In our parasha,
Moses reviews the dietary – Kashrut laws that deal with forbidden animals,
birds and fish etc. Two of
the birds listed are the עורב = the raven and the Chasidah - חסידה which is translated as
the stork, but there is uncertainty here. Amongst the forbidden animals we have
the pig – and the Sifra commentary notes that 'one should not say that his soul
loathes and is disgusted by pig's meat, but say – I would indeed like it, but
what I can do, my Father in heaven has imposed these decrees on me.'
" אי אפשי לאכול בשר
חזיר אבל "אפשי ומה אעשה ואבי שבשמים גזר עלי כך
We can respond
in this way concerning the חוקים -
statutes which are commandments that have no rationale comprehensible to the
human mind, but when we are dealing with laws between man – משפטים we don't say I have no problem with killing,
stealing or hurting but what can I do my Father in Heaven has imposed these
decrees on me. Human intelligence הערה השכל will
lead us to conclusions about the underlying values, what is right and wrong
with regard human interactions etc. . . . After the receiving of the Torah we
are inspired and guided by the Torah – הערה התורה to discover new reasons and spiritual dimensions to
the commandments. The reason we observe
the commandments and accept the authority of a commandment, irrespective of our
understanding, is that it is the will of God. R' SRH explains that the Torah
laws are like the laws of nature; they exist independent of our investigation
or understanding. However, even though we cannot hope to figure out and
understand the divine intelligence or God's motives, we have to reflect on the laws,
contemplate them and offer reasons wherever possible and this includes the חוקים – laws where
the apparent reason is hidden. The
reason for doing the mitzvoth - טעם לצמות
is God's will, the reason in the mitzvoth,
הטעם במצות is the underlying
value and our intention. The sages give us some understanding as how the
mitzvoth should impact on us - to refine mankind, לצרף הבריות and promote psychological,
social and spiritual improvements etc. The study of the reasons of the mitzvoth
– טעמי המצות, their
underlying values and goals, gives us a deeper understanding and helps us make
our actions more meaningful and qualitatively better. Our hearts, mind,
thoughts and intentions are the soul of the physical action and God primarily
wants our hearts - רחמנא לבא בעי. Our emotional and spiritual growth depends on the internalization of
the values underlying the mitzvoth and incorporating the commandments into
one's personality. A successful mitzvah depends on understanding the underlying
value and goals and injecting the physical action with soul so we connect also
emotionally and spiritually to the mitzvoth. In this way, we shape our instinct
and inclinations so that we fulfill the words of Proverbs 21 the soul of the
evil person desires evil, the soul of the righteous person rejoices in acting
justly.
נפש רשע אותה רע .....שמחה לצדיק עשות משפט
The Torah
teaches us that the pig is not kosher because it has only one of the 2 kosher signs
– it has a split hoof, but does not chew the cud. The commentary remarks that
the pig is the symbol of the hypocrite. When the pig lies down and crouches, it
spreads it feet out to show us that he is a kosher animal. However, he does not
chew the cud, so his inside is not like his outside. Although we are not
disgusted by pig meat, we are now less inclined to eat pig meat as this would
mean internalizing the negative value inherent in the pig, something that goes
against our values and who we are.
It is
important to ask children and ourselves - if God would not command us to do
mitzvoth like acts of charity or not to hurt people, or keep the Sabbath, what
would we do? Hamish children were asked – why they should not steal or kill or
keep the Sabbath – they answered: because God said so. They were then asked –
if God had not commanded you to act in a certain way, what would you do? Children who had internalized the values
underlying God's commandments had no difficulty in answering the questions. We
are inspired by our intellects – הערה השכל not to hit another person and by the Torah –הערה התורה, not even to
raise a hand. We honor and respect
parents but the Torah go further and equate the honor of parents with the honor
of God. With all our learning and intellectual abilities we acknowledge that
our understanding of the Divine will is limited and ultimately do the mitzvoth
because we submit to the Divine will and intelligence.
The Torah
lists the Chasidah and the o'reiv – the raven as non-kosher birds. The Chasidah
or questionably known as the stork is called the 'chasidah' = the righteous one
is because it displays kindness – חסד towards
others of its species by sharing food with them. If it is so compassionate why it
is stigmatized as a non-kosher bird – the answer is that it directs its
kindness exclusively to its own kind and will not help other species. Its
generosity and compassionate is driven and motivated by self-interest and
expediency rather than by true altruism.
We find that the raven – עורב also did acts of kindness. Although the raven refused to
carry out his mission while in Noah's ark and check if the flood had subsided so mankind could resettle the land, the ravens
were responsible for the Prophet Elijah's survival by bringing him food in the
morning and evening. After Ahab had questioned God's credibility - the nation
was not punished with famine or drought because of their idol worship, Elijah
called on God to punish the nation with a drought. The Maharal explains that
the ravens had an ulterior motive. Their actions were not motivated by the
desire to do good to Elijah, but they wanted the nation of Israel to suffer. If
Elijah lacked food and water, he would have asked for the famine to stop.
Although their actions could be defined as acts of kindness, their evil
intentions and motivations redefined the action. The way people cheat and
deceive others is that they first build trust and confidence by doing acts of
kindness and helping others. Once they have that person's trust and confidence,
they can empty out their bank accounts.
Instead of
promoting intrinsic motivation, doing the mitzvoth and learning because they
have intrinsic and inherent value - the reward of a mitzvah is the mitzvah-
good deed itself, a sin or bad deed is punishment in itself - we drive learning
and pro-social behavior using rewards, grades, praise, consequences and
punishment. Not only is internalization
and commitment impaired, but at best we promote the lowest form of morality –
if you do this you will get that, and one also encourages cheating and
dishonesty in order to get the reward. We also convert the value of a spiritual
act with all its emotion and intention into money. There is a blind belief,
that if we get kids to do an action for the wrong reason, they will, in terms
of the Talmud, come to do it for the right reasons. This is only true when the Lo lishma – doing things
not for the sake of Heaven is Lishma – for the sake of Heaven. The child wants
to do things because they have inherent value and for the sake of Heaven, but
he feels he needs some extrinsic motivation to help him reach his goals. It is
much easier to get children to comply and do things by ' doing to them ' and
promising them rewards. It is far more difficult to engage kids so they can
reflect about the reasons of the mitzvoth, how they impact on others, how they
represent his values and who he is as a person.
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