This week we read two portions of the Torah, the second portion is called Kedoshim – holy ones. G-d instructs us to be holy – to separate ourselves from sinning.
If the definition of holiness were left to the individual to decide there would be no conformity in families and communities. Everyone would choose his personal direction and people would splinter off in all directions.
G-d, through His commands in the Torah, prescribes how we are to attain holiness. Some of the laws of the Torah are logical and some are beyond our understanding. We are instructed to obey G-d’s will with an absolute devotion and allegiance. Even when we don’t know the reason for a command we follow and do it because we are certain that G-d gave us the Torah and whatever He commands is the ultimate way to serve Him and to attain holiness and perfection.
A prime example of inculcating holiness in ourselves, are the laws of Kosher. A few weeks ago we read where the Torah listed which animals, birds and fish are permitted to be eaten and which are forbidden. The reason given for the laws of Kashruth is so that we achieve and retain a level of holiness. Yes, Kosher animals and birds are docile, not animals of prey or carnivorous, however, the ultimate reason is that G-d want us to be holy.
Included in this holiness is that animals and birds have to be slaughtered correctly; their blood is forbidden; and certain animal fats are forbidden as well. When preparing food, milk and meat products must be separate, and a blessing of appreciation to G-d before and after eating food is recited.
One may not cook, eat or derive benefit from the mixture of milk and meat. Here we find two permitted items, milk and meat, yet blending them together is forbidden, a law which is stated three times in the Torah.
It is interesting, the way the Torah spells out the law is, “Do not cook the kid in its mother’s milk.” Why does the Torah specifically use the metaphor of a kid being cooked in its mother’s milk?
The following approach gives us a peek into the negative effect this forbidden blend can have on the sensitive spiritual soul of a Jew.
A kid – a young goat is dependent upon it mother’s milk for its nutrition. The mother’s milk provides its life’s sustenance. When the ‘kid’ is slaughtered, its meat represents termination of life. It is insensitive to combine, cook, or ingest the lifeless meat in milk that provided life. Thus, the mere cooking – even if it is not ingested – is forbidden for a Jew.
A stunning message can be derived from this. If we are commanded to refrain from blending these two items, meat and milk, which have no intrinsic feelings – and by doing so it instills sympathy, compassion and holiness within us, certainly when we refrain from speaking ill of our fellow who does have feelings and sensitivities – we inculcate within ourselves a sense of holiness and shalom, and it adds to our character refinement.
In the Parsha, the Torah forbids wearing an article of clothing that has wool and linen woven together. In the same verse, the Torah forbids mating two different species of animals and crossbreeding two different fruits to produce a new entity. The Torah does not give us a reason for these laws; they fall into the category of statutes.
Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin o.b.m. contrasts theses laws.
In regards to Shatnez – blending wool and linen, there is no prohibition against weaving the two fibers together to produce, for example, drapes. The prohibition is only on wearing the garment. A reason given is that when blending wool and linen one is not creating a new entity – therefore the process is permitted. The Torah tells us donning the blend is forbidden.
The opposite is in regards to mating and crossbreeding animals and fruit – the actual act of blending them together is prohibited – yet the fruit or offspring they produce is permitted. This is because the planting and breeding process is creating a new entity, which in a way, is displaying that what G-d has provided is not good enough. Yet, what it produces is permitted because once it was done it is allowed.
If the determination of becoming holy was left to our personal understanding and decisions, we would never have come up with such laws which imbue us with such holiness.
The Talmud tells us that when a person makes a slight move towards holiness in our physical space on earth, it generates for him a great deal of holiness that is dispatched from the Heavens!
