By Rabbi Nachman Seltzer
There’s a story told by Rabbi Yissochar Frand of two successful Hungarian-Jewish merchants who were arrested by the Spanish Authorities during the Spanish Inquisition under false suspicion that their goods were smuggled or pirated. Due to the strong alliance between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Spanish Government did not incarcerate the two merchants During the Spanish Inquisition being a Jew was very dangerous. The government enforced harsh decrees forcing conversion or death to any Jew found. Therefore, the two Jewish merchants disguised themselves as Gentiles.
Each of the merchants was taken home and hosted by a customs official for lunch. The first merchant was seated at the table and served chicken and wine by the official’s servant. The merchant paled and hesitated, as he knew he must keep his Jewish identity a secret.
The Question of the Customs Agent
Suddenly the customs agent got up and asked the merchant to follow him to the attic. There he asked the merchant if he was Jewish. Before the merchant could respond, the customs agent said, “So am I.” He explained that he was a descendant of the Marranos, Jews who outwardly converted but kept their Jewish identity a secret. The official bent down and extricated a shechitah – slaughter knife from the floorboards. “The chicken we are about to eat, I personally slaughtered it! Kosher L’Mehadrin!”
Later that day after the investigation concluded that there was nothing wrong with the merchandise, the two merchants met up. The Jew met up with his partner and asked him about his experiences. The second Jew was very distraught. He admitted that he had to eat non-Kosher meat to preserve his appearance as a non-Jew as it was a matter of life and death. The first Jew told his friend, “The same thing happened to me, but I had the unbelievable fortune of being hosted by a secret Jew who knew the laws of Kosher slaughter, and I was able to eat Kosher.”
G-d Protects Those Who Are Careful to Only Eat Kosher
When he returned home he asked the Chasam Sofer what was his sin that he was forced to eat non-Kosher and his partner was spared? The Chasam Sofer thought for a moment and replied, “G-d protects all those that are careful to only eat Kosher. ‘Measure for measure’ the reward for this is that the Almighty will see to it that you in fact never have to eat anything prohibited. Was there ever a time when you ate something with a questionable Kosher status?”
The merchant denied the thought, but after a while, he realized there was a questionable incident when he was newlywed. His wife was unsure of the Kashrut of the chicken she had purchased. Since her husband had learned the laws of slaughter, she asked him. It was a complicated case, and he was too embarrassed to admit that he was unsure, so he declared it Kosher. They ate the chicken.
We can see from here that Hashem protects all who strive to listen to the laws of Kashrut, even when it’s hard, inconvenient, or embarrassing. May we all realize that Hashem indeed runs the world and learn from Aharon to accept Hashem’s Will with joy immediately. May we also strive to keep the kashrut laws as they’re written in our holy Torah because those laws elevate us in both body and soul.
Reprinted from the Parashat Shemini 5784 email of Jack E. Rahmey based on the Torah teachings of Rabbi Amram Sananes.
