The SA/TO & Rel/Ed
Connection
Parshat Shemini:
The following shall you abominate among the birds – they shall not be eaten; they are an
abomination: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture; the kite, falcons of every variety; all
varieties of raven; the ostrich, the nighthawk, the seagull; hawks of every variety; the little owl, the
cormorant, and the great owl; the white owl, the pelican, and the bustard; the stork (hasidah); herons of
every variety; the hoopoe, and the bat. [Leviticus 11:13-19]
By keeping Kosher, the Jewish people hope to obtain the image of a holy people. As this week’s
Torah portion suggests: “You shall not defile yourselves by eating [non-kosher animals]. For I am
HaShem who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your G-d: you shall be holy, for I am holy.”
(Leviticus 11:44-45)
This parallel from food to holiness leads to the search for the deeper meanings of the laws of kashrut.
How does eating certain animals and not eating others help us to become holy?
One answer, offered by a Hasidic rabbi of the 19th century, is that forbidden animals have certain
character traits that we should strive to avoid. The stork is a beautiful example:
Rabbi Yaakov Yitzhak was once asked: The Talmud says that the stork is called hasidah in Hebrew
(translated to: devout or loving), because it gives so much love to its mate and its young (Hullin 63a).
Then why is it considered among the non-kosher birds in the Torah? The rabbi answered: Because it gives
love only to its own.
Growing up Jewish we are taught to give tzedakah and willingly, with a pure heart. We are also taught
at our most vulnerable years that sharing is caring. The stork, however devout and loving it may be lacks
this second facet, thus making it a poor model for the community. We as humans are supposed to be the most
advanced and mature of all living beings but we are what we eat. A Kabbalistic approach to Adam is that he
was composed of all the traits of the different animals that were created before him. So while we share
our loving kindness with the stork we also have much more, and this is what gives us the ability to make a
difference!
Questions:
- Keeping kosher is often portrayed as a practice that keeps Jews separate from other people. How does
the rabbi’s teaching challenge that perception?
- If developing good character traits is the point of (or one of the points of) keeping kosher, why
not just concentrate on being good people? Why tie our status as ethical or holy people to the way we eat
our food?
B'ahava,
Justin Turnofsky,
2005 SA/TO Int'l General Board
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