Rabbi's Blog

Dear OZ family,

The Torah up to this week’s Parsha has been dedicated to the stories of early man and the founding of the Abrahamic creed to become a nation comprising the sons of Israel. The nation started in an ignominious manner, as slaves in a strange land, but with miraculous Divine intervention, we emerged from that slavery as a united nation in our own land, guided by the enlightened spiritual message of the Torah. The experience at Sinai continued in the form of the Mishkan, created with the latent talents of recent slaves, who could now put their considerable efforts to their own purposes. The description of the construction of God’s sanctuary closes Sefer Shemot, and then Vayikra begins with a description of what we would do in the sanctuary. That comprises the first two Parshiyot of Vayikra, and then this week’s Parsha, Shmini, describes the celebration of the inauguration of the sanctuary. Tragedy strikes two of Aharon’s sons, and then the Torah describes the aftermath of that tragedy in a very touching dialogue between Moshe and Aharon.

The first laws taught in the immediate aftermath of what closes out almost two months of Torah readings, begins with the 6^th Aliyah of our Parsha. The Torah teaches us the laws of what we can put into our mouths, the laws of Kashrut. If it is true that we are what we eat, then the signs of what makes an animal Kosher are very instructive. There are 10 Kosher beasts and animals. In order to be kosher they must chew their cud and have split hooves. One of these signs is clear and out in the open, and the other is internal, in the digestive system, in order to process the cellulose of the grass that comprises most of their diets. We may not consume carnivorous animals because we are what we eat. Originally, we weren’t supposed to eat animals at all, and were only allowed this concession after the flood story, when animals owed their very existence on Earth to man.

The signs of Kosher birds do not appear in the Torah, but we do have a list of 24 birds that are forbidden. The third chapter of Masechet Chullin describes what these 24 birds have in common to relate the signs of Kashrut in birds. What they share in common is the same element that makes animals and beasts unkosher. Birds of prey share the same rule as animals of prey. If we eat a hawk or an eagle, we’ll begin to behave like one. Fish must have fins and scales to be Kosher. If they have no covering at all, they may not be consumed, but a shell also invalidates seafood. The message here is to engage the world with a protective cover that allows us to take in what is worthwhile and wholesome while rejecting what is not, regardless of how popular it may be. Disappearing into a shell is also not a Kosher way for the Jew to act. Hashem tasked us with being a Priestly nation, to help serve the religious and spiritual needs of others. That means that we are to teach Torah to everyone whose mother is Jewish, and to teach the seven Noachide laws to everyone else. We’ve done a pretty good job of that for the majority of the world since we heard that verse.

The Rambam and the Sefer Hachinuch count 3 separate Mitzvos of the 613, that we are to know what makes an animal, a bird, and a fish Kosher, so by simply reading these words we fulfill three commandments. May we not only eat what is Kosher, but also, be Kosher. May we be as careful with what comes out of our mouths as we are of what goes into our mouths.     

I’d like to draw your attention to two additional things. One is the blossom blessing that can be made now. This need not be limited to the month of Nissan, but must be made before the blossoms fall off the tree. The tree must bear fruit, and there is a pear tree, and cherry tree on the Southeast corner of 75^th St.and Riverside Drive. The pear tree is held up by wooden planks that look like a Menorah. There are also fruit trees in the island between Riverside Drive and Riverside Park around 100^th St. and along the Broadway mall, but they must bear buds in order to kmake the Bracha, and those buds have not yet emerged. This Bracha is a sign of God’s renewed Hashgacha over us , as we slowly emerge from our experiences this past year. In addition, there is a custom this Shabbat to bake a Challah with a key inside, or in the shape of a key. This is to transition from the week of Pesach when we had no Challah, at a time of year of the anniversary when the Mahn began to fall in the desert. This too is a sign of resurgence as grain begins to grow in Israel again.

Please join me in wishing Mazel Tov to the Kronenberg and Miller families on the occasion of the Bar Mitzva of Aron this Shabbat.  

Be safe.  Be healthy.  Be excellent.

Rabbi Allen Schwartz

Rabbi Allen Schwartz

Congregation Ohab Zedek

118 West 95^th Street | New York, NY  10025-6604

Phone 212.749-5150, ext 200 | Fax 212.663-3635

E-mail ras@ozny.org

Website:  www.ozny.org