Siyum Masechta (Yoreh Deah 246).
This is seen from the words “wine and beer you shall not drink”, which can mean that one should not drink for no reason. However, during times when it is permitted to drink, it should be “you and your sons with you”, which is a reference to a wedding meal. “When you come to the Ohel Moed” is a reference to a Chanukas Habayis. “And you shall not die” is a reference to a Seudas Hodaah, when one gives thanks for being healed from a deadly disease. “An eternal statute” is a reference to Bris Milah. “To distinguish between the holy and the mundane” is a reference to Kiddush and Havdalah. “And between the impure and the pure” is a reference to Purim, when we are commanded to drink to the extent of not knowing the difference between Haman and Mordechai. “To teach the children of Yisroel” is a reference to a Siyum Masechta. All these are times when one may drink because they are seudos mitzvah.
Helping with Money, not Only With Chasidus:
Rashi quotes Chazal (Chulin 63A) who state: “Why is it called chasida? Because it does kindness (chesed) with its friends by sharing its food.” This leads to the question: If the chasida bird does chesed with other birds, why it is not kosher?
The Ropshitzer Rebbe zy”a answers that the chasida is similar to many individuals who provide encouragement and words of chizuk to those who are in financial crisis but do not offer them any monetary assistance. They urge them to have bitachon and trust Hashem to help but are unwilling to donate anything to this cause. This is not a fulfillment of the obligation to help a fellow Jew, as financial help is what is truly required.
Rashi is saying that the chasida represents someone who does “chasidus” with its friend, when what really is required is “mezonos”, and this is a sign of a treif bird.
Chesed Even for Non-Relatives:
The Chidushei Harim zy”a explains that we see from Rashi’s words that this bird only does acts of kindness “with its friends.” It does not help any birds that are not its friends at all. Since it is unwilling to help any bird that is not part of its inner circle, it is considered to be cruel and is not kosher.
This teaches us that a person who only is willing to do favors or help someone who is part of his own clique of friends and relatives is not a “kosher person”. On the contrary, he is a cruel person.
Worrying About Guests’ Gashmius Before Their Ruchnius:
Rav Sholom Ber of Lubavitch zy”a would say that when a man meets his friend, he should give him a “gashmiusdige shalom aleichem”, meaning that he should first ask him if he has a place to stay, enough to eat, etc. Only after this is out of the way should he start speaking to him about matters of ruchnius.
The Gashmius of Others is Your Ruchnius:
The Kotzker Rebbe zy”a once asked a wealthy man why he didn’t fulfill the mitzvah of hachnasas orchim and he said, “Doesn’t the Rebbe often tell us that we need to break our taivos? Aren’t we taught to refrain from earthly pleasures? If so, how can I bring guests into my home and cause them to enjoy good food? If I did that, I would be guilty of turning them into baalei taivoh!”
The Rebbe replied, “Other people’s gashmius is your ruchnius. If you give people earthly food to eat, it will positively affect your spiritual stature.”
Don’t be Overly Righteous:
This pasuk teaches us that it is necessary to create separation between tamei and tahor. This means, of course, that one may not consider something impure to be pure but it also means that one should not consider something pure to be impure. This is in accordance with the words found in the Vidui of Rabenu Nissim: “What You made pure, I made impure, and what You made impure, I made pure. What You made forbidden, I permitted, and what You permitted, I forbade. When You were lenient, I was stringent, and when You were stringent, I was lenient.”
It is understandable that it is wrong to treat something impure as if it is pure and something forbidden as if it is permitted but we may ask why it is wrong to be machmir and to treat something permitted as if it is forbidden.
The answer is seen from the pasuk in Koheles (7:16) that states: “Do not be overly righteous.” In his great wisdom, Shlomo Hamelech is teaching us a tremendous lesson with these words. He is telling us that one should not try to be more righteous than the Torah. If one decides on his own to forbid something that the Torah permits, he will end up permitting things that the Torah prohibits.
The Sanzer Rov zy”a would often eat sardines. A machmir once told him that there are those who question the kashrus of this food, and he began to debate whether or not it was permitted. The Rov told him, “I won’t eat any more sardines but I do not envy you!”
The Dog Is a Machmir:
Rav Mordechai Banet zt”l, Rov of Nickolsberg, fought many battles against the Reformers, valiantly opposing their attempts to distort Yiddishkeit. When Rav Banet was once visiting the medicinal spas of Karlsbad, he met a Reform clergyman who served as the rabbi of a city in Germany. The man was regarded as a scholar but after conversing with him, Rav Banet clearly saw that he was quite ignorant of Torah. He asked him, “What do you when your congregants ask you halachic shailohs? What do you say if they ask if meat or chicken is kosher or treif?”
The clergyman answered, “It’s too hard for me to look into each question. Therefore, I am always machmir and I say that it is treif.”
Rav Banet told him, “Let me tell you a story. There once was a Jew who lived in a small village, quite a distance from the large city of Nickolsberg. He raised some chickens and geese, which he would slaughter and feed to his family. If there was any shailoh regarding the kashrus of a chicken he would hitch up his wagon and travel to Nickolsberg to consult with one of the Rabbanim.
One day, a lightheaded, silly person came to the village and stayed as a guest in the man’s house. When the villager told him how he had to go all the way to Nickolsberg whenever he had a shailoh, even in the snow and rain, the guest said, ‘Why do you have to make this difficult journey all the time? The Torah says that treif meat should be fed to the dogs (Shemos 22:30). This is what you can do: When you have a shailoh, put the chicken in front of a dog. If it eats it, it is a sign that it is the dog’s portion and it must be treif. If it doesn’t eat it, it is a sign that it is kosher and does not belong to the dog.’
The villager liked this idea and he began to implement the guest’s advice. Whenever he had a shailoh on a chicken, he would put it down in front of his dog. The dog would eat everything he presented to it, and the villager thought that this was a sign that the chicken was treif. After this happened numerous times, the villager decided to go back to Nickolsberg and to try his luck with the Rov.
When he came to the Rov, he asked him, ‘I haven’t seen you in a long time. Where have you been?’
The villager told him how he had started bringing his shailohs to his dog, which explained why he had stopped coming to the Rov. The Rov then asked, ‘If that is so, why are you back here now?’
The villager replied, ‘What can I do? My dog is too machmir. It paskens that everything is treif!’”
This was Rav Banet’s response to the Reform rabbi who was always machmir.
