Parshat Re'eh: Judaism and Animals
(15) The Lord Gd took the man and placed him in the garden
of Eden, to till it and tend it. (16)
And the Lord Gd commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are
free to eat; (17) but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must
not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.” (18) The Lord Gd said, “It is not
good for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him.” (19) And the Lord
Gd formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky,
and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man
called each living creature, that would be its name. (20) And the man gave names to all the cattle
and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts; but for Adam no fitting
helper was found.
Adam, the very first human being has been freshly minted by his creator out of the dust of the ground. His partner is not yet on the scene. She will be formed in the next verse and will accompany him by the end of this perek/chapter.
Chazal (our Sages) tell us that Gd brought the animals to man to show him that just as the animals had their own partners, he too would need one of his own kind.
The Sforno
(d.1550) explains why he gave them names:
“|So that
he would see which name would be appropriate for each creature, based on the
specific tasks they performed in the universe.”
The Torah
is highlighting a salient point in describing man's relationship with the
animals with whom he shares the earth. On
the one hand, we have mastery over the animal kingdom in that Adam was tasked
with naming the beasts, giving them their purposes. At the same time, he was shown that he was of
them, but not one of them. To find his
own companion, she could not be a member of the animal kingdom.
From the outset, the Torah is informing us that there is a relationship between man and beast but there are rules that must be established to separate the two.
This association was harmonious for nearly two millennia. When Noah hears of the incoming flood, he gathers pairs of animals (we are told that those who had not been corrupted through the immorality of that generation) who come peacefully into the ark (see Rashi's commentary on Chapter 6.19 and Sanhedrin 108b).
The Torah tells us that, Noah gathers two pairs of 'impure - טמא' animals ' and seven pairs of 'pure - טהור' ones.
Please hold onto this thought, as we will return to it shortly.
It is only
in the aftermath of the flood that we are told the following:
(1) Gd blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be
fertile and increase, and fill the earth.
(2) The fear and the dread of you shall be upon all the beasts of the earth
and upon all the birds of the sky—everything with which the earth is astir—and
upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hand. (3) Every creature that lives shall be yours
to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these. (4) You must not, however, eat flesh with its
life-blood in it.”
The relationship between the two has changed. As a concession to human weakness, Gd has allowed us to become carnivorous. He has permitted man to partake of the flesh of the beasts in the field and the birds in the sky (with the exclusion of consuming blood and the commandment for all mankind to abstain from removing a limb of a live animal as part of the Noahide Laws (see Rashi).
Nature's equilibrium has been tilted in favour of humans over animals. It is therefore puzzling as to why, having been granted this right, the Torah twice provides a list of which animals, birds and fish some of Noah's descendants are and are not allowed to eat.
This week's
parsha, Re'eh tells us the following:
(2) For you are a people consecrated to the Lord your Gd:
the Lord your Gd chose you from among all other peoples on earth to be His
treasured people. (3) You shall not eat
anything abhorrent. (4) These are the
animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat; (5) the deer, the
gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, the mountain
sheep, (6) and any other animal that has true hoofs which are cleft in two and
brings up the cud—such you may eat.
On the face of it, the Torah provides no explanation for the laws of Kashrut. This is a 'chok', a statute that we are told we must keep without the provision of any reason.
Let us
refer to the Sforno again, who points the way to giving us a justification for
the discrepancy between the postdiluvian permission and the restrictions detailed
in this week's Parsha:
לא תאכל כל תועבה; before the Torah had been revealed,
given, the Israelites as well as mankind generally were aware of the concepts ‘pure,
טהור,’ and ‘טמא,
impure.’ This is clear already from Gd’s command to Noach to take into the ark
with him one pair each of the ‘impure’ species, and seven pairs each of the ‘pure’
species of animals and birds. (Genesis
7,2)
When Gd, after the deluge, allowed mankind to eat meat, He did not distinguish between the flesh of ‘pure’ and ‘impure’ animals. However, now, after the giving of the Torah, when the Israelites had become so special, it was no longer appropriate for them to ingest the flesh of impure animals or birds (or even certain sea creatures). Upon the giving of the Torah, our sustenance should not be dependent on such inferior living beings. We should remain constantly aware of the gulf between man and beast, especially beasts which had never been suitable as sacrifices (‘i.e. animals that were not included in the Torah's lists’ - my addition)
I have explained that initially, man's relationship with animals was based on mutual trust and respect. Adam gave names to all the beasts and indeed, when it came to Noah, their descendants entered the ark willingly. With the abrogation of this relationship through Gd's granting man the ability to eat whatever he wished, man and beast became enemies. Anything that walked, flew, crawled on, or swam in the earth, in the seas and above was acceptable as food.
Yet, with
the giving of the Torah, a kind of reversal of the relationship has taken place
and, in a way, the respect between man and beast has been restored. The Torah informs us on numerous occasions
(including within this week's Parsha) that we must be careful to:
(23)” ...make sure that you do not partake of the blood;
for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the life with the flesh.”
I am positing the idea that, part of this respect we have for animals must include the prohibition to eat blood, as the Torah tells us – “blood is life” (and if you refer back to the episode in Noah, this prohibition was also placed upon all of humanity). Just as we must preserve life, so that, if we must deprive an animal of its life, we do so with respect, remembering that, despite our being able to eat the flesh of the animal, its lifeforce must be treated with the sanctity it deserves.
No doubt, the vegetarians among us will balk at these words due to their love of animals. Whilst I wholeheartedly respect their positions (being the child of two non-meat eaters myself), the Torah, in its infinite wisdom is accepting that although many people will wish to eat meat, this needs to be limited by a set of laws which define the parameters of which flesh (in the broadest sense) is and is not permitted. If our vegetarian and vegan friends and family wish to abstain from meat out of respect for animals, they are fully within their right to do so! This is not however required both implicitly or expressly in the Torah or in the subsequent Rabbinic tradition.
It should be added that (and here I do agree with the vegetarian approach), we were allowed to eat meat because we descended from the high status we held before the flood. Gd's permission was a concession based on our inability to reach the spiritual level that we should have maintained in the early years of man's existence. In an ideal world, had our antediluvian ancestors not sinned and acted immorally, we would all have remained vegetarian.
Returning to the Sforno's illuminating commentary, we define ourselves as 'pure and impure' as per the corresponding animals that entered the ark. In short, the Torah is telling us that 'we are (literally) what we eat'!
In limiting the choice of flesh available to us, perhaps Gd is reminding the Jewish people of the sanctity of life, both in the human and animal worlds. Ideally, we should not eat thereof, but if we do, we understand our weaknesses, whilst at the same time, recognising the Divine spark that exists inside each of Gd's creatures. Hence, the limitations of the food that is permitted to us.
Does that mean that when the Moshiach arrives, animal sacrifices will resume, or will we all become vegetarians? I think we can safely say that this constitutes another discussion!
Shabbat
Shalom.
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