"Moshe alone shall come near the
Lord,

but the
others shall not come near,

nor shall
the people come up with him.

Moshe went
and repeated to the people

all the
commands of Lord and all the rules,

And the people answered with one voice, saying,

"All the things that the Lord has commanded we
will do."

(Shemot 24:2-3)

Rabbi Yehoshua said: Great is peace, for when Israel stood and declared "All
the things that the Lord has commanded we will do," The Holy One,
Blessed Be He, rejoiced in them and gave them his Torah and blessed them with
peace, as is written: "The Lord will give courage to his people, the
Lord will bless his people with peace." (Psalm 29)

(Massechet Derekh Eretz
Zutta, Perek HaShalom, Mishna 3)

"All the things that the Lord has commanded we will do and we
will hear" – It would have been proper to say "we will hear and
we will do". But Israel said to The Holy One, Blessed Be He: "Master
of the Universe, yet before we heard them we observed them. "I am the
Lord your God" – was observed by Yaakov, as is written, "And
Yaakov said to the members of his household… remove the foreign gods"; "You
shall not swear falsely" – was observed by Avraham, as is written, "I
have raised my hand to the Lord"; "Remember" – was
observed by Yosef, as is written, "Slaughter and prepare an animal"
and had already been observed by Yitzhak when he was tied to the
altar. "You shall not kill" – was observed by Yehuda, "What
do we gain by killing our brother?" "You shall not commit adultery"
– was observed by Yosef in his relation to Potiphera's wife. "You
shall not steal" – was observed by the tribes, "And how
shall we steal from the house of your lord silver or gold." "You
shall not bear false witness" was observed by Avraham when he
testified to all the world that You are Master of all creation; he also
observed "You shall not covet" – "Not so much as a thread or
a sandal strap".

 (Yalkut Shimoni, Shemot 19, 276)

THE CODE
OF CREATION AND MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY

Shalom Bachbut

Much ink has been expended in suggesting reasons
for the prohibition against "meat in milk". This commandment has
always been observed to some degree, even in families which are not religiously
observant but which remain tied in some measure to Jewish tradition and to
certain mitzvoth. The "milk-meat" prohibition, consciously or
unconsciously, has always been considered one of the most serious restrictions,
and even today many Jews observe this mitzvah, even though they are lax in the
observance of mitzvoth no less important, e.g., the Shabbat.

There is also no doubt that this mitzvah is
one of the characteristic components of the Jewish home throughout the
generations. This prohibition has also always puzzled non-Jews who look with
interest upon the Jewish world, in no small part because of the myriad details
entailed in the mitzvah's observance, which include two separate sets of
dishes.

It is well known that the prohibition "You
shall not cook a goat in its mother's milk" is found in Parashat
Mishpatim, in Parashat Ki Tissa – in the context of mitzvot of Pesach and
Bikkurim – and in Parashat Re'eh, following the ban on the eating of carrion.
The prohibition also covers the eating of meat and milk together and of
benefitting in any way from the combination. Many explanations of this mitzvah
and its relation to other mitzvoth have been proposed, and it is difficult to
imagine that there is still room for additional explanation, but I shall
attempt to reopen the topic, in the hope that I may be able to point out an
exegetical aspect not sufficiently explored heretofore.

One can relate to the subject of rationale
for mitzvoth from two aspects; from the point of view of the "giver"
(The Holy One, Blessed Be He) or from the side of the "receiver",
i.e., the man or the Jew, and the effect of the mitzvah on he who is commanded.
From this latter point of view, we do not seek the reason for which the mitzvah
was given, but try to discern the influence of the mitzvah on man's life and
way of thinking. From this point of view, there is no doubt that this mitzvah
has had a tremendous influence upon the Jew's daily life, because of its
multiple branchings and our frequent encounters with it.

The framework of this article does not permit
an extensive survey of the subject; brief mention of various suggested
rationales of the mitzvah will suffice:

                     
·            
To distance the observer from idolatry (which was
prevalent among the nations at the time of the giving of the Torah)

                     
·            
The cruelty of cooking a goat in its own mother's milk

                     
·            
Mixtures (similar to other mitzvoth, such as kil'ayim
and shaatnez, which are intended to preserve original species according to God's
creation plan)

                     
·            
Weakness or infirmity which may affect man because of
medical reasons, because of the different digestion rates of meat and milk.

                     
·            
Mystical-Kabbalah opposition to the blurring of
boundaries between various areas: the ban against the unification of aspects of
impurity (the goat which is outside) with aspects of holiness (the mother of
the goat); or the fusion of the measure of law (the meat which is red) with the
measure of mercy (the milk which is white).

                     
·            
Magical practices which were intended to stimulate and
encourage fertility (a kind of "fertilizer" with which the earth is
fertilized)

                     
·            
Incestual relationships (especially with one's mother)

The list is partial; there are many other suggestions.
But it seems to me that there remains room for examination from another angle.

As mentioned before, the prohibition applies
also to eating. Certain dietary prohibitions were also imposed upon the sons of
Noah (meat cut from a living animal), and before that, to Adam, the first man.
Actually the first restriction imposed upon the first man relates to food: "And
the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you
are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not
eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die." A comparison
of this prohibition with the foods permitted to man and beast may prove
worthwhile: "God said, 'See, I give you every seed-bearing fruit; they
shall be yours for food. And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of
the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath
of life, I give all the green plants for food.' And it was so". This
comparison prompts the conclusion that Adam was not permitted to eat all fruit
of the trees; his permission to eat fruit was limited by the ban against
eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Actually, this mitzvah comes to limit man's
control not only over the animal world (according to tradition and a straight
reading of the text animal flesh was forbidden to man) but also over the world
of the flora. Originally, even plants which grow upon the ground were not
permitted; only later does God grant man permission to eat these. The
interdiction against eating from the Tree of Knowledge comes to remind man that
he must refrain from marring the wholeness of nature; it is only by the grace
of God that he is allowed to sustain himself from all vegetation.

Unlike mother's milk, all other foods were
intended primarily not for human consumption; therefore special dispensation
was necessary for them to become part of the human diet; the milk which babies
(human and animal) suckle from their mothers' breasts is unique in that it was
originally intended for consumption, and therefore did not require any special
divine dispensation for eating it. The formulation of the prohibition, "You
shall not cook a goat in its mother's milk" emphasizes that the mother's
milk is intended for the goat, to provide life and growth, and therefore it
would seem that there no more serious a matter than to transform the purpose of
the milk from a life-giving substance to a death-causing substance.

A number of commentators stress that milk symbolizes life,
as against slaughtered meat which symbolizes death. It seems to me that the
very fact that milk is the only food created for the sole purpose of serving as
food – without which the infant is doomed to die – this fact alone gives milk a
different status.

Far be it from me to claim that this is the
rationale behind the mitzvah. But examination of this mitzvah and its
methods of implementation in daily life arouse man to greater caution and to
greater consideration of his environment, encouraging restraint from all
activity which is violent and which contradicts the flow of life, as The Holy
One, Blessed Be He, had hidden in nature's primeval code.

The actual taking of the goat away from his
mother's teats, and the use of the milk – which was to have provided life for
him – as a means of killing, in order to augment man's pleasure in eating the
dead goat, can be considered something which opposes nature and the order of
creation as implemented by the Creator.

In light of the above, this may be the place
to reconsider another mitzvah; the mitzvah of "shiluach hakan" –
the sending away of the mother bird – which demands of man that he not "take
the mother with the sons"; man may not exploit the nature of beings
which guard over their offspring, taking the mother together with the children.
Here too man must pause for a moment and consider that that Creation has a
certain order which man must preserve; man's elemental inclination was designed
for the sake of life, for "the sons", – he must not exploit it in
order to cause death.

These mitzvoth, classified as hukkim – divine
decrees – and therefore counted among the mitzvoth "between man and God",
also shed light on man's existence as he relates to his fellow man.

It seems to me that respect which man must give the order
of Creation – which is implanted in these mitzvoth and which direct man even in
his ways of eating – can serve an important point of departure in his relation
not only to the world of nature, but his relations with other people.

Dr. Shalom
Bachbut, vice president of the Conference of Rabbis of Italy, teaches physics
in the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Rome, and is currently studying
in the "Amitey Yerushalayim" program

Readers Write:

            As
a conscientious distributor of "Shabbat Shalom" I was dismayed
to read your announcement regarding the "Peace Watch", which appeared
in the Shabbat Beshalach issue. The Parashat Hashavua sheets which are
distributed in synagogues originate in different sectors and reflect various
political ideologies. Aside from words of Torah, a positive phenomenon in
itself, two undesirable features flow via the sheets into the synagogue:

1.     
Commercial advertisements, some of which are even halakhically
problematic, such as conducting the Pesach Seder in Rumania.

2.     
Distinct political positions, usually masquerading as divrei
Torah.

The latter point is the more serious of the two. The
admixture of religion and politics is one of the maladies of religious life in
the state from its inception. Worse sevenfold are the attempts to create
parallels between open, critical, and enlightened religiosity, and leftist
political opinions. In other words: In order to conduct an intelligent
discussion on religious subjects, one must adopt dovish, cosmopolitan
positions. I would like to assert the opposite position – the greatest enemy of
open and critical religiosity is the attachment of a definite political label
to those who advocate such a religiosity. The "Oz VeShalom" movement
is certainly free to champion its political views, but for the sake of God – don't
do it in the name of religion and in the name of Halakha! Their political
opponents do the same thing, and my appeal is directed also at them. The result
of all this is that Torah, instead of being a bridge, becomes a wall!

Meir Roth

Editor's
reply:

            I
am very thankful to Mr. Meir Roth for his letter, for it presents an
opportunity for opening an important discussion on the connection created
between Torah and politics in the religious-Zionist community. When we set out
on our way, we declared (as can be verified by checking the first issue of "Shabbat
Shalom" on the OzVeshalom – Netivot Shalom internet site) that our
purpose was – and still is – to disseminate among synagogue-goers words of
Torah which come to illuminate additional corners in Torah-Zionist thought.
This is necessary davka because the values of peace, morality, justice,
and respect for man created in the image, are not sufficiently stressed in most
of the other publications; nationalistic values usually rule exclusively over
religious thinking. In "Shabbat Shalom", we try to express
those former value positions from within a commitment to exegetical sources and
without taking specific political positions, despite the fact that the pages
are published by OzVeshalom – Netivot Shalom. Sometimes it is difficult to
determine the precise border line between an ideological moral position and the
political expression of this position. This is true certainly in these
difficult days, and, therefore, we hear critics saying that we are "too
political" or, on the contrary, that we are not courageous and unequivocal
enough. It must be assumed that there is no simple, unambiguous solution to the
basic tension which exists between "emet v'shalom" – between "truth"
and "peace", and we will continue to navigate our way with the utmost
loyalty to these values.

True, it is preferable that the Torah be a
bridge and not a dividing factor, but "controversy for the sake of Heaven"
is also part of Torah, and it is befitting that this debate be conducted in a
respectful manner, for "both these and these are the words of the living
God."

Editorial Board: Pinchas Leiser (Editor), Miriam Fine
(Coordinator), Itzhak Frankenthal and Dr. Menachem Klein

Translation: Kadish Goldberg

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Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of
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Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land of
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