Parashat Shemini â Erev Shabbat 9 April 2021
Week of 4-10 April 2021
Torah portion: Leviticus 9:1-11:47Â Â Haftarah: Â 2Sam 6:1-7:17
Theme: âYe shall therefore be holy, as I am holy.â Â
Although Christians are not obliged to follow the dietary laws, it can be spiritually fulfilling to consider the Divine purpose in requiring the Jewish people to do so. As so often, Nehama Leibowitz (pp. 83-84) provides wonderful insight. The laws are not intended to keep the Jews distinct from other peoples, because the Lord has already made them His own (Lev 20:24; Deut 14:2). She quotes (p. 84) from the Sages that the âtrue reason for the dietary law [is] the fulfillment of the will of God.â   Those who obey these laws are showing their âacceptance of the yoke of Heaven.â  She also points out that the first example of forbidden food âis in the story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit.â (pp. 84-85)  She quotes Midrash Tashde: âWhy did the Holy One, blessed be He, permit [Adam] the fruit of all the trees of the garden and withhold from him only one of them? The constant sight of it would cause him to remember his creator and acknowledge the yoke of his maker…â Leibowitz continues (p. 85): âThe Midrash does not seek the reason in any of the actual properties of the tree or the physical consequences of eating its fruit. The very prohibition, the self-discipline involved is sufficient reason.  It would lead him to ever acknowledging the yoke of his maker. God, not man, is the touchstone of all values.â
As we recall from Genesis 3:6, our mother Eve eats the forbidden fruit because she can see no rational reason not to do so, since the tree âwas good for food, andâŠa delight to the eyesâŠand to be desired to make one wise.â In other words, she was judging the fruit by her values, which are the same values used by many people today. (To find foods âto make one wiseâ, just search online for âfoods good for the brainâ.) Eve behaved as if her values should override obedience to her Creator. As A.J. Kolatch explains: âThe rationale for [the dietary] laws is not elucidated⊠the laws [are to] be observed because: âI am the Lord that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. Ye shall therefore be holy, as I am holy.â He continues: âHoliness is the only reason given in the Bible for the observance of the dietary lawsâ.
For Reflection and Discussion: In âFood for Thoughtâ, his commentary on this Parasha for the year 5772, Jonathan Sacks quoted as follows from Moses Maimonidesâ The Guide for the Perplexed (III:13): â[we] need not inquire what purpose is served by each species of existing things, because we assume that God created all parts of the universe by His will; some for their own sake, and some for the sake of otherbeings . . .â Sacks writes: ââŠthe Israelites are not permitted to kill any and every life-form for food. Some species must be protected, given their freedom, granted their integrity, and left unsubjected to human devices and desiresâŠ.. Not everything in the universe was made for human consumption.â Consider how societies and individuals might live differently if we truly lived according to that last sentence.
Bibliography:  Kolatch, Alfred J., The Jewish Book of Why (New York: 2003); Leibowitz, Nehama, Studies in Vayikra (Leviticus) (Jerusalem: 1980).   Sacks, Jonathan, âFood for Thoughtâ, Shemini 5772 (21 April 2012), available at Shemini Archives – Rabbi Sacks
This weekâs Parasha Commentary was prepared by
Anne Morton, Canada, Bat Kol Alumna 2010
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