Parashat Shmini
Over the years I have discovered that of all the mitzvot (commandments) and minhagim (customs) those associated with the laws of kashrut probably pose the greatest challenge to meaningful Jewish observance. So many Jews were taught in their youth that the basis of our dietary laws were to be found in Biblical notions of hygiene and cleanliness and others were taught that they had to keep kosher to placate traditional parents and grandparents that the idea that there could be a spiritually satisfying message behind the prohibitions against eating certain kinds of creatures or mixing meat with dairy seemed ludicrous.
But as Conservative Jews we are known for promoting Jewish practice that while progressive is rooted in traditional but meaningful constructs. I found the research of the late Professor Jacob Milgrom of Berkley (who once served as an assistant rabbi at Anshe Emet) helpful in this matter. Professor Milgrom noticed that the only creatures which this week’s parasha allows us to eat are those creatures whose survival was not at the expense of other living creatures. In other words the Biblical zoologist may have believed we are what we eat and assumed a connection exists between our character and what we consume.
Keeping in mind that the Biblical ideal was that human beings would be vegans but that this ideal was compromised after the flood story that resulted from humanity’s inability to restrain its blood lust, the dietary laws imply that if we eat predatory animals and consume blood we could further stoke the fires of that blood lust. If we give up our vegan diet but limit our animal consumption to herbivores and domesticated creatures then perhaps we can keep our extreme behavior in check and achieve a greater respect for the sanctity of al living things.
It is a fascinating effort on the part of the Torah to concretize the value of life in our every day lives.
As Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson writes, “For most animals, and for many people, eating is simply a response to a biological need, or at best an aesthetic pleasure….Kashrut offers an opportunity to harness the act of eating to contribute to who we are and what are our values. Kashrut summons us to elevate eating from an animal response to an encounter with holiness, transforming our kitchens and our dining room tables into sacred altars, our meals into reminders of our deepest values as Jews.”
It is true that by keeping kosher we also contribute to the bonding of the community and strengthening of Jewish identity and can cultivate a greater respect for the needs of all living creatures, but for me these are but the valuable by-products of a system built around the central notion that the gift of life is the most sacred and central of all our values.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Matt Futterman
Senior Educator
