MUSSAR D’ORAISA
Parshas Re'eh 5764
Hashem created everything in this
world for the benefit of Klal Yisroel. As discussed earlier (see essay on
Parshas Vayikra 5764), we have the ability to use even that which is seemingly
mundane in order to serve HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Just as any object in His
creation can be infused with sanctity and holiness and can be used in His
service, so too can every seemingly mundane action of a Jew elevate him
spiritually. Beyond that, the Torah obviously
recognizes the base needs and desires of man and permits the quenching of those
desires in a moral fashion, in line with the Torah.
The Torah guides our actions and commands that we
conduct ourselves with restraint when indulging in that which is permitted to
us. And there is reward for he who elevates his actions, and heeds Hashem's
command, regardless of the difficulty or simplicity of his challenge. It is in
this vein that the Torah informs us of the permissibility of eating
non-sacrificial meat that has been slaughtered according to halacha.
כי ירחיב ה' א-לקיך את גבלך כאשר דבר לך ואמרת אכלה בשר כי
תאוה נפשך לאכל בשר בכל אות נפשך תאכל בשר. (דברים י"ב:כ)
רק חזק לבלתי אכל הדם כי הדם הוא הנפש ולא תאכל הנפש עם
הבשר. לא תאכלנו על הארץ תשפכנו כמים. ולא תאכלנו למען ייטב לך ולבניך אחריך כי
תעשה הישר בעיני ה'. (דברים י"ב: כ"ג-כ"ה)
When
Hashem, your G-D, will broaden your boundary as He spoke to you, and you say,
"I would eat meat," for you will have a desire to eat meat; to your
heart's desire may you eat meat. (Devarim 12:20)
Only be
strong not to eat the blood—for the blood, it is the life—and you shall not eat
the life with the meat. You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the ground
like water. You shall not eat it, in order that it will be well with you and
your children after you, when you do what is right in the eyes of Hashem.
(Devarim 12:23-25)
Rashi teaches us two important
lessons here from the seemingly mundane activity of eating meat. He says in the name of Ben Azzai that the warning to
be strong and not to eat blood is to warn us and to teach us how much a person
must constantly strengthen himself and his resolve in Torah and mitzvah
observance. Eating blood is not something that people generally have a desire
to do. On the contrary, it is a repulsive act. Therefore it should be very easy
to refrain from transgressing this prohibition. But, says Rashi, if the Torah
must give such a strong warning not to engage in this activity, which most
people find repugnant, we must be even more cautious concerning other
prohibitions, for which there is much greater inherent desire.
Rashi explains, regarding the last pasuk "…in
order that it will be well with you and your children after you…" the
great reward for keeping mitzvos. When a person elevates his actions, such as
performing the mundane act of eating meat in the Torah prescribed
manner—without the blood—he not only receives reward, but it benefits his children as well.
If this tremendous reward, spanning generations, is the merit for keeping the
mitzvah of refraining from eating blood, for which there is no desire, how much
more is the reward for refraining from prohibited activities for which there is
much greater inherent desire.
Through the mundane action of eating meat as in this
parsha, and indeed through all our actions, we can elevate ourselves by
performing the actions in the Torah-prescribed manner, with the
Torah-prescribed restraint. And indeed, through all of our actions performed
properly, no matter how mundane the activity may seem, we receive untold merit
and reward.
Yitzchok Pinkus
Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim