internet: Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote, in Physiologie
du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante, 1826:
"Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es."
[Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are].
In an essay titled Concerning Spiritualism and Materialism, 1863/4, Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach
wrote: "Der Mensch ist, was er ißt."
That translates into English as 'man is what he eats'.
Neither Brillat-Savarin or Feuerbach meant their quotations to be taken literally.
They were stating that that the food one eats has a bearing on what one's state of mind
and health.
The actual phrase didn't emerge in English until some time later.
The nutritionist Victor Lindlahr, who developed the Catabolic Diet, In 1942, Lindlahr published
You Are What You Eat: how to win and keep health with diet.
That seems to be the vehicle that took the phrase into the public consciousness.
So is that so, from a Torah perspective, that you are what you eat?
You know our sages teach that eating, when we eat, we are serving G-d.
Especially if we have the proper intentions, of acknowledgment and thanks to G-d for sustaining
us, and we bless Him for our food.
But eating is a difficult aspect of the service of G-d because it is such a “me” moment
type of thing, and it is so easy for it to be only about self-gratification.
But if we bear in mind that everything we do, we try to do for Hashem, then we can come
to realize that the act of eating can be a very high way of serving G-d.
Also how do behave with our food and at our table, the sages teach that in lieu, temporality,
of the Holy Temple, that meantime the table of a man atones for him like the altar, meaning
how one behaves when eating.
So G-d puts these resources at our disposal, And on a spiritual level, the goal is to elevate
the life force within the food, the sparks of holiness, to rectify this force within
the hierarchy of creation, by eating it and by its nourishment.
So you are what you eat, as we rectify these forces, but some things are so dense, so unredeemable,
that rather than elevating those sparks through our eating them, they would actually bring
us down.
Those are the unclean, the non kosher animals.
Eating could bring us closer to G-dliness, the life
force associated with certain food can be elevated, but certain things not only cannot
be helped, but they can cloud our minds and block our hearts and our eyes.
So kashruth, these laws are not considered in the category of mitzvoth that are of ethical
origin, or logical, or testimonial, but rather, like the red heifer, the laws of keeping kosher
are a chok… they are laws beyond human comprehension which we keep because G-d commanded it.
They are a diet for the soul.
Not for the body.
Now if you’ll just open up your heart in the deepest way.
You know that the Torah mentions the exodus from Egypt numerous times, and many many times
throughout Torah we find the expression I am Hashem your G-d who took you out of the
Land of Egypt.
But there are only three times in the whole Torah where we find a little bit of a different
expression….and we all know how infinitely important every word in the Torah is….only
three times where we encounter the phrase, I am Hashem your G-d who brought you up from
the Land of Egypt.
And one of them is right here…at the conclusion of the kosher dietary laws in chapter 11 of
Shimini, verse 44, For I am Hashem your G-d who brings you up (literally who elevates
you) – present tense – from the land of Egypt to be a Gd- unto you, you shall be holy,
for I am holy.
So two questions: One, what does the exodus have to do with clean and unclean animals?
Why mention leaving Egypt at the conclusion of this particular section?
And two, why this variance of the oft repeated phrase, who took you out of Egypt, why ‘who
brought (actually brings ) you up from Egypt?
So first of all, where are the other two verses.
Maybe that will shed some light.
One is Deut 20:1 “When you go out to the battle against your enemy, and you see horse
and chariot – a people more numerous than you – you shall not fear them, for Hashem,
your G-d, is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
And the other is Ps 81:11 “I am Hashem your G-d who brought you up from the Land of Egypt,
open your mouth wide and I will fill it.”
The verse in Deut.
Regarding being in fear of Hashem only, emphasizes Israel’s singular relationship with G-d.
And since Egypt, mitzrayim, literally the narrow place, represents fear and apprehension
and vulnerability and every inhibition and constriction, this verse, which instructs
us not to be afraid, reminds us that Hashem’s intention is to elevate us.
Through these encounters as well.
….but this verse from Psalms 81, is really the key.
Hashem says I brought you up – open your mouth wide and I will fill it…He uplifts
them from level to level (step by step) until all their food – and everything they are
involved with… are only of the things that bring to holiness.
And my two questions – why is this verse in 11:44 mentioned in the context of leaving
Egypt, and why specifically with the expression of going up rather than going out…both are
exquisitely addressed by the Midrash which states as follows:
Why is the going out of Egypt mentioned in the context of the rules of kashruth)...Said
the Holy One blessed be He, If the only reason I brought them up from Egypt was so that they
will follow these laws and not become impure by eating these things, that would be reason
enough.
It’s all about constantly rising up, constantly growing, constantly elevating, from level
to level.
This is what our unfortunate Nadav and Avihu sought to do at the inauguration of the tabernacle.
But they had it wrong.
They thought they had to do something spectacular.
But Hashem is telling us – in the present tense – that if we will follow His Torah
and not contaminate ourselves and not obscure our hearts and minds by eating what He forbids
– then we will constantly be leaving Egypt, constantly be elevating, and growing closer
to Him…
“For I am Hashem who elevates you from the land of Egypt to be a G-d unto you, you shall
be holy, for I am holy.”