Food of Truth – Parashat Shemini
BS”D Shemini – 5785
Food of Truth – Parashat Shemini
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites
Parashat Shemini details the types of animals that are permitted to be eaten and the identifying signs that distinguish them. The Talmud expounds on the verse at the end of our portion:
“Do not make yourselves detestable with any creeping creature that crawls on the ground, and do not defile yourselves with them and become defiled through them.”
(Leviticus 11:43).
The word “וְנִטְמֵתֶם” (and you shall become defiled) is written without the letter “א” and can also be read as “וְנִטַּמְתֶּם” – implying that a sin dulls a person’s heart. The food that is ingested into a person’s body is responsible for the wondrous connection between body and soul, as it provides us with the strength to live and continue existing. Therefore, it influences the heart, and the Torah is particular that we eat only certain species — those that share the common characteristic of not being predators.
The sign of purity for such animals is that they “chew the cud and have split hooves.”
The practical benefit of the split hoof is that it allows animals to grip rocky surfaces, helping them escape predators who cannot leap across rocks like they can. Cud-chewing also helps these animals quickly gather food without needing to chew and digest it right away, allowing them to retreat to a safe, quiet place to process the food in peace. This trait is essential for animals that are hunted or pursued.
This idea is beautifully explained by the Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, one of the great Spanish sages of the 13th century — a biblical and Talmudic commentator and major Jewish thinker) on the verse:
“These you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are a detestable thing”
(Leviticus 11:13):
“Only the birds mentioned in this portion are forbidden… and the main identifying sign is that any bird that preys is always impure, because the Torah distances it, as its blood is heated due to its cruelty… and it instills cruelty in the heart…”
In other words, “you are what you eat” – the cruelty of predatory animals affects those who eat their flesh, since the food a person eats becomes absorbed in their blood and becomes part of them. Only herbivorous animals — those with gentler dispositions — are permitted for consumption by the Jewish people, fitting for a nation known for being modest, compassionate, and charitable.
The Jewish people have never been cruel. Even in times of persecution and suffering, poverty and humiliation, we did not fall into the patterns of crime and violence that are common in distressed areas around the world. The nature of the Jew is compassionate because our food is derived from animals that are not cruel. Even the phenomenon of the “Jewish genius” can be linked to the purity of mind that comes from not dulling the heart and intellect through consuming impure animals.
Our portion lists four animals that lack one of the two signs of purity: The camel, the hyrax, and the hare chew the cud but do not have split hooves. One animal, however, has split hooves but does not chew the cud — the pig, about which it is said: “When it lies down, it stretches out its hooves and says: See, I am pure…” (Yalkut Shimoni on Psalms 80). While chewing the cud is an internal and hidden sign, split hooves are a visible, external sign. The pig takes advantage of its outward appearance to falsely present itself as kosher while concealing its internal impurity.
The Midrash associates these four animals with the four exiles the Jewish people have experienced over the generations — four empires that ruled the world and persecuted Israel, each in its own way:
“The camel – this is Babylon;The hyrax – this is Media; The hare – this is Greece; The pig – this is Edom (Rome)” (Vayikra Rabbah 13:5)
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, forced idol worship upon us. The king of Persia and Media — Ahasuerus — tempted us with physical pleasures. Antiochus the Greek sought to make us forget the Torah. We overcame and survived all three.
But the Roman Empire caused us to stumble with the most dangerous challenge of all: pride and internal selfishness, like the pig — corrupt within but presenting externally as pure.
Edom—which in the Bible is associated with Esau—takes on a much broader meaning in the teachings of the Sages (Chazal): it is not merely a geographical nation, but a symbol of a culture and a form of Gentile power that stands in opposition to the people of Israel.
However, falsehood has no merit, and it is destined to fall and vanish. We will also overcome the Edom of today. When we merit the final redemption of Israel, speedily in our days, the distinction between pure and impure will be clearly revealed, and truth will ultimately prevail.
