Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 26 Adar II, 5784
Parsha Shemini – “Eighth”: (Leviticus 9:1 – 11:47)
Sixth Portion: Leviticus 11:1 – 11:32

Good morning! We are coming to the end of Adar II, and the beginning of Nisan!  The Eclipse is coming, and a lot is shifting. Now is the time to set intents. Today, we have he Kosher laws.  A lot has been added and written about this – and, let’s try to approach with a new lens:

1And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, to say to them:

2Speak to the children of Israel, saying: These are the creatures that you may eat among all the animals on earth:

We are talking about food here. Let’s be clear.

3Any animal that has a cloven hoof that is completely split into double hooves, and which brings up its cud that one you may eat.

So here is the rule. Cloven Hoof. Chewing the cud. That’s the rule. It doesn’t say it needs to be prepared a certain way (thought other passages have said “don’t consume the blood or the fat” – but those were related to the PRIESTLY anointing. Let’s keep going:

4But these you shall not eat among those that bring up the cud and those that have a cloven hoof: the camel, because it brings up its cud, but does not have a [completely] cloven hoof; it is unclean for you.

5And the hyrax, because it brings up its cud, but will not have a [completely] cloven hoof; it is unclean for you;

6And the hare, because it brings up its cud, but does not have a [completely] cloven hoof; it is unclean for you;

So to double down, the Torah tells us – there may be some grey lines here. Let’s clarify. These animals (bunny, hyrax, camel) they don’t have a cloven hoof.  This does not mean this is an exhaustive list – but it’s to point out what a cloven hoof actually is.

7And the pig, because it has a cloven hoof that is completely split, but will not regurgitate its cud; it is unclean for you.

The pig does not regurgitate its cud, so it is unclean.

8You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

That seems clear.

Now we can ask why? Why can’t we eat them? And we don’t really get good answers. And. We can trust this, because it’s the Torah.

It also does not give us consequences yet for eating them.  Something I am observing.

9Among all [creatures] that are in the water, you may eat these: Any [of the creatures] in the water that has fins and scales, those you may eat, whether [it lives] in the waters, in the seas or in the rivers.

10But any [creatures]that do not have fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, among all the creeping creatures in the water and among all living creatures that [live] in the water, are an abomination for you.

11And they shall be an abomination for you. You shall not eat of their flesh, and their dead bodies you shall hold in abomination.

12Any [creature] that does not have fins and scales in the water is an abomination for you.

So this is fascinating. The creatures on land? They are unclean. The creatures in the water? They are an abomination.  That feels important, doesn’t it?

13And among birds, you shall hold these in abomination; they shall not be eaten; they are an abomination: The eagle [or the griffin vulture], the kite, the osprey,

14the kestrel, and the vulture after its species,

15and the raven after its species,

16the ostrich, the jay, and the sparrow hawk, and the goshawk after its species;

17The owl, the gull, the little owl;

18The bat, the starling, the magpie;

19the stork, the heron after its species; the hoopoe and the atalef [bat?];

The birds listed are ALSO an abomination.

I am thinking of this elementally.  Land (earth) – unclean. Water (sea) – abomination. Air (birds) – abomination. That seems interesting.

20Any flying insect that walks on four, is an abomination for you.

21However, among all the flying insects that walk on four [legs], you may eat [from] those that have jointed [leg like] extensions above its [regular] legs, with which they hop on the ground.

22From this [locust] category, you may eat the following: The red locust after its species, the yellow locust after its species, the spotted gray locust after its species and the white locust after its species.

23But any [other] flying insect that has four legs, is an abomination for you.

So it would seem – the issue IS flying. Flying birds are an abomination to eat.

My takeaway? We are meant to consume animals that keep us grounded in this reality. That is our purpose. Earth. Ground.

There is SOME leeway with water – fins and scales. But otherwise nope.

In air, chickens really don’t fly, do they? We can eat them. Insects that hop? We can eat them.  It’s about swimming and flying. It feels like this is connected to grounding us.

24And through these you will become unclean; anyone who touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening;

25And anyone who carries their carcass shall immerse his garments, and he shall be unclean until evening:

So here we get some consequences. But we don’t get the consequence for EATING the, – although it is kind of insinuated. It’s clear that TOUCHING them we become unclean until evening.

That’s it? We just become unclean until the next sunset? Something to reflect on.

26Any animal that has a cloven hoof that is not completely split, and which does not bring up its cud, is unclean for you. Anyone who touches them shall become unclean.

27And among all the animals that walk on four legs, any [animal] that walks on its paws is unclean for you. Anyone who touches their carcass will be unclean until evening.

28And one who carries their carcass shall immerse his garments, and he will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

We go back to reiterate – we aren’t talking about just the flying insects and birds. The land animals too. We are unclean until evening.

29And this is unclean for you among creeping creatures that creep on the ground: The weasel, the mouse, and the toad after its species;

30The hedgehog, the chameleon, the lizard, the snail, and the mole.

31These are the ones that are unclean for you, among all creeping creatures; anyone who touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening.

“Creeping” creatures.  That is interesting. They are distinguished different than  land animals. What I DON’T see on the list? Snakes. That is interesting.

32And if any of these dead [creatures] falls upon anything, it will become unclean, whether it is any wooden vessel, garment, hide or sack, any vessel with which work is done; it shall be immersed in water, but will remain unclean until evening, and it will become clean.

Now this is fascinating. The places these dead animals fall is unclean. And these must be immersed in water – and will remain unclean until evening.

Ok. So this is fascinating. What is our takeaway?

I think the idea of clean/unclean is important. Intention may also be important.

We are meant to live in this reality. We may DESIRE to live in the water – the flow. We may DESIRE to live in the air and SOAR.  But I think this is all pointing to – we are called to be grounded.  Our souls are here for a purpose. That purpose is NOT to live as our souls – its to HAVE the experiences in our bodies and on this earth.

The Torah alludes to this often.  We can ascend spiritually – but we are called to balance the soul journey with the human journey.  The clothes we’ve chosen to be here on this earth are critical. This is what guides our time. This is our purpose.

As we turn our time to the eclipse ahead. Going back to Egypt. Where are we trying to FLY and SWIM as a means to distract ourselves from this experience? To distract ourselves from where we are living “unclean” and “ungrounded” lives?

Thoughts?

Here are my Thoughts from the past two years. One note: last year, we were counting the Omer, and digging into the Sefirot. We are starting a class on a deep dive into this which you can register HERE:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 23 Nisan, 5783.

Today is the 8th day of the Omer.

So. The timing of all of this is FASCINATING. Last year when writing about today’s portion, I wasn’t aware of the Omer. And the passage connects to the themes of the Omer for this week (Gevurah) and today (Chesed of Gevurah).

I’m reflecting on the connection. But here is what Chabad has for this second week of the Omer:

“Week Two – Gevurah

If love (chesed) is the bedrock of human expression, discipline (gevurah) is the channels through which we express love. It gives our life and love direction and focus. Take a laser beam: Its potency lies in the focus and concentration of light in one direction rather than fragmented light beams dispersed in all different directions.

Gevurah – discipline and measure – concentrates and directs our efforts, our love in the proper directions. Another aspect of gevurah is – respect and awe. Healthy love requires respect for the one you love.”

It’s interesting how Gevurah means discipline and measure. And it also means judgment.

Today is the first day of the second week; so we reflect on the kindness and love of discipline. From Chabad:

“Day One of Week 2 (8th day of Omer): Chesed of Gevurah

The underlying intention and motive in discipline is love. Why do we measure our behavior, why do we establish standards and expect people to live up to them – only because of love. Even judgment of the guilty is only to express love. In other words punishment is not vengeance; it is just another way to express love by cleansing anything antithetical to love. Tolerance of people should never be confused with tolerance of their behavior. On the contrary: love for people includes wanting them to be the best they can and therefore helping them be aware of anything less than perfect behavior.

Chesed of gevurah is the love in discipline; awareness of the intrinsic love that feeds discipline and judgment. It is the recognition that your personal discipline and the discipline you expect of others is only an expression of love. And that comes across when disciplining. It is the understanding that we have no right to judge others; we have a right only to love them and that includes wanting them to be their best.

Ask yourself: when I judge and criticize another is it in any way tinged with any of my own contempt and irritation? Is there any hidden satisfaction in his failure? Or is it only out of love for the other?

Exercise for the day: Before you criticize someone today think twice if it is out of care and love.”

This is a great reflection of my heart.

This is what I’m meditating on:

“love for people includes wanting them to be the best they can and therefore helping them be aware of anything less than perfect behavior.”

What happens when the ones we love or care about cannot receive this message – of wanting them to be their best? Do we continue to beat our heads against a wall? Or do we turn away and stop trying?

I don’t have good answers. But trusting what is in our control and what is not. As I’ve shared, I have recently become aware that one of my biggest struggles is trying to control and strategize what I can’t control. I need to let go and let things happen. Receive the things I cannot control and not resist them. Trust these “gifts” I cannot control will be used for my good, the good of others, and the good of the world becomes a part of the restorative work of Tikkun Olam.

And this is where I’m at today given the portion.

One final note. It’s interesting today’s portion is all about food given food has been so salient as Passover ended last night. I love the timing of the universe.

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 22 Adar II, 5782

Todays portion is a little long so let’s jump in!

Today it’s all about Kosher food. What Animals are forbidden and which are acceptable.

God speaks to Moses and tells him to say to Aaron who should say to Eleazar and Ithamar; You should all speak to the children of Israel and say; “These are the living creatures that you may eat from among all the animals on earth:”

Let’s stop here. Rabbi Schneerson has an interesting thought for us about this:

God made Moses, Aaron, Eleazar and Thamar equal messengers to relay the following section, because they remained equally silent (above, 10:3), accepting God’s decree against Nadab and Abihu with love (Rashi, 11′ century).

Even a child who is studying the Torah for the first time knows that when a person is in pain, rules of etiquette are inevitably disregarded. The child knows that when his friends hurt him he reacts, even if it is not appropriate to do so, for human nature is to react instantly to pain.

Even though Eleazar and Ithamar had the courtesy in general not to speak up in the presence of their father Aaron, nevertheless, the pain of the sudden passing of their brothers Nadab and Abihu would presumably have caused them to cry out in anger, out of sheer pain, even if it was inappropriate to do so. The fact that they remained silent was proof to Rashi that they had accepted God’s decree with love.

Rabbi Isaac Abravanael says this:

After the Tabernacle was completed and the priests inaugurated, they were given the command not to carry out their service while intoxicated. The Torah explains, “(This is) so that (you will be able to) distinguish between the holy and the profane and between the unclean and the clean” (above, 10:10).

So it now became necessary for God to inform Moses and Aaron which creatures were “clean” and which were “unclean”

Furthermore, since the priests were forbidden to enter the Tabernacle in a state of ritual impurity, it now became crucial for them to know which creatures would render them impure.

That’s interesting context for us here. But I want to add one more thing from Kabbalah that is fascinating here:

Life is all about embracing Hesed (kindness; love) and escaping from Gevurah (judgment; resentment). The more you become a joyous, loving person the more mentally and physically healthy you become, free from many of the internal beliefs and wounds that give rise to destructive behaviors. On the other hand, harboring negative, judgmental energy will plunge you into internal chaos, paralyzing you from taking corrective actions.

The Kabbalah teaches that your food choices can subtly influence you towards Hesed or towards Gevurah. The “pure,” kosher animals originate from God’s Hesed; the “impure,” non-kosher animals, from Gevurah. Through ingesting Hesed-rooted food, Heed becomes part of your flesh and blood and, over time, Hesed life choices become gradually easier for you.

Wow. That is an interesting perspective that is new for me! What do you think?

Ok; let’s get into kosher laws:

1. You may eat animals that have a split hoof and chews the cud
2. Among those that chew the cud and have a cloven hoof, don’t eat these:

• • Camels
  • Hyrax
  • Hare

These animals don’t have a completely split hoof.

• • The pig because it doesn’t chew the cud

These animals listed are impure.

Now we are on to fish:

1. You may eat fish that have fins and scales
2. No creeping creatures in the water – these are actually called an abomination!
3. Creatures in the water that do not have fins and scales – they are also an abomination.

So I’m a sense it would seem fish we can’t eat are actually worse than pig! A pig is impure, a lobster is an abomination!!!! But they taste sooooooo goood!!!!!

Ok; next we are onto birds:

The following are an abomination:

• Griffon vulture
• Bearded vulture
• Osprey
• The kite
• The buzzard family
• The raven family
• Ostrich
• The tahmas (?)
• The gull
• The Hawk family
• The kos owl
• The cormorant
• The yanshaf owl
• The barn owl
• The ka’at owl
• The roller
• The stork
• The heron family
• The hoopoe
• The bat

That’s a long list of birds!

Next it’s insects:

1. Any flying insect that walks on four legs is an abomination
2. However; among all the flying insects that walk on four legs, you can eat from those that have additional jointed legs with which they hop on the ground, above its regular legs
3. From the locust family, you can eat the red locust, the yellow locust, the spotted grey locust, and the white locust families

Finally we get to the laws of ritual impurity from non-kosher animals:

Through the following animals – if you have contact with them, you become ritually impure:

• Any animal with an split hoof which is not completely split, and that does not chew the cud
• Animals that walk on four legs any animal that walks on it’s paws (such as a dog, bear or cat) is ritually impure.

Ok let’s stop for a minute; Dogs? cats? The next line is helpful:

Anyone who touches their carcass will be ritually impure until evening.

So let’s pause again. We are talking about dead dogs and cats, and we are talking about ritual impurity. That means if we touch a dead dog, we can’t go into the tabernacle to make a sacrifice.

So; whew. I think having a dog is ok. But again I’m not an arbiter of kosher laws.

Moving forward:

The following are also ritually impure:

• Weasels
• Nice
• Toads
• Hedgehog (sorry sonic you aren’t kosher)
• Chameleons
• Lizards
• Snails
• Moles.

If we touch them when they are dead we are ritually impure until the evening.

Let’s close with this spiritual vitamin from the Chumash I’m reading:

“While God created you in a way that you depend on food and drink for survival-you nevertheless have the power to transform this physical necessity into a new and incomparably higher thing: to eat for the purpose of being able to do good, transforming the food into energy to serve God. And in the very act of eating you can serve God, because it gives you an opportunity to make a blessing before eating, and afterwards.”

So what are your thoughts? I imagine there are a lot. What are your questions?