Judaism teaches that the food a person consumes has a profound effect on their psyche. When a person eats the flesh of a particular animal, the "personality" of this animal affects, to some degree, the chemistry and identity of the human consumer.
What is more, the physical attributes and characteristics of an animal symbolize and reflect a deeper meaning.
The split hooves and the chewing of the cud represent two qualities that are necessary for the healthy development of the human character. When the Jew consumes the substance of these animals, he becomes a more "kosher" and refined human being.
MORAL SELF-DISCIPLINE
Cloven hooves—the division existing in the coverings on an animal's feet—are symbolic of the notion that one's movement in life (reflected by the moving legs) is governed by a division between "right" and "left," between right and wrong, between the permissible and the prohibited. A split hoof represents the human capacity to accept that there are things to be embraced and things to be rebuffed.
This process of moral self-discipline is the hallmark of living a wholesome life, physically, psychologically, and spiritually. A violin can produce its exquisite music only when its cords are tied, not when they are loose and "free." Similarly, a human being who allows himself to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, wherever he wants, and with whomever he wants, robs himself of the opportunity to experience the inner music of his soul.
And when we have no clear differentiation between right and wrong, in a short time, we tend to lose the very foundation of civil life. Nothing is a given, nothing is important, and nothing is sacred, because nothing is even real. We end up in an endless wasteland, trying to numb our pain and anxiety through every possible distraction. The very core of the "I" gets lost in a world where nothing matters besides the fact that nothing matters. Semantics, rather than conviction, becomes the stuff our soul is carved of.
Rabbi Adin Even Yisroel-Shteinsaltz (1937-2020), one of the luminaries of our generation, once shared a story about a philosophy professor in Israel who asked one of his students to make a presentation. The student began by saying, "I speculate that..." The professor interrupted him: "Please, before you continue, define the meaning of the word 'I.’" The student attempted three times to define the word "I," but the teacher refuted every definition. The student gave up and sat down.
The professor stood up and said: "How many times did I instruct you guys not to use terms that you cannot define?”
CHALLENGE YOURSELF
The second quality that characterizes a "kosher" human being is that they always chew their cud.
Even after a person "swallows" and integrates into his life certain values, attitudes, and behaviors, he must never become totally self-assured and smug about them. The spiritual human being needs to continually regurgitate his ideas to be chewed and reflected upon again.
RABBI YY JACOBSON
MONDAY & THURSDAY Chassidus Shiur 7:45 AM(18 Main) TUESDAY Womens Shiur 9:30 AM (84 Viola Rd)
SHABBOS Friday Night – before Barchu (20 Upstairs) Morning 8:40 AM (20 Upstairs) | After Davening 12:00 PM (20 Upstairs)
PLEASE NOTE: Rabbi Jacobson’s Shabbos morning shiur will now begin at 8:40 AM, followed by the Minyan at 10:00 AM.
