Perashat Shemini 5778

Perashat Shemini 5778

At the end of this week's perasha, right after describing the Laws of Kashrut, the Torah reminds us that Hashem took us out of Egypt: "For I am the Lord Who has brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your G-d. Thus, you shall be holy, because I am holy" [Leviticus 11:45]. Rashi explains that there is a fundamental lesson being taught here. The purpose of Yesiat Missrayim, leaving Egypt, was so the Jewish people would accept upon themselves the missvot of the Torah. Keeping kashrut is so crucial that, in and of itself, it was a sufficient reason to leave Missrayim.
 
The Keli Yakar commentary asks why the Torah speaks of G-d taking us out of Egypt to fulfill the missvot with regards to kashrut. To start, we must first understand why it is so important to keep the Laws of Kashrut. 
 
The Gemara says that consumption of non-kasher food stupefies the heart of the person who eats it [Yoma 29a]. The pasuk from our perasha emphasizes this: "And do not impurify yourselves with them, so that you should not be thereby impurified" [Leviticus 11:43]. The Gemara continues, "Do not read that term as: 'and be impurified [venitmetem]'; rather, read it as: 'And your hearts will be stupefied [venitamtem]'." Rashi's commentary on the Gemara translates 'stupefied' as blocked and closed.
 
G-d created humans with unique desires which distinguish them from other creatures. During a person's lifetime one's needs and desires will develop exponentially. A baby's initial needs such as sleep, comfort and food are simple. As one grows older, one's wants and needs evolve to include sensual pleasures, money, respect and hopefully, a thirst to attain knowledge.
 
There is yet another desire which is hidden deep within each person's soul, the desire to know G-d intimately and to feel His existence. This desire to know G-d is very elusive, and we must work to awaken it and know how to nurture and sustain it. Otherwise it may be easily lost. This desire can bring the heart to crave the Almighty's closeness until it cries out, Nafshi holat ahavatecha!, my soul desires Your love! Once one merits to feel the closeness of Hashem, he will know that all the earthly desires which he strived for cannot compare to this great feeling of Kirbat Elohim, closeness to G-d.
 
The chief obstacle to this spiritual desire is eating non-kasher foods. Because of their toxic impurities, these foods, even if digested unintentionally, can cause timtum halev, a blocking of the heart that prevents one from achieving closeness to Bore Olam.
 
This explains why the Torah chose the Laws of Kashrut as the place to remind us that the purpose of the Exodus was for us to keep the missvot. People need to observe the Laws of Kashrut so that they may be able to properly keep all the missvot. By not keeping kasher one would suffer from timtum halev which would prevent him/her from properly serving G-d in other ways. Therefore, the Laws of Kashrut are a prerequisite to observance of all the missvot.
 
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mimoun Miller