Ultra-short:
Blood and soul are intertwined, all we eat goes into the blood, and then the heart. Acc. to our tradition and psukim, the heart is the center of creative thought. Eating not kosher will stop up our ability to comprehend G0ds teachings, and our own soul.
Long text:
Recently I was at a Kiddush on the occasion of a Bar Mitzvah.
Nothing new, a very kovedike Kiddush, lots of good Yidden came to congratulate
and make Kiddush, the blessing over wine and bread.
As always, you make or hear Kiddush, take something small,
stand in the queue, chat, congratulate and bless and then go and eat something
more.
And there we are, chewing ... and suddenly - while chewing -
this rather tragicomic thought struck me. What would a cow see here?
A cow would see a herd of people chewing collectively, just
like her and her kind. She would immediately have asked herself: Where is the boss? Because cows
always have a boss who tells them what to do. When she eats, everyone eats.
When she lies down and chews the cud, they all do like her. And they all follow
her to the barn.
But here, there's no boss in sight! Because our boss... is
invisible. He sits everywhere, in heaven, on earth, with the mice and the lice
as well as with the holy chachomim.
And the posuk in
Kohelet comes to mind, which we pray every morning:
(כִּי מִקְרֶה בְנֵי הָאָדָם וּמִקְרֶה הַבְּהֵמָה וּמִקְרֶה אֶחָד לָהֶם כְּמוֹת זֶה כֵּן
מוֹת זֶה וְרוּחַ אֶחָד לַכֹּל וּמוֹתַר הָאָדָם מִן הַבְּהֵמָה אָיִן כִּי הַכֹּל הָבֶל.
For man and beast, the same end they meet, as one dies, so
dies the other, and one spirit for all, and there is no difference between man
and beast, for all is naught.
And indeed, for all venues and all opportunities, the
Eibishte has ordained food and Kiddush for us. From birth (Shalom Socher) to
Levaje (there, however, only at home).
But why actually? What is missing in this picture? What is
different from the cows, the lions, the mice and the lice?
That's right! The kiddush! The broches!
We say broches. And the animals don't. We bless the Creator
of the world, who made us so that we have to eat, and who also gives us the
food to do so!
And what does the broche do? Why do we eat all the time?
For this we need some psukim that go into more detail about
the connection between food, blood and kedushah sanctity (actually literally:
separation, elevation).
I am dividing the shiur into two parts here. For the
impatient, I give a summary of things so that the big picture becomes clear
relatively quickly.
Then the patient can immerse themselves in the psukim and
study the matter in greater depth.
Summary:
In human (and animal)
anatomy and physiology, we learn that everything we eat first ends up in the
stomach, is broken down biochemically and then enters the bloodstream through
the intestines in a further biochemically-physical process. The nutrients are
then distributed throughout the body via the blood, but only AFTER they have
passed through the heart (in the blood).
This means that the blood
is the central medium in this process, and the heart the central organ moving
it.
Now in many of our
psukim, on the whole in 14 of them, the connection between food, blood, nefesh
and the connection with the Eternal, blessed be He and blessed be His name, is
shown directly. Indirectly, via the instructions on how, where and when to eat,
there are many more.
This alone shows the
importance of food, how and what is eaten, when and where.
In brief: The Ramban has
several lengthy explanations about blood. His most important statement: The
psukim say blood and nefesh (the part of the neshama, the soul, that is
connected to this physical world) are intertwined and connected in a way that
we cannot understand. And this is what Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman, one of our
great scholars and mekubalim, tells us.
In the Psukim it says
that blood is nefesh, nefesh is in the blood. The word Odom itself אָדָ֗ם: O- Dom contains blood. The Alef could stand for Elioin, or
Kel, or Elokim. So: The Lawful Aspect, the strict Creator who creates and
guides nature according to precise laws, but also The Exalted One, the higher
spheres.
Dom: Blood.
The word adomo - earth - also contains dom, blood. We don't know exactly
how that works.
And: HaShem blew nishmas chayim into his nose.
So already in the creation process itself we see blood appearing in
connection with neshomo, the part of man that is largely separate from the
physical world, which is connected to the non-corporeal higher world and lives
there.
And now, in the various psukim on kashrut, the practice of holy eating,
blood appears very prominently, and we are told that blood is our link to
nefesh! Nefesh is a part of the neshama, the one that "anchors" it in
the body, so to speak.
A brief introduction we can't do without: What does Kodoish, holy, actually
mean? Rashi, and many other Poiskim, say clearly: Separated, set apart. From
what? Separated from the laws of nature, standing above them, outside them, not
dependent on them.
The posuk goes on to say: Be holy, for I am holy, your Almighty gracious
God.
And how do we manage to be holy? We learn, we do mitzvot, obey HIS laws, do
good, help one another.
And what does that have to do with food and blood?
EVERYTHING!
First, Ein Toire bli Kemach, there is no Toire without flour, without food.
Because without food... everything is over.
In Vayikra 20, 25-26, the connection between kashrut, tum'a and tahara is
clearly written in the posuk. It first summarizes again what was described in
great detail before, and that we should separate kosher from treif, tamei from
tahor, and eat exclusively kosher. It is also stated: Al teschaketzu es
Nafshoiseichem. Now Sheketz is a very strong expression. It means despicable,
abominable, disgusting. That is how strong the repulsion of the higher spheres
is for a person who does not eat kosher, they become abominable, disgusting,
unbearable!
And in the next posuk it says, connected with a vov, i.e. "and":
You shall be holy, for I am holy, your G!d Almighty.
If I may dare to interpret a little with regard to holiness: Do not make
yourselves spiritually dependent on nature! Do not be deceived, nature
functions strictly according to law, but you, you are only involved to a
certain extent, and the more you manage to function in a Kodoish-separate way,
outside of it, the less power nature has over you.
Now this is truly one of the most dangerous ideas in history, which has
been and continues to be deadly for literally tens of millions of Yidden and
others.
It is not up to us to determine how far we are successful with this
segregation, being holy. Nor is segregation a withdrawal or outright rejection
of the physical aspects of this world. Today we are hardly able to perceive the
spiritual truths and the spiritual world as our ancestors did.
We have many, many aggadot, stories, in the Talmud, in the Midrash, even in
recent history up to maybe 100 years ago, about holy men and women who really
operated very far outside the laws of nature. But all of them, without exception,
ate. There were those who ate very little, but they still ate. And they ate
kosher, and were extremely pedantic about it!
And they all led an outwardly visible "normal, holy life". They
had families, houses, possessions. They acted and walked in the midst of the
society of their generation, and all too often it was they who served the
rulers as show victims and were murdered in the most cruel way. And even while they were being murdered, they
showed that they were holy, set apart from the laws of nature.
What do we conclude from this?
Everything we eat goes into the blood, through the heart and then into the
body. If we ingest things that are NOT kosher, we "poison" our soul
and separate it from the higher worlds. We then become numb, incapable of
higher understanding, we become too close to animal nature, which lives
entirely in nature and believes itself to be dependent on it and is therefore
also dominated by it. We lose our modesty, compassion and our connection to
God. We can no longer see and feel HaShem Yitbarach properly!
We then lose perspective, the right view of our task and our being. (It is also interesting in this context that,
according to our sages, people "think" with their hearts. And now
perhaps we understand this better. It is a higher way of thinking, a higher way
of understanding that "puts into perspective" what the head provides
in terms of correlations and connections; intuition in Latin is perhaps part of
this higher way of thinking, but certainly not all of it).
Our task is to be the link between earth and heaven, and thus to make
creation ONE (see Mahara'l, Gvurois HaShem on the Haggadah).
And this is done via blood.
The Kabbalists say that every animal whose blood is sacrificed on the altar
receives an "upgrade" and is reborn as a human being. That is why it
was forbidden in the desert to simply eat meat without offering its blood on
the altar! And this is actually the root of the sin with the slowim, the
quails, where Bnei Isroel complained that they wanted to "eat meat". They wanted to eat meat without having to bring a sacrifice!
And now we approach a bit this question of why we make a seudas mitzva, a
"commanded meal", davka a happy meal, on every occasion.
Plus a few more psukim from sefer Shmois:
When Moshe, Aharon, Nadav, Avihu and the 70 elders went up the mountain
together, it says in Shmos, 24:11: ... And they saw God the King and ate and
drank. And one posuk later they themselves were amazed: We looked at G!d, ate
and drank, and we are still alive!
The Ramban says: They ate - the meat of the sacrifices that Moshe offered
on the altar beforehand. And drank: they celebrated, they were happy and
rejoiced!
So it is a duty to rejoice in the presence of our TATE - and to eat and
drink! And, of course, we make Kidush before the meal, and shul after the meal.
And that is the whole point of eating and drinking.
We are human beings, and through us the otherwise profane and meaningless
nature becomes whole and filled with light, joy and meaning!
So eating and drinking, done properly, is, if not the essence, then a very,
very important part of our task in this world! It should bring us joy and thus
fill the world with joy! If you think a little deeper about what it takes for a
person to have a meal, you realize that the whole of nature, the whole of
creation, was really made just for us!
And therefore we eat a meal of joy at every opportunity, and for everything
that goes into the mouth, a blessing goes out of the mouth.
Le Chayim!
Sources:
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Und es fertigte HaShem, der Allmächtige Herrscher, den Menschen an, Staub
von der Erde, und er blies in seine Nase die lebendige Seele, und der Mensch
wurde zum lebenden Wesen. |
Hashem, God, formed the man12 from the dust of the ground and
blew in his nostrils a breath of life and the man became a living being. |
בראשית ב':ז' (ז) וַיִּ֩יצֶר֩
יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו
נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַֽיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃ |
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Und alles Blut, Ihr sollt es nicht essen, in all Euren Siedlungen, den
Vögeln und dem Vieh. |
(26) You
shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your
dwellings. |
ויקרא ז':כ"ו (כו) וְכׇל־דָּם֙
לֹ֣א תֹאכְל֔וּ בְּכֹ֖ל מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶ֑ם לָע֖וֹף וְלַבְּהֵמָֽה׃ |
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Jede Wesenheit, die jegliches Blut isst, wird von ihrem Volke ausgemerzt. |
(27) Whoever
it is who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people." |
ויקרא ז':כ"ז כׇּל נֶפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר תֹּאכַל
כׇּל דָּם וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מֵעַמֶּיהָ. |
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Denn die Wesenheit des Fleisches, im Blute ist sie, und ich habe sie euch
zum Altare gegeben, zu Sühnen eure Wesenheit, denn das Blut, die Wesenheit
sühnt es. |
11) For
the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you on the
altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes
atonement by reason
of the life. |
ויקרא י"ז:י"א (יא) כִּ֣י
נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר֮ בַּדָּ֣ם הִוא֒ וַאֲנִ֞י נְתַתִּ֤יו לָכֶם֙ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ
לְכַפֵּ֖ר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־הַדָּ֥ם ה֖וּא בַּנֶּ֥פֶשׁ יְכַפֵּֽר׃ |
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Denn die Wesenheit jeden Fleisches, ihr Blut ist in ihrem Wesen, und sage
den Söhnen Yisraels, das Blut allen Fleisches esset nicht, denn das Wesen
allen Fleisches, sein Blut ist es, wer immer es ist, wird ausgemerzt. |
Vayikra 17:14 (14) For the life of all flesh, its blood is
with its life. Therefore I said to the Children of Israel, 'You shall not eat
the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood.
Whoever eats it shall be cut off.' |
(יד) כִּֽי־נֶ֣פֶשׁ
כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֗ר דָּמ֣וֹ בְנַפְשׁוֹ֮ הוּא֒ וָֽאֹמַר֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל דַּ֥ם כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֖ר
לֹ֣א תֹאכֵ֑לוּ כִּ֣י נֶ֤פֶשׁ כׇּל־בָּשָׂר֙ דָּמ֣וֹ הִ֔וא כׇּל־אֹכְלָ֖יו יִכָּרֵֽת׃ |
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Seid nur stark, kein Blut zu essen, denn das Blut, es ist das Wesen, und
das Wesen soll nicht gegessen werden mit dem Fleische. Esset es nicht, zur Erde giesst es wie Wasser. Du sollst es nicht essen, damit es zu Deinem Guten gedeihe, und zum Guten
Deiner Kinder nach Dir wenn Du das Rechte tust in HaShems Augen. Und Du sollst das Fleisch und das Blut aufgehen lassen auf dem Altar
HaShems, Deines G!ttes, und das Blut der Dankopfer giesse auf HaShems, Deines
G!ttes Altar, und das Fleisch iss. |
23) Only be sure
that you don't eat the blood, for the blood is the life; and you shall not
eat the life with the flesh.(24) You shall not eat it; you shall pour it
out on the earth as water.(25) You shall not eat it that it may go well
with you, and with your children after you, when you shall do that which is
right in the eyes of Hashem.(26) Only your holy things which you have
and your vows, you shall take and go to the place which Hashem shall
choose.(27) And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the
blood, on the altar of Hashem your God; and the blood of your sacrifices
shall be poured out on the altar of Hashem your God, and you shall eat the
flesh. |
דברים י"ב:כ"ג (כג) רַ֣ק חֲזַ֗ק
לְבִלְתִּי֙ אֲכֹ֣ל הַדָּ֔ם כִּ֥י הַדָּ֖ם ה֣וּא הַנָּ֑פֶשׁ וְלֹא־תֹאכַ֥ל הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ
עִם־הַבָּשָֽׂר׃ (כד) לֹ֖א תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּ
עַל־הָאָ֥רֶץ תִּשְׁפְּכֶ֖נּוּ כַּמָּֽיִם׃ (כה) לֹ֖א תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּ
לְמַ֨עַן יִיטַ֤ב לְךָ֙ וּלְבָנֶ֣יךָ אַחֲרֶ֔יךָ כִּֽי־תַעֲשֶׂ֥ה הַיָּשָׁ֖ר בְּעֵינֵ֥י
יְהֹוָֽה׃ (כו) רַ֧ק קׇֽדָשֶׁ֛יךָ
אֲשֶׁר־יִהְי֥וּ לְךָ֖ וּנְדָרֶ֑יךָ תִּשָּׂ֣א וּבָ֔אתָ אֶל־הַמָּק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֥ר
יְהֹוָֽה׃ (כז) וְעָשִׂ֤יתָ
עֹלֹתֶ֙יךָ֙ הַבָּשָׂ֣ר וְהַדָּ֔ם עַל־מִזְבַּ֖ח יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ וְדַם־זְבָחֶ֗יךָ
יִשָּׁפֵךְ֙ עַל־מִזְבַּח֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ וְהַבָּשָׂ֖ר תֹּאכֵֽל׃ |
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(43) Macht Eure Wesenheit nicht ekelhaft mit irgend einem
Kriechenden Kriechtier (auch Insekten mit Flügeln und Beinen sind gemeint)
und macht Euch nicht unrein und werdet unrein durch sie. |
(43) You shall not
make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, and you shall
not make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by them. |
ויקרא י"א:מ"ג מג) אַל־תְּשַׁקְּצוּ֙ אֶת־נַפְשֹׁ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם
בְּכׇל־הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ הַשֹּׁרֵ֑ץ וְלֹ֤א תִֽטַּמְּאוּ֙ בָּהֶ֔ם וְנִטְמֵתֶ֖ם בָּֽם׃ |
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42) Alles was auf dem Bauch kriecht, alles was auf vieren oder mehreren
Beinen geht, für alle Kriechtiere die auf der Erde kriechen, esst sie nicht,
denn sie sind Abscheulichkeit. 44) Denn ICH bin HaShem euer G!tt und ihr, heiligt Euch denn Ich bin
Heilig, und verunreinigt nicht Eure Wesenheit mit allem Kriechtier das auf
der Erde wuselt. |
Vayikra 11:42 (42) Whatever goes on
its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even
all creeping things that creep on the earth, you shall not eat them, for they
are an abomination. (43) You shall not make
yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, and you shall not
make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by them. (44) For I am Hashem
your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. You shall
not defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the
earth. |
ויקרא י"א:מ"ב (מב) כֹּל֩
הוֹלֵ֨ךְ עַל־גָּח֜וֹן וְכֹ֣ל׀ הוֹלֵ֣ךְ עַל־אַרְבַּ֗ע עַ֚ד כׇּל־מַרְבֵּ֣ה רַגְלַ֔יִם
לְכׇל־הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ הַשֹּׁרֵ֣ץ עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ לֹ֥א תֹאכְל֖וּם כִּי־שֶׁ֥קֶץ הֵֽם׃ (מד) כִּ֣י אֲנִ֣י יְהֹוָה֮ אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֒ וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם֙ וִהְיִיתֶ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים
כִּ֥י קָד֖וֹשׁ אָ֑נִי וְלֹ֤א תְטַמְּאוּ֙ אֶת־נַפְשֹׁ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם בְּכׇל־הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ
הָרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ |
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25) Und daher: Unterscheidet zwischen dem Reinen und dem Unreinen Tier
und zwischen dem Reinen und Unreinen Geflügel und verabscheulicht nicht eure
Wesenheit mit Getier und Geflügel oder allem auf der Erde wuselnden, welche
ich Euch unterschieden habe unrein zu sein. 26) Und seiet mir Heilig, denn Heilig bin Ich, HaShem, der Euch
unterscheidet von den Völkern, Mir zu sein. |
Vayikra 20:25 25) You shall therefore
make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the
unclean fowl and the clean. And you shall not make yourselves abominable by
animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have
separated from you as unclean for you. (26) You shall be holy
to me, for I, Hashem, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that
you should be mine. |
ויקרא כ':כ"ה (כה) {מפטיר}
וְהִבְדַּלְתֶּ֞ם בֵּֽין־הַבְּהֵמָ֤ה הַטְּהֹרָה֙ לַטְּמֵאָ֔ה וּבֵין־הָע֥וֹף הַטָּמֵ֖א
לַטָּהֹ֑ר וְלֹֽא־תְשַׁקְּצ֨וּ אֶת־נַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶ֜ם בַּבְּהֵמָ֣ה וּבָע֗וֹף וּבְכֹל֙
אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּרְמֹ֣שׂ הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־הִבְדַּ֥לְתִּי לָכֶ֖ם לְטַמֵּֽא׃ (כו) וִהְיִ֤יתֶם
לִי֙ קְדֹשִׁ֔ים כִּ֥י קָד֖וֹשׁ אֲנִ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה וָאַבְדִּ֥ל אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִן־הָֽעַמִּ֖ים
לִהְי֥וֹת לִֽי׃ |
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