As we learned above (chapter 14), eating meat is a complex matter in several respects. On the one hand, meat gives a person great physical and spiritual strength, and when eaten for the sake of Heaven, it has intrinsic value as part of perfecting the world. On the other hand, the desire to eat meat can draw a person into indulgence and cruelty. As a rule, the more nourishing, beneficial, and tempting a food is, the more mitzvot the Torah gives concerning it, so that we may be guided and directed toward the good. For this reason, the Torah includes more mitzvot and prohibitions concerning meat than concerning other foods.<\/p>\n
These are the mitzvot connected to eating meat: 1) not to eat non-kosher domesticated and wild animals, such as a horse or lion; 2) not to eat non-kosher birds, such as an ostrich, eagle, or hawk; 3) not to eat non-kosher fish, such as catfish; 4) not to eat non-kosher locusts; 5) not to eat creeping, flying, or aquatic creatures, such as frogs, shrimp, and lobsters; 6) to perform she\u1e25ita<\/em> on domesticated animals, wild animals, and birds; 7) not to eat their blood; 8) to cover the blood of a wild animal or bird; 9) not to eat the forbidden fat (\u1e25elev<\/em>) of domesticated animals; 10) not to eat neveila<\/em>, an animal that died without she\u1e25ita<\/em>; 11) not to eat tereifa<\/em>, an animal that underwent she\u1e25ita<\/em> but was then found to have a bodily defect that renders it forbidden; 12) not to eat a limb from a living animal; 13) not to eat the sciatic nerve; 14) not to cook meat with milk, not to eat such a cooked mixture, and not to derive benefit from it. Rambam, in his introduction to the Laws of Forbidden Foods, enumerates these mitzvot as twenty-one commandments.<\/p>\n Some mitzvot have reasons that are readily understandable, such as honoring one\u2019s parents, giving tzedaka, and the prohibition of murder. Even had these mitzvot not been written in the Torah, it would have been proper for us to observe them by reason alone; these are called mishpatim<\/em>, rational laws. Other mitzvot would not have occurred to us had the Torah not written them, such as the prohibition of sha\u2019atnez<\/em> and the prohibition of eating forbidden foods; these are called \u1e25ukim<\/em>, divine decrees. In one sense, observing \u1e25ukim<\/em> expresses faith and attachment to God more fully, for we observe them only because God commanded us to do so, not because of any human rationale. From this perspective, these mitzvot sanctify us more deeply. It is therefore proper to be careful not to reduce them to human explanations that could diminish their sacred, divine meaning. In this vein, the Sages said: \u201cA person should not say, \u2018I do not wish to eat pork\u2019 because it is repulsive. Rather, he should say, \u2018I do wish to eat it, but what can I do? My Father in Heaven has decreed this upon me\u2019\u201d (Sifra<\/em>, Kedoshim<\/em> \u00a7128; Rashi to Vayikra 20:26).<\/p>\n Without losing sight of the basic truth that we cannot grasp the ultimate reason for the Torah\u2019s \u1e25ukim<\/em>, we may still reflect on the values and meanings that these mitzvot teach us.<\/p>\n The most important foundation, one closely connected to the very nature of these mitzvot as \u1e25ukim<\/em>, is the distinction they create between Israel and the nations. God created many animals in the world, and after permitting human beings to eat the meat of all of them, He distinguished us from all nations and sanctified us with His mitzvot: He permitted us to eat only the kosher species and prohibited the non-kosher species. As it says:<\/p>\n \u201cYou shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them. I said to you: You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God, who has distinguished you from the peoples. You shall distinguish between the kosher animal and the non-kosher, and between the non-kosher bird and the kosher bird; you shall not make yourselves detestable through animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground, which I have distinguished for you as non-kosher. You shall be holy to Me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and I have distinguished you from the peoples to be Mine\u201d (Vayikra 20:23\u201326).<\/p>\n The Sifra<\/em>, in the same passage cited above, comments: \u201cJust as I am holy, so you shall be holy; just as I am separate, so you shall be separate\u2026. If you are distinct from the nations, you are Mine; if not, you belong to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his companions,\u201d that is, to the kings of the nations who subjugated Israel. Thus, quite apart from any explanation or meaning we may suggest, the laws of kashrut set Israel apart from the nations and help preserve its unique identity as God\u2019s people and as those who bring His word to the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As we learned above (chapter 14), eating meat is a complex matter in several respects. On the one hand, meat gives a person great physical and spiritual strength, and when eaten for the sake of Heaven, it has intrinsic value as part of perfecting the world. On the other hand, the desire to eat meat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[238],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-17"],"yoast_head":"\n